Happenings of Hayley

I am a firm believer that if you dropped a pin into anywhere in Italy that you’ll find a beautiful, picturesque place – and Lucca is certainly one of these.

Lucca is located in the ever popular region of Tuscany, only 30 minutes on the train from Pisa (which is the nearest airport).

This has a special place in my heart as my first trip abroad was to this region of Italy, and whilst we were staying in the nearby village of Boveglio, we would visit Lucca almost every day.

Known for the well-preserved Renaissance walls encircling its historic city center and its cobblestone streets, the city is also home to picture-perfect streets and vibrant piazzas.

Here are some of the very best things to do in Lucca:

1. Cycle the city walls

The walls that encircle the city are not just for viewing, you can walk or cycle the entire circumference and be blessed with great views as you go.

You can rent a bike from many different places in the city, and for 3 hours we paid only 15 Euros for two bikes.

As you ride there are many sites to stop and see, such as:

• The passages beneath the bastions, such as the Baluardo San Paolino
• The Orto Botanico di Lucca (botanical gardens)
• Views of the Campanile del Duomo di San Martino

2. Have a drink in the many piazzas

If you’ve been to Italy before, you’ll know there are many piazzas to take a seat, have some food, or just a drink, and watch the world go by.

It was actually in Lucca that as a family of four, 22 years ago, that we sat eating out pizzas, then playing cards until gone midnight. I was 9 and my brother was 7, and there were children our age and younger running around and enjoying life. It was glorious.

The most popular piazza in Lucca is unique in it’s design as it’s an oval shape, rather than the traditional square or rectangle. Piazza dell’Anfiteatro sits in the north of the city and it’s here you’ll see pastel yellow buildings surround the square, with many restaurants and bars to choose from.

In the centre of the square, you’ll find the restaurants to be quite touristy, so it’s probably better to go outside of the piazza, but as our hotel owner said, they are still good Italian food!

Other notable piazzas in Lucca include:

• Piazza Napoleone
• Piazza San Michele
• Piazza del Giglio

3. Visit the two Torres

No visit to Italy is complete without seeing the views on offer, and with Lucca, you are treated to the familiar terracotta rooftops often seen in Tuscany.

Two of the best places to see these stunning views are towers, or Torres – the Torre delle Ore and the Torre Guinigi.

As a child we climbed up the Torre delle Ore, but never the other, so on this trip we made a point to do both!

Both of them offer different highlights:

• Torre Guinigi has oak trees growing at the top, which is not exactly your typical feature of a tower, so this in itself is very cool to experience
• The Torre delle Ore therefore has a view OF the “tree tower” – kind of the same as actually seeing the Empire State Building from another building, it’s better to not be in it

4. Take a day trip to Bologna

Being in the heart of Tuscany, Lucca, just like other cities in this region, has a great trainline with links to plenty of other places, one of which is the ever-popular Bologna.

We felt this was an easy trip to do in a day, so we hopped on the train (which took just over 2 hours) and explored the food capital of Italy.

As it is known as exactly that, we made sure to check out some of the popular eateries, which included:

• Osteria dell’Orsa – enjoy the traditional ragu bolognese in this hip part of the city, often frequented by students
• Cremaria La Vecchia Stalla – gelato to DIE FOR. There will be queues but it’s worth it
• Via Pescherie Vecchie – this street has the best fresh fruit stalls, sandwich shops and other delis. Try Bar Ferri for traditional Crescentina, a deep-fried dough bread sandwich with mortadella and cheese

5. Try some delicious traditional Tuscan food

It’s no secret that Tuscan food is some of the best in the country, beaten perhaps only by food from the Emilia Romagna region.

As someone that spent my pre-teen and then early teen years travelling to Italy with my family, and mainly visiting Tuscany (once we did a quick visit to some places in Umbria), their food has become some of my favourites!

And in Lucca, you’ll find no shortage of amazing places to eat. And what is perhaps better about places like Lucca is that because the city is much smaller and far less visited than the likes of Florence or even Pisa, there’s an authenticity about where you eat.

We had two meals in Lucca and enjoyed them both immensly:

• Gigi Trattoria
• Trattoria da Giulio

And some of the best meals to try when in Tuscany include:

• Pappardelle al cinghiale – the favoured pasta of Tuscany with a delicious ragu typically consisting of wild boar
• Bistecca alla Fiorentina – Florence-style beef steak
• Pecorino – this is THE CHEESE when in Tuscany. It’s my firm favourite when back at home too
• Salame Toscano – a traditional Tuscan salami produced with pork’s ham, shoulder, lean belly, lard, and spices

6. Take a day trip to Pisa

You’ll most likely be flying into Pisa when you visit Lucca, like we did, and so it makes sense to leave Lucca a little early on your last day (permitting you have a later flight of course) and pay a visit to Pisa.

The things to do in Pisa don’t really need to be said, but I’m going to say it for the blog post’s sake….

The Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Nothing has changed about this place from when I first visited in 2004, except perhaps more selfie sticks and tripods.

It’s busy, everyone is doing that pose, and the queues for tickets up the tower are vast. It was the same 22 years ago.

We visited the tower because Sam had never seen it, and you can’t deny that it’s a sight to behold! BUT, don’t miss out on the rest of Pisa!

From here it’s a 30 minute (ish) walk into the city centre and river and as soon as you step away from the crowds of the tower, you begin to see the true Pisa, a place of deep orange buildings, incredible churches and a lovely river setting.

Some sights worth seeing include:

• Via Santa Maria – this street comes straight from the tower
• Idee In Circolo – quaint park and garden
• Via San Frediano – best street for shops, bars and restaurants
• Piazza dei Cavalieri – a very lovely piazza to watch the world go by

And the best thing about Pisa is that from the centre you can actually walk straight to the airport! It’s only another 20 minutes, and gosh is it such a novelty to be able to walk straight to catch your plane – no faffing about with public transport (which is of course there if you want to use it).