My wife and I will be spending a day in Lucca on June 14. Can someone guide me on what to do,see and where to eat. Thank you

I'd love to help you but am so frustrated by this Fodor's site and how slow it is. We have family outside of Lucca and know the area well. Perhaps you'd like to contact me directly and I will give you info. Your aol address above is not valid. It's a great city--one of the best in Tuscany and if Fodor's would get their act together I could tell more people about lUcca!

I'd love to help you but am so frustrated by this Fodor's site and how slow it is. We have family outside of Lucca and know the area well. Perhaps you'd like to contact me directly and I will give you info. Your aol address above is not valid. It's a great city--one of the best in Tuscany and if Fodor's would get their act together I could tell more people about lUcca!

I'd love to help you but am so frustrated by this Fodor's site and how slow it is. We have family outside of Lucca and know the area well. Perhaps you'd like to contact me directly and I will give you info. Your aol address above is not valid. It's a great city--one of the best in Tuscany and if Fodor's would get their act together I could tell more people about lUcca!

I'd love to help you but am so frustrated by this Fodor's site and how slow it is. We have family outside of Lucca and know the area well. Perhaps you'd like to contact me directly and I will give you info. Your aol address above is not valid. It's a great city--one of the best in Tuscany and if Fodor's would get their act together I could tell more people about lUcca!

I'd love to help you but am so frustrated by this Fodor's site and how slow it is. We have family outside of Lucca and know the area well. Perhaps you'd like to contact me directly and I will give you info. Your aol address above is not valid. It's a great city--one of the best in Tuscany and if Fodor's would get their act together I could tell more people about lUcca!

I'd love to help you but am so frustrated by this Fodor's site and how slow it is. We have family outside of Lucca and know the area well. Perhaps you'd like to contact me directly and I will give you info. Your aol address above is not valid. It's a great city--one of the best in Tuscany and if Fodor's would get their act together I could tell more people about lUcca!

Lucca is a lovely, gracious city and you will wish you had more time there. Either walk the two and a half mile wall around the city or, better still, rent a bicycle near one of the entrances and ride this beautiful trail that looks over into the town. Visit Puccini's birthplace if you are an opera fan -- his small home has been turned into a gem of a museum. Shop the Via Fillunga, stop for coffee at Di Simo Caffe, walk the town with a good map and savor the beauty of its piazzas and architecture. Have a mid-day meal at Il Giglio, next door to the Universo Hotel, and dinner at Buca di Sant'Antonio, and take a lovely evening stroll. This is a town of true beauty -- try to drink in as much of it as you can.

OK, here goes--stream of conciousness, but from the heart:

My husband's family lives just north of Lucca in the Garfagnana, an area much like Big Sur would be in California. Beautiful, remote and very non touristy. Lucca is a wonderful small city: two good churches--the Duomo has the Volto Santo--ask for the legend of how it came to Lucca--and the church of S. Michele, our favorite with the typical Lucchese facade and built on the old Roman forum (Luca as the Romans spelled it was the site of the formation of the First Triumverate among Ceasar, Pompey, and that other guy). (There is also a wonderful elliptical piazza that was fromerly the Roman amphitheater--a great place to sit for a drink at one of the outdoor cafes--weather permittng!). There is a nice shoppng street for walking, looking and shopping (Finlunga) and a geat coffee bar/pasticceria that you must visit, Da Sima. Guinigi Tower is climbable for a beautiful view and remarkable because there are trees growing on the top. The city of Lucca was once given by Napoleon to his sister and she did a lot of preservation work. The old walls of the city are perfectly preserved and are now a pedestrian zone--great place for a walk or bike after lunch! Lucca is the home of Giacomo Puccini and his home (now a museum and worth a visit) is located across the street from our favorite restaurant in Lucca (and one of the best in Tuscany), the Buca di San Antonio. It's not cheap nor terribly expensive and you will have a memorable meal. If you want to save a bit of money on food in Italy, eat your main meal at lunch and then a small meal at dinner perhaps with capuccino and pastry afterward (never works for us though!). The super restaurant is called La Mora--it's about 5 miles North of Lucca in an old railroad station on the river--this one is expensive but worth it. Great Tuscan food. Just to the north of Lucca is the Garfagnana which you can drive into a bit as far as the main city of Castelnuovo di Garfagnana by following the Serchio River. If you do that, stop off at Barga, an old hill town with a cathedral at the top that you must wlak to but should see), and if you really have some time visit Il Ciocco, a hillside resort near Castelvecchio Pascoli (you'll see it in the distance from the cahedral in Barga and there are plenty of signs off the main road) that our cousins own--you'll be amazed at what you find there, including a 300 room resort overlooking the valley, an wonderful restaurant, and incredible views of the valley. Are you staying overnight?? Book now because there aren't a whole lot of hotels--Lucca's just not touristy and they like to keep it that way. Near Lucca, the Villa La Principessa is the best--not far from the walls, on the road from Pisa. Usually we stay with family at Il Ciocco so we're not so good on the hotels but we have stayed at Principessa and loved it. You can visit Villa Reale, again not far outside, and the former villa of Napoleon's sister (I think her name was Margharita??) Nearby to Lucca is Collodi which is the home of the Pinnochio puppet and you will see the dolls all over if you're shopping for any little ones. On the coast is Viareggio where Puccini died and a popular beach town (avoid in August, but there are some good hotels-try the Palace--alos owned by cousins so we're a little partial) and Forte dei Marmi--the very posh beach resort with very expensive but very good restaurants. Great seafood restaurants on the beach--pick any of them between Viareggio and Forte (Ariston is one). I would tell you to buy any gold jewelry you might want in Lucca, but Arezzo is the goldsmith's town. Prices are good in Lucca though. Lucca is quiet, sophisticated and non touristy. If you like to get away from the souvenir shops of Pisa (which for us has only one attraction, the tower and church, plus the only international airport in the area), this is your place. I obviously know more about Lucca than anywhere else, but the Chianti area is great--Castellina in Chianti, Greve and Radda--visit a couple of the wineries--try Verrazzano, founded by the adventurer who discovered the Hudson River), San Gimignano is worth it but crowded, Siena (many people's favorite Tuscan City) is famous for its great piazza del campo, the Palio race run around the piazza on July 2 and August 16 each year, and its cathedral--we went to the Palio last year--don't be tempted unless you have Italian cousins to take you. It's not an easy tourist event and you need to be very young and adventerous to try it or stay away during that time. It was, however, one of the most breathtaking experiences of my life. Lakes are nice especially in summer--one of our favorite towns is Verona, like Lucca a walking city. One more suggestion for a simple meal in Lucca is Rusticanella--pizza etc. Lastly visit Montacino and Montepulciano if you have an interest in the Super Tuscan wines (Brunello and Vino Nobile being the ones featured in those towns). A good base for that is Locanda del'Amorosa, a former convent turned hotel that is a little town unto itself (called Sinalunga). That will lead you into Umbria which is a whole other story and another wonderful trip. Let me know if you need any more information.