My husband and I will be flying into Pisa from the USA enroute to a wedding in Florence.
We're arriving at 11:30 AM and were planning on spending the night in Pisa then heading onto Florence the next morning. We've been to Pisa twice already and after reading posts about Pisa, I didn't know it was worth the extra travel leg to go to Lucca for the night, and then onto Pisa.

We're travelling without our children and will be beseiged with relatives once we hit Florence, so we wanted to make the most of it

Any thoughts appreciated.




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If you've been to Pisa twice and have second thoughts about returning, I'd say visit someplace new. Lucca would be fine. There are some spas in the area-maybe you should stay in one of those in preparation for the relative deluge!

Lucca is a lovely walled city with great food and drink; that's where I'd stay!

Hi pr,

Lucca is a very pleasant town.

Take a stroll or bike around the walls, see the town, do an overnight there.

hi phirsch,

I had a quick look at www.trenitalia.it and found that there are trains every 30 mins or so to Lucca from Pisa centrale; from the airport you wil have to change trains of course.

the whole journey should only take about 45 mins.

DH and I were distinctly underwhelmed by Lucca but that was 25 years ago. many posters here rave about it, so I reckon we missed something. were I you, I'd give it a try. what's to lose?

regards, ann

Many thanks. This is becoming a no brainer.

Any thoughts on where to stay in Lucca?

can't help you there.

we stayed about an hour, and decided it wasn't for us.

we were youg[er] and foolish then.

regards, ann

I stayed at the Universo in Lucca a few weeks ago. Perfect location, right on a main piazza, which I hear can be quite noisy in the evening in the summertime, but the room was lovely and quite large (comparatively speaking), and the bathroom was huge. The hotel has gotten poor reviews in the past, but they've been under new management the past year or two, and have really done a nice job. I would highly recommend the hotel.

www.universolucca.com

Look at Palazzo Alexander or Piccolo Puccini.

Here's a great B&B in the center of Lucca-

http://www.laromea.com/

I agree with annhig but, as she said, others love it. We had just come from Siena and thought Lucca paled in comparison but this was just us.

In the meantime, Google "spas near lucca" and you'll see plenty of places in the area.

3 years ago I stayed at la Romea, and really liked it. This year we are traveling with friends and decided to stay at a hotel which recently opened, San Luca Palace. It gets good reviews in Tripadvisor.

I took a day trip to Lucca and regretted taking the time away from Florence.

I'm with TDudette and Annhig, but to each his/her own.

FWIW, I found Montecatini Terme much more interesting. It's actually two towns: the resort town famous for its Liberty architecture, thermal baths and spas and the older Montecatini Alto reached by funicular from Terme.