Anyone been to Lucca?

[tuscansun]

Fabulous, gorgeous city...nothing like it....if you can, do it. What a gem.

[patrickmoran]

Calenita,

How much was the taxi to Pisa/Lucca?

[Muncka]

I was just reading about Lucca and this might be an alternative for us instead of Florence. We have three children- 13, 12 and 8 so want stuff which will be fun for them. The walled city sounded fun. Just wondering logistically how it worked for others. Thinking of doing Pisa and Lucca by train. Thanks all.

Debbi

 

We have been to Lucca and took a ship's tour which was a walking one. It is a walled city and a wonderfully quaint town - narrow streets, markets, piazzas with churches and the feel of it all is great. I would go there again. You pass the leaning Tower of Pisa while traveling there.

Last year when our ship stopped in Livorno, we took the ship tour to Florence which took approx. 2 1/2 hrs. by bus. Tour included Pisa. Now, Florence tour was a whirlwind (this was in October after the tourist season but I think every season is tourist season there.) It was very crowded with other tours. We had a problem with some folks on our tour that kept getting lost therefore we lost a lot of sightseeing time waiting for them.

We had a great lunch at a hotel restaurant. Our guide was very savy - she handed out a card that listed the name of the restaurant on it and if anyone started to wander and got lost they were to just call a cab and meet us there. Well, one lady had to do that. So, it's a great idea. You would have to keep good track of your kids just making sure they stayed near you and didn't wander because of crowds and such. There ages seem appropriate for a tour like this. It is worth it to go and see Florence but I guess I would go again when I stayed there and had more time to explore and sight see.

Now, the Leaning Tower of Pisa was great to see and the Baptistry. There are a lot of shopping tents there for souveniers but other than that, not much else. Folks had warned us of that but we really liked seeing the leaning tower etc.

Hope this helps.

Linda