kybourbon

>>>There's luggage storage in Lucca for while you tour the town.<<

Is there? Not saying there isn't, but had not thought there was.<<<

I'm surprised. Is it provided by someone other than Trenitalia?

>>>plus the walls sound interesting and it seems like a good stopping point between the CT and Tuscany.<<<

It's not really if you are using public transport. You would have to pass through Pisa coming back from CT. You could check your luggage there at Pisa Centrale (Lucca is 20-25 minutes by train) if you were planning to pick your car up at Pisa airport (5 minutes from Pisa Centrale).

I would drop a night from CT and add to Tuscany. Drop your car at Chiusi or Orvieto (after driving through scenic southern Tuscany) and hop the train into Rome.

If you didn't want to stay at the train station, you could stay somewhere in Trastevere. You can catch the local train to the airport at Trastevere station.

sandralist

kybourbon,

I can't tell from your post if you are re-posting my question about left luggage at the Lucca train station because you have the same question or are asking me a question. Jamikins has posted that there is left luggage at the Lucca station, which surpised me because I don't remember ever seeing it, but I have not been at the Lucca train station for some years.

jent103

This is all hugely helpful - thanks, all! sandralist, I'll make sure to find those TA forums - that sounds like a great resource. Good to know about the automatic car rental.

We're not at all opposed to spending a little more if it gets us a better experience; staying near Termini would be more about convenience than cost. I did think I remembered that there was a train from Trastevere as well, and I liked that area when we were there last time, so definitely something to check out! Our flight out from FCO isn't until 11:20am, so it's not like we need to be at the airport at the crack of dawn.

I'd kept two days in CT because it seemed like one day to hike and one day to explore the towns would be good, but also to give us a couple of days to play with in case the weather was iffy on one of them. But I'm still pondering it!

kybourbon

I connected two people's comments about luggage storage in Lucca as I've never heard of Trenitalia having it there. I assume it must be provided by someone else and not in the station as typical of Trenitalia's luggage facilities. Hence the question. I wouldn't want to drag my luggage to Lucca for no reason if picking up a car in Pisa anyway. I would store it at Pisa Centrale just to avoid taking it on two train rides since they only plan to spend a few hours in Lucca.

>>>I liked that area when we were there last time, so definitely something to check out! Our flight out from FCO isn't until 11:20am, so it's not like we need to be at the airport at the crack of dawn.<<<

I was just trying to give another option with easy train access to the airport other than Termini. The train from Trastevere is a local train that departs every 15 minutes and costs 8€. It starts about 5:30 am and travel time is 27 minutes to the airport. If you were to stay in the area of Trastevere somewhere between Ponte Sisto and Ponte Sublicio, you could make use of tram 8 to get to the Trastevere station or to cross the river (it ends at Piazza Venezia).

http://atac.roma.it/files/doc.asp?r=5

From Chiusi or Orvieto to Trastevere you would take the train to Rome Tiburtina and change to the train to Rome Trastevere (1€). It's the FL1 listed on this map (you might see it listed as FR1 or FM1 on some old posts).

http://atac.roma.it/files/doc.asp?r=4

Of course, staying along the tram line across the river would also give you fairly easy access to the airport. The tram doesn't run quite as often on Sundays though.

http://viaggiacon.atac.roma.it/?serv...=8&percorso=8A

Mimar

Re: luggage storage in Lucca. The TI in Piazzale Verdi has luggage storage. More conveniently, just outside the train station there's a bike rental place that offers baggage storage -- as described by jamikins above.

sandralist

I think I might wait to see what the weather is to decide which day to visit Lucca. If there are 3 nights in le Cinque Terre, it might make sense to go to Lucca on the way to le Cinque Terre (stowing the luggage in Lucca) and then pick up a car in Pisa and head off into the scenic hills with Lucca having been done already. This might especially work well if rain is clearlng out of the area and the best days there will be the last 2 days there.

But if it looks like brilliantly sunny weather in le Cinque Terre right from the get-go, then carpe diem and head straight to le Cinque Terre without stopping in Lucca, and see it after picking up the car in Pisa.

One more question about the left luggage options in Lucca is whether they are open continuously, or if they close for lunch.

bvlenci

The National Park of the Cinque Terre keeps this trail map and legend pretty much up to date:

http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/s...sp?id_lingue=2

Parts of the coastal trails have been closed for some time, maybe since the devastating floods in 2011, because of the risk of landslides. There have also been smaller floods since then, and each year seems to bring severe winter storms these days, so the problem is becoming chronic. The higher trails often involve climbing and on the average are not as easy. The trail map has a difficulty rating, and an estimate of the time out and the time back. If you don't like climbing, you might want to go in the direction that has the lower time estimate. If you click on a particular trail, it will give you a description of it.

bvlenci

The tourist office of Lucca mentions a left-luggage facility, but it doesn't seem to be affiliated with Trenitalia. The hours and prices are here:

http://www.touristcenterlucca.com/se...li.php?quale=2

I like Lucca quite a lot, myself. We once spent three or four days there when we were doing a car tour of Tuscany. We've been there other times as well; whenever we're nearby we like to stop there. Other than the wall, it has no huge tourist attractions, but it's a relaxed and liveable city.

bvlenci

Sorry, I didn't see the earlier response about luggage storage. Here's the tourist office page about the bike rental.

http://www.touristcenterlucca.com/index.php?lang=en

The Italian version of the page has a lot more information. You might want to click on the Italian flag, and if you can't read Italian, paste the URL into translate.google.com .

jent103

Thanks, guys!

Since we don't plan to overnight in Lucca, I imagine our plans there will be semi-spontaneous depending on our whims and the weather. It's not a top priority, just on the list of places to see.

Thanks so much for the Trastevere details, kybourbon. We fly out of Rome on a Thursday, so won't need the tram on Sunday.

Those links are great, bvlenci - thank you!