Hi. I just booked our flights to Italy for Sept 2007. We will arrive at PSA (Pisa Galilei) in the afternoon. We ultimately want to stay in Florence for a few days then off to Tuscany and then finally Rome. We're trying to figure out if it would be a good idea to spend one night in Lucca (since it's on the way to Florence) and we've heard a lot of good things about Lucca and would love to visit it.

Please help us on (1) What are your thoughts on our plan? (2) How to get to PSA airport to Lucca and then to Florence or PSA to Florence directly (3) Where to stay in Lucca, if we do one night there.

Thank you all so much in advance! Your advice is always helpful.

Liz

Lucca is not really "on the way" to Florence. You can get a train from the airport to Pisa central (Some trains go all the way to Florence I believe, but most require a change at central) From there it is a twenty minute trip to Lucca.

There are also direct trains from Lucca on to Florence.

According to the website www.pisa-airport.com , you have coach services from the airport direct to Lucca.
At the website there's also all the info for travelling from the airport to Florence.

Hi,

Last year I flew into Pisa and then went to Lucca where I stayed 2 weeks .
Lucca is a lovely town and I think it is a very nice place for as many nights as you can devote to it.
I took a private car that charged me approx. 50 Euros. But I found this info in Tripadvisor that talks about a bus that goes from Pisa airport to the bus depot in Lucca (the following is cut and pasted from a post in Tripadvisor):

""I can certainly recommend the direct bus service between Pisa airport and Piazzale Verdi in Lucca. You get the bus just outside the arrivals hall of the airport (buy your tickets beforehand at the ticket kiosk within the arrivals hall). The fare is cheap at about 4€. From Piazzale Verdi you can probably walk to your hotel if it is within the city walls.
The same bus service can be used to visit the Campo dei Miracoli in Pisa from Lucca since the bus has a stop within view of the Torre Pendente.


Further to ellonway's "take the bus" advice with which I heartily agree....as you exit the baggage claim/immigration hallway in the Pisa airport, turn right and proceed - not far - to the end of the room and you'll find the ticket window for the bus. After getting your ticket go out the first exit to which you'll come and head straight across the parking lot to the Lazzi bus stop. The ticket seller will tell you when the next bus leaves for Lucca. The Lazzi (big, comfortable motorcoaches) buses are blue and have luggage storage underneath for your big stuff so that you don't have to lug it onboard (as you must on the train). The bus ride is then a scenic, pleasant thirty-minute ride to Piazzale Verdi, which is indeed inside the walls.
It's not a long walk from there to 118 Via Fillungo, but may be a bit taxing with luggage. As you leave the bus, look to your right (behind the bus and across the intersection) and you'll see a taxi stand. A taxi ride to the hotel will be short and not expensive. If you can't see a taxi, proceed to the Visitor's Center - diagonally across the Piazzale Verdi - and request that the ladies there get you a taxi. Or, they'll give you a map and mark your route to walk if you're game.""

You can go from Lucca to Florence either by express bus ( which I did, it takes a little over an hour) or by train.

In Lucca I highly recommend a B&B called La Romea. Lovely rooms and breakfasts, right in the center of town.
www.laromea.com

Good luck. Lucca is lovely, you might feel 1 day is too little but it is better than none!

Thanks for the bus information - I didn't know it existed, and I have been to Lucca several times. It is worth knowing for next time.

Hi, Indy -

I hope that the Lucca bus is better than the Florence one! we had a terrible experience with it last october, when we were conned into buying tickets for it rather than the train.

We too purchased tickets from the information desk, only to have them rejected by the bus driver as they weren't company tickets, ourchased from thier kiosk. As the bus was oversubscribed -by 4 [ie us] we had to go back to the information desk, get a refund [they were both helpful and furious] and leg it to the train which is the other end of the airport. We cought it with 5 minutes to spare.

TRain timetables can be found on www.trenitalia.it.

Good luck!

Grazie everyone! Your advise is helpful in my planning!!