Several old college friends and I are staying in Lucca in early July 2007. None of us has been to this part of Italy before. I'd really appreciate any suggestions on interesting places to visit and non-touristy places to eat (if that's realistic). Fairly short trip for some of us. Fun and chatty group but not "ugly Americans". Thank you!

meredith,

Our favorite restaurant in Lucca is Buca di Sant'Antonio...we've eaten there several times and it has always been wonderful. Lucca is a great place to stay!

meredith,
Take a look at http://www.knowital.com/html/homepag...tal._lucca.php

Henry

We loved this restaurant. Stopped in early in the day to make a reservation. It filled up immediately at the opening time, so the reservation was essential. Then the power went off, so we spent an intimate friendly evening with other diners. The food was delicious.

Trattoria da Leo
Via Tegrimi, 1
Lucca
Tel. (0583) 492236
Fax (0583) 495321

Lucca is great. I also liked Trattoria da Leo, Ristorante Giglio ( in Piaza del Giglio), Osteria Baralla (in Via Amphiteatro), Canuleia ( Via Canuleia).

Enjoy!

I loved Lucca and one of the highlights was renting bikes and cycling around the walls. You can rent at a few places, I think we rented them from the Tourist Office. We went around a couple of times about 7kms each time from memory. With a group this would be a heap of fun. There are also some interesting villas you see from the walls, could be worth investigating trying to get in to see them if possible. Lucca has a great "feel" to it, enjoy.
Schnauzer

That's a great website for Lucca, Henry. Thanks for posting it.

Thanks so much to all of you for the great suggestions!