Montepulciano to Lucca & then Pisa in a Day?
Mar 24th, 2013, 03:16 PM
#1
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Montepulciano to Lucca & then Pisa in a Day?
Okay, this may be ridiculous....and if so, please tell me. Our plans are to check out of our Montepulciano area hotel fairly early and drive to Lucca. There, I would love to do the bike tour of the ramparts. Then continue on to Pisa to see the sights before dropping off our rental car at the airport. Lastly, we'll take the train on to Vernazza to check in to our hotel. I'd like to arrive there around 7-7:30 pm. Really too much for a day?
Mar 24th, 2013, 03:49 PM
#2
It's at least a 2-hour drive to Lucca, then about 30 minutes to Pisa. The train from the Pisa airport to Vernazza is 2-2.5 hours, and to meet your self-determined arrival time in Vernazza you'd have to be on the 5:18 p.m. train. So, you're facing a minimum of 5 hours just moving from place to place, and you've got to assume you'll spend some time eating lunch.
I see two wrinkles in your plan that will probably add more time. First, luggage. Second, the limited traffic zone (ZTL) in Pisa. If you want to avoid the ZTL, you should turn in the car at the airport first, train to the Pisa Centrale station and store your luggage while you see the sights. Collect the luggage when you return to the station to train to Vernazza. There could be a line both times you go to this office, and you need to make sure you know its open hours. If you'd rather keep your luggage until after your Pisa sightseeing, then you need to study the ZTL map and make sure you know how to get wherever you're going to park in Pisa without violating the zone. If you drive into the zone, even without meaning to, you'll likely get a ticket in the mail after you get home.
You could drive to La Spezia after Pisa, drop the car there and train to Vernazza. Or you could turn in the car in Lucca after your time there, train to the Pisa Centrale station and store you luggage while you sightsee, then retrieve the luggage and train to Vernazza.
IMO, this would be an ambitious day, one with little to no room for spontaneity except, I suppose, skipping Pisa altogether if you wanted to stay longer in Lucca. I don't like days when I'm constantly checking the time, but you may not mind this.
FYI, you need a timed reservation if you want to climb the Leaning Tower, and you'll need to arrive several minutes prior to your reservation. You can't carry any type of bag or backpack into the Tower, so you'd need additional time to check and reclaim these items.
I see two wrinkles in your plan that will probably add more time. First, luggage. Second, the limited traffic zone (ZTL) in Pisa. If you want to avoid the ZTL, you should turn in the car at the airport first, train to the Pisa Centrale station and store your luggage while you see the sights. Collect the luggage when you return to the station to train to Vernazza. There could be a line both times you go to this office, and you need to make sure you know its open hours. If you'd rather keep your luggage until after your Pisa sightseeing, then you need to study the ZTL map and make sure you know how to get wherever you're going to park in Pisa without violating the zone. If you drive into the zone, even without meaning to, you'll likely get a ticket in the mail after you get home.
You could drive to La Spezia after Pisa, drop the car there and train to Vernazza. Or you could turn in the car in Lucca after your time there, train to the Pisa Centrale station and store you luggage while you sightsee, then retrieve the luggage and train to Vernazza.
IMO, this would be an ambitious day, one with little to no room for spontaneity except, I suppose, skipping Pisa altogether if you wanted to stay longer in Lucca. I don't like days when I'm constantly checking the time, but you may not mind this.
FYI, you need a timed reservation if you want to climb the Leaning Tower, and you'll need to arrive several minutes prior to your reservation. You can't carry any type of bag or backpack into the Tower, so you'd need additional time to check and reclaim these items.
Mar 24th, 2013, 06:46 PM
#4
Jean's list doesn't even factor in time to find parking outside the ZTL (Lucca has ZTL also) and get to the center or what you want to see/do.
I think I would drive to Lucca, park the car (maybe near Lucca train station) and either bike first or hop the train to Pisa first depending on which is the most important in case you run out of time (Lucca to Pisa S. Rossore is only 20-25 minutes and 3€). Return to Lucca, retrieve car and drive to La Spezia to drop the car (check the office hours). It seems like backtracking, but you would be backtracking somewhat driving from Lucca to Pisa (Pisa is south of Lucca). If you decide to take the train, buy round trip tickets so you don't have to worry with it later. S. Rossore station is only a few minutes walk from the tower (two trains per hour from/to Lucca).
