Day trips from Lucca & Lucca itself
 

We'll have an apartment and a car in Lucca for a week in June, having been to Rome and Florence before that. We're heading to the lake district after Lucca. Any suggestions on day trips from Lucca and Lucca itself...what to see, do? Thanks for all replies.

Hi,
There are a lot of day trips from Lucca. You can go to Pisa, San Gimignano, and I think even Siena for day trips. Also the Ct is not that far away. You can drive to Monterosso, park the car, and walk to Vernazza for lunch. If you want to walk more you can or take the train back to your car and off to Lucca. Another idea is to drive to Portovenere and take a boat trip along the CT. Lucca itself is wonderful. Rent bikes and ride around the town on the streets or on top of the wall that surrounds the town. Take a tour of Puccini's house. When I was there, there were concerts in what used to be the Roma amphitheater. Good shopping and fabulous architecture. You will have a fabulous time.

Thanks for the great ideas, Yipper.

Kathygo,
See my trip report for things to do in Lucca. http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34494897

Lucca IS wonderful-simply to just stroll the streets and have a glass of wine in one its charming piazzas-there is a GREAT vibe here. It's a well preserved, ancient walled city, with impressive city gates, lovely gardens, there's a quiet, understated wealth that is immediately apparent-the city made its fortune largely in the silk trade.

As stated above, it's the birthplace of Puccini, so you can visit his house, plus there are some magnificent villas along the outer edges of Lucca- when I was studying in Florence, we would go trolling around Tuscany on day trips, and Lucca was absolutely one of our favorites-good shopping, elegant cafes, friendly people-you will love being there.