Driving from Lucca to Pisa and back
 

We'll be in Lucca early July and had planned to get a car at the end of our stay to drive through Tuscany for an additional 5 days. Now we are thinking about picking our car up a day early (since we are paying by the week anyway so it wouldn't cost more) and thought we could drive to Pisa instead of taking the bus or train. Does anyone recommend this, think it's a bad idea, or think it doesn't matter either way? Pricewise, there will be 4 of us so the one night of parking in Lucca will probably even out with the train/bus savings.

What are the logistics of driving to Pisa, parking near the tower, any dangers of inadvertently driving into a ZTL coming into Pisa, etc? Any tips for us?

And where can we park in Lucca overnight?

Thanks!

On our last visit to Pisa, we tried to determine the exact boundaries of the ZTL in Pisa for a driving approach from Lucca--and gave up. We took the bus there and the train back--very easy and convenient. I have previously had a bad encounter (unwittingly) with a late arriving ZTL ticket after a visit to Pisa via the autostrada--I still don't know where we crossed into the forbidden territory.

With four of you, I'm sure the car is economically a better call--but be very careful as there is definitely a ZTL factor which will wipe out any savings. Good luck!

We drove from Lucca to Pisa and parked in a public car park about half a mile from the Piazza dei Miracoli and the Leaning Tower.

There is no need to drive further into the town itself. The car park was clearly signed.

I don't know what a ZTL is but I can tell you that last year we rented a villa near Lucca and drove all over the area without any trouble. The drive from Lucca to Pisa is easy, parking was easy and the town is, believe it or not, more than the Piazza Dei Miracoli! You can get there (Pisa) from Lucca in less than an hour and have the day to wander about and enjoy other areas of the town. In fact, when we rented the villa, as we flew into Pisa 2 days before our villa was available we stayed 2 nights in Pisa. I had people telling me there we no good hotels in Pisa and it was not worth staying there so we were advised to book the hotel in Lucca! Fortunately I ignored that advice and we stayed at a lovely hotel in Pisa (Hotel Bologna) and found Pisa, with it's vibrant university, botanical gardens, great shops and lively nightlife to be a place we want to return to.
SO - yes, drive yourselves to Pisa and have fun!! BTW - we travel about Italy with our trusty TomTom Eu programed GPS which i will admit does help...

Its pretty much a straight shot driving from Lucca to Pisa -- the Piazza dei Miracoli is on the north side of the city (in the Lucca direction) and there are big parking lots nearby.

You can walk to the old town center (and to the university) from the tower area. So just park the car for the day and explore.

Sounds like getting the car a day daly is the consensus. Thanks for the advice. Do we follow signs to the Piazza die Miracoli or are there different signs to look for? If we just follow those signs will we avoid the ZTL? Don't want any unpleasant surprises!