Is a daytrip from Florence to both places in one day feasible? Or too much?

It's do-able but you would have to leave Florence very early. It's only an hour from Florence to Pisa. You can easily see everything in a couple of hours. Then on the way back it's only about a half hour to Lucca. The thing about Lucca is, yes you can enjoy it for a half day, but, you could also spend a couple of days there.

I agree with Ann1

I think so, easily.

Yes, I agree with Ann1 too. I drove from Camogli to Siena with a stop in both Pisa and Lucca in once day. My regret is that I did not have more time to spend in Lucca, as I wanted to get to Siena before sundown, and therefore had to rush through Lucca. Ann1's suggestion to leave early is definitely true, as parking around the Piazza dei Miracoli can get hairy later in the day (assuming you will be driving). Do the requisite tours there, and then I suggest you head to Lucca for lunch. The area around the Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa is overwhelmingly touristy, and
I found it hard to find a good meal for a decent price. Lucca, on the other hand, was much more charming and seemed to have much better eating choices.

Actually, Pisa being touristy doesn't turn me off. Quite the contrary. Extreme tackiness and kitch is can be great fun. If I didn't want avoid touristy places, I'd be visiting Bangeldesh instead of Italy.

However, it sounds like we should go to Lucca first. We can then decide whether to spend all day there or try to fit in Pisa.

Why drive? The public transportation connections are very good. I understand that the bus from Florence to Lucca is more convenient than the train because it takes you straight into the city.

I wholeheartedly agree - half the fun I had in Pisa was shopping in the souveneir stands surrounding the Leaning Tower. My friends all loved the leaning shot glasses and David boxer shorts I brought home for them all. I just had a problem finding a decent lunch spot and ending up eating a crappy sandwich at an inflated price.

And do take public transport, since as I said the parking is horrendous in Pisa. Public transport was not an option for me.

I actually had the same question. I would definitly take public transportation. So would bus or train be better? Also, does it make sense to go to Pisa, then go on to Lucca and if I really like Lucca return on a second day? The other option is to take one day for each. Thanks.

We took the bus to Lucca from Florence in June. It took a little over an hour and was more comfortable than the train. We found Lucca to be deserted and most things were closed. The restaurants that were open seemed more expensive than the ones in Florence. We walked to the train station in Lucca and caught a train on to Pisa. We got off at the station closest to the tower and walked over, took our pics and bought sterling tower charms. We also discovered that the Il Papiro across the street had cheaper prices than the one in Florence. We caught the bus to the main train station and got a train back to Florence.

The trains from Florence to Lucca make lots of stops so it is better to take the bus. The train from Pisa back to Florence took about an hour and doesn't make alot of stops.

Yes, it is doable but not advisable if you want to enjoy either place. Lucca takes at least a full day just to walk around and get a visual sense. Pisa does not take so long if you just want to see the tower and cathedral. But, again if you want to see more, it takes a few hours. You may want to check out my website which has pictures and info about both places as well as other parts of Tuscany. If so, the address is: http://www.janeandken.com/Italy2003/Italy2003.html That takes you to a 2003 report. There is a link there that goes to a 2001 report, again with pictures and recommendations. Hope it helps.

Thanks for te advice janelp. We had actually decided to go to Lucca for only part of day so that we could avoid enjoying it. With any luck, we'll absolutely hate it.

It was was either that or quit my job so we could take the 2 years required to properly enjoy every Italian town, village and hamlet that someone says is paradise on earth.

Janelp - I went to your website, and although I found it very iteresting, other than one photo of the leaning tower of pisa, I couldn't find anything about either Pisa or Lucca. Can you direct me how to find that info. I think I looked at all of both your 2001 and 2003 trips but obviously I must have missed it. Thanks.

It would be more convenient to take train from Florence to Pisa, than take bus(a bus stop right in front of Duomo) to Lucca (The bus terminal is inside the walled town,the train station is further out). There are frequent direct buses from Lucca to Florence.

Burger - You are tooo funny!! There were six of us that went to Lucca and none of us cared for it!! LOL We just intended to use Lucca as a dining spot on the way to Pisa to let my daughter see the tower. We thought we would get a nice meal there but nothing was open. I guess Lucca wasn't at all what I expected. I think we left Florence at 2 and got to Lucca about 3. We walked around about an hour trying to find a restaurant open, ate and left. It's your trip - do what YOU want to do!! We were back in Florence by 9:30 or 10.