nanasmoney

We are staying in Lucca for 10 days and hope to absorb as much of the life there as we can...we love to go to the markets, cook in our villa, etc.

That said, we have plans to spend two days in Florence, one morning in Pisa, and one long day in Siena. We are looking for one more day trip to fill out the plan. The thoughts so far are...Volterra, San Gimi, and Pistoia. Are there any town within 90 minutes of Lucca that we are missing?

To help you...we are a group of seven, various ages (9-60)...who love to eat good meals, see something very different from Ohio, and not be trampled by crowds. I have to admit (I know it's a sin, don't kill me, LOL) that most of us - excepting my mother - have no appreciation of museums. We love our churches, but frescoe after frescoe, and painting after painting, makes us sleepy! (I'd only admit that here, LOL)

All that said, any suggestions?

bobthenavigator

Castelnuova Garfagnana & Barga.

SusanEva

I suspect many will advise San Gimignano, but we spent less time there than anticipated, because there seemed to be too many people visiting at the same time. If you stop there, my favorite experience was touring Sant'Agostino, which has great frescoes by Gozzoli. We had a guided tour by one of the Augustinian brothers who explained the frescoes and the life of Saint Augustine. (The brothers had just begun doing these tours when we visited about 2 years ago, hope they are still doing so.)

We really enjoyed the town of Volterra - definately off the beaten track for most tourists and a great town for walking around, seeing sights, eating & shopping. The town is surrounded by Etruscan walls, as you walk around them (I believe on the north and west side) you realize that the town is set upon a high escarpment and you have great vista across to smaller villages and fields below. There are also ruins of a Roman theatre and baths, an Etruscan museum, and medieval times are well represented by the Piazza and Palazzo dei Priori.

Volterra is known for the roast boar and wild game used in its cooking - but I wasn't brave enough to try. It is also known for alabaster; purchased some very simple and beautiful white bowls for under $10 US.

Sounds like you have a wonderful time planned for Lucca!

Marko

We spent a very enjoayable day in Volterra in 2000, the Etruscan museum wasn't too bad and the tortoises wandering around the grounds kept the kids amused. We had a great lunch, can't remember the name but I had "Cingale" ...wild boar in a very robust sauce, and I remember the chianti went down a treat with it ! There are some great views from the walls as well and parking wasn't difficult as there is quite a large underground car park !!

LoveItaly

Hi nanasmoney, you might be interested in reading an article that was published in the SF Chronical last year regarding lovely day trips from Lucca. If you go to www.sfgate.com and click on Travel and in the search box type in Lucca, Italy you will see the first article was written by Mick LaSalle on July 10, 05. I think this article would give you some very interesting ideas for gentle daytrips while you are in Lucca. Best wishes for a wonderful time, you are staying in a special city.

nanasmoney

Thanks for all the great replies! Wonderful article, LoveItaly!