I think I would drive to Lucca, park the car (maybe near Lucca train station) and either bike first or hop the train to Pisa first depending on which is the most important in case you run out of time (Lucca to Pisa S. Rossore is only 20-25 minutes and 3€). Return to Lucca, retrieve car and drive to La Spezia to drop the car (check the office hours). It seems like backtracking, but you would be backtracking somewhat driving from Lucca to Pisa (Pisa is south of Lucca). If you decide to take the train, buy round trip tickets so you don't have to worry with it later. S. Rossore station is only a few minutes walk from the tower (two trains per hour from/to Lucca).
Mar 24th, 2013, 07:51 PM
#5
Yep, forgot about Lucca's ZTL... If you decide to do everything you mention, I like kyb's idea of parking at Lucca, taking the train to/from Pisa and then driving to La Spezia.
But I also agree with bob. Too much for me, and if I had to drop something it would be Lucca.
But I also agree with bob. Too much for me, and if I had to drop something it would be Lucca.
Mar 24th, 2013, 08:38 PM
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Lucca is wonderful for an afternoon/evening roundtrip by train or bus from Florence. It's nice for just wandering on the wall surrounding the city (you can even ride a bike, it's very wide.) Pisa is boring and dusty except for the Tower, which IMO is not really that interesting either. You could not go inside it when I was there in 2009. I don't think you need more than 2 hours in Pisa including seeing the Tower. But I think you're doing way too much in a day.
I am an advocate of nice slow travel anyway.
I am an advocate of nice slow travel anyway.
Mar 25th, 2013, 08:01 AM
#8
Having gone to Pisa and Lucca as a day trip last month from outside Florence (with nearly a 2 hour drive one-way to Pisa), I can share our experience.
The ZTL in Pisa is hard to miss if you are prepared. The ZTL in Lucca is so much harder to miss that you would have to want the ticket to drive through it. We spent only a few hours in Pisa, including lunch. We viewed the tower (did not go up) and toured the church and baptistry; we did not wander the tchotchke stalls or Pisa itself. In Lucca our children rented bicycles and rode completely around the ramparts in 30 minutes; they then bicycled through the town while DH and I wandered about with the dog. I think we spent just a couple of hours in Lucca. There may be an organized bicycle tour of Lucca; if so, that would add more time to the day.
This being said, would I attempt the itinerary proposed by the OP? No. We had clear skies and no traffic for our drive, and we were out for close to 10 hours that day. I wouldn't want the angst of navigation, potential traffic, having to drop a rental car and catch a train on top of trying to sightsee.
The ZTL in Pisa is hard to miss if you are prepared. The ZTL in Lucca is so much harder to miss that you would have to want the ticket to drive through it. We spent only a few hours in Pisa, including lunch. We viewed the tower (did not go up) and toured the church and baptistry; we did not wander the tchotchke stalls or Pisa itself. In Lucca our children rented bicycles and rode completely around the ramparts in 30 minutes; they then bicycled through the town while DH and I wandered about with the dog. I think we spent just a couple of hours in Lucca. There may be an organized bicycle tour of Lucca; if so, that would add more time to the day.
This being said, would I attempt the itinerary proposed by the OP? No. We had clear skies and no traffic for our drive, and we were out for close to 10 hours that day. I wouldn't want the angst of navigation, potential traffic, having to drop a rental car and catch a train on top of trying to sightsee.
Mar 25th, 2013, 08:14 AM
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As has been my experience on this forum, you are all so helpful and I appreciate it! After reading your comments, I have decided to scratch Lucca from the itinerary as my husband really wants to see Pisa. I guess we'll just have to return another time!
Would anyone mind suggesting the most scenic route from Montepulciano to Pisa?
Would anyone mind suggesting the most scenic route from Montepulciano to Pisa?
