Hi, everyone! We're planning a month-long stay in Italy and are trying to decide where to base ourselves. At first we were only considering Lucca, but we're starting to think about Arezzo. Anyone have any strong feelings on one versus another? We'd like to be able to do day trips and don't plan to rent a car for the whole time, so we'll be relying mostly on trains and buses.

Thanks in advance for your help.

I have not been to either place but our daughter, son-in-law, and their 2 children, ages 5.5 years and 3.5 years, are finishing up a 3-week stay in Lucca. They love it!!! They rented a very nice apartment overlooking the main square. I don't know if you are traveling with young children or not. Our daughter told us Lucca is perfect for what they were looking for. There is a wall around the city with lots of greenery and bike paths and walking paths. Playgrounds for the children. Restaurant workers are very friendly. They were on first name basis with our daughter and her family.

Lucca is a great location for day trips. However, they didn't do as many daytrips as originally planned because it was exhausting for our grandchildren. I know they visited Pisa for a day, which was mobbed. They decided not to go to Florence because they thought it would be too much for their children but Florence is only an hour away. They visited hot springs and some mountain villages and a beach. They visited Volterra, San Giminamo, visited a winery in Montecarlo, Barga, and the beach day was at Viareggio, and visited caves at Grotto Axel Vento.

Hope this helps. I know people with children are looking for something different than people without children. but I think Lucca would be perfect for any age group.

Thanks for your response. No, no kids, just two adults in their late 60's. Do you know if they used trains or buses for day trips, or did they rent a car?

I love Lucca, staying inside the walls. However Arezzo is much better for day trips as it is more centrally located while Lucca is on far side of Tuscany. We always have a car rental in Tuscany, best for exploring.

I haven't stayed in Lucca but visited it a few times. It has just never clicked with me the way it has apparently appealed to others.

I really like Arezzo, especially on the days of the monthly antiques fairs (first Sunday and the Saturday preceding). A huge, annual antiques market is held in the fall around mid-October. There is a regular market day mid-week. Arezzo is also known for its goldsmithing... it's called the City of Gold.

They rented a car. They said the driving was very easy.

I have stayed in both Arezzo and Lucca, no car. I didn't really like Lucca much, but of course those kinds of impressions are subjective. I arrived in Lucca after visiting Ferrara, which I loved and was far less touristy, so Lucca to me was kind of a letdown. Arezzo is pretty good for daytrips by train, I think, although I found enough to do and see there that I ended up not taking any.

I should have asked: what other towns do you want to see while you are in Tuscany? That might make it easier for you to choose a base.

I’ll be in Lucca in July for a few nights. Could you share info about the hot springs your daughter enjoyed, KarenWoo? I’m interested in experiencing that, too, while I’m there. Grazie!

Nylilly, the natural hot springs are in Terme di Pitrioli.
https://www.termepetriolo.it/

I agree with it. Arezzo is located near by the A1 motorway and, by train, you can easly reach Florence, Rome, Bologna..
When are you planning to come in Italy?

Not until September 2024, so we have a lot of time to plan.

I enjoyed my stay in Lucca, but it was an 'against the grain' kind of stay. The bus hordes descend west of the center than follow a common ant path to the common sights. Stayed near the station but rented a bike, which lets you ride all the way round the top of the city wall for perspective, but also approach the center from the south and east, ducking and wandering where the tourists don't, but then still enjoy the top attractions, and slink away if it ever gets to be too much. (That said, the biking in Ferrara is really fun!)

I have only been to Lucca, which didn't thrill me. I certainly wouldn't stay there for any length of time. From what I've seen of Arezzo, it looks lovely.

Hmmm? I wonder if April/May is too early for many tourists to come to Lucca. Our daughter told us they have not seen that many tourists. They didn't do as many daytrips as planned because it has been less crowded in Lucca and easier for their children to manage. OTOH, Pisa was MOBBED with tourists.

If you are looking for a more relaxed and laid-back atmosphere, then Lucca may be a better choice for you. If you are looking for a city with more to see and do, then Arezzo may be a better choice for you.

Ferrara is really the best especially with a bike, on top of the town, you have easy access to the Po river bicycle network which takes you straight into some nature conservation areas. Local Office of Tourism is so clued into this they sell/give away (I forget) paper maps that clip onto handle bars, really easy, plus all the older locals live on bikes.

We spent several days in Lucca about 10 years ago. I liked the city, but we didn't do many day trips. Other than Pisa and Florence, there weren't many interesting nearby places to visit, even though we had our car. I think the Cinque Terre is pretty accessible from there, but we had no interest in going there.

Arezzo sounds much better for your purposes. There are good train connections to Rome and Florence, as well as to lesser-known places such as Ovieto, Assisi, Perugia, and Spello. There are also connections by bus or train to various towns on Lake Trasimeno.

With a car, there are many possibilities in Tuscany, Umbria, and Le Marche. Most places in Tuscany would be better visited by car. In Tuscany, you can reach Cortina, Montepulciano, and Pienza in an hour more or less, and Montalcino is just a little farther.

Gubbio, in Umbria, is a charming town, and you could pass Lake Trasimeno on the way. Also in Umbria, Todi and Ovieto are less than a two-hour drive. (Ovieto can also be reached by train, where a cable car can take you up to the town.)

I live in Le Marche, and some of the most scenic road trips I've ever taken are on roads that connect to Arezzo. In 2 hours, you can arrive in Urbino, passing through so many beautiful spots that I would recommend a multi-day trip. Another very scenic route passes through Gubbio, to arrive in Fabriano in less than two hours, again with multiple worthwhile stopovers. If you want to make one of these road trips, I can help you with places to stop over, because this area is off the tourist radar.

There is a very beautiful uncontaminated natural park, the Park of Sasso Simone e Simoncello, partly in Le Marche and partly in Emilia Romagna, that can be reached in less than two hours by car from Arezzo. The town of Pennabilli, on the edge of this park, in Emilia Romagna, is enchanting. We spent several days in this area, and I've always wanted to go back for a longer visit, but we haven't made it yet.

If you want to make numerous train trips, try to stay within walking distance of the station, which is fairly close to the center. I'm sure there are many bus trip possibilities to some of the places I've mentioned as car trips, but researching them is tedious. Once you've decided on your location, I could research a few possibilities that interest you.

One of Italy's most important Renaissance painters, Piero della Francesca, was born in San Sepulcro, near Arezzo. A number of his paintings and frescoes are still in those places. In the Basilica of San Francesco, in Arezzo, you can see his magnificent fresco cycle, "the Legend of the True Cross."