Ideas for Florence Port

[OnWeGo]

Have been to Florence, Cinque Terre, Sienna and did a private tour of some of the hill towns of Tuscany. Haven't been to Lucca so we were thinking of a DIY trip there while in port in mid June. How feasible is this or are we better off to do a private tour which could include other places besides Lucca? We will be in port 7am to 7pm. Any other suggestions besides Lucca?

[CruiserBruce]

Some cruise lines pair Lucca and Pisa together.

[lisiamc]

Lucca can easily fill a whole day. We stayed there for two nights and managed to find lots to do. If it's a nice day, it's fun to rent bicycles and cycle all the way around the top of the city walls. We also climbed the Guinigi Tower, (with the oak trees growing on the top) visited the Duomo di San Martino, the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro, the Puccini Museum and the Palazzo Pfanner. There are many good restaurants with lovely food too.

[aohkay]

Lucca is beautiful and very walkable. There's lots of wonderful shops. We spent about 3 hours there and then carried on to a wine tour.

[World Gallery]

Lucca can easily fill a whole day. We stayed there for two nights and managed to find lots to do. If it's a nice day, it's fun to rent bicycles and cycle all the way around the top of the city walls. We also climbed the Guinigi Tower, (with the oak trees growing on the top) visited the Duomo di San Martino, the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro, the Puccini Museum and the Palazzo Pfanner. There are many good restaurants with lovely food too.

 

Thanks for posting this. I keep going back and forth about Lucca. My kids (11-18) definitely want to climb the Tower of Pisa and visit Pisa. We do not want to go to Florence and the company we think we are using, All Around Italy, does not do "Pisa only tours". They combine it with Lucca (as I think most tour companies do). I have read from some that they didn't like it, it was boring and others seem to love it, so I keep going back and forth for some reason. Do think we would not want to rent bikes after climbing the Tower of Pisa and the Guinigi tower though. Still wondering if my kids would like it?

[rlse9]

I agree, Lucca is a great place to spend a day, the views from the top of the tower are excellent, there are some nice churches, and the town in general is nice. Walking (or biking) around on top of the city walls is quite enjoyable. We had the best crepe I've ever had in Lucca, wish I knew the name of the place, it was on the street outside the city wall about a block down the street from the train station.

 

It is easy to do Lucca DIY and something I'd definitely recommend.

[euro cruiser]

You can find some information about Lucca, including things to do and a map, on this site (official city tourism site): http://www.comune.lucca.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/EN/IDPagina/6552

[lisiamc]

Thanks for posting this. I keep going back and forth about Lucca. My kids (11-18) definitely want to climb the Tower of Pisa and visit Pisa. We do not want to go to Florence and the company we think we are using, All Around Italy, does not do "Pisa only tours". They combine it with Lucca (as I think most tour companies do). I have read from some that they didn't like it, it was boring and others seem to love it, so I keep going back and forth for some reason. Do think we would not want to rent bikes after climbing the Tower of Pisa and the Guinigi tower though. Still wondering if my kids would like it?

 

I have climbed the Leaning Tower in Pisa, climbed the Guinigi tower in Lucca and walked completely around the walls in Lucca (because I'm not a very good cyclist) but not all in one day! Kids are pretty energetic, and might go for at least one tower and one bike ride, though.

 

If people find Lucca boring, then I'm not sure what they were looking for and didn't find. I like towns with a bit of history, beautiful churches, interesting buildings and museums and great food/wine. Lucca fits the bill for all of these things, and I find it charming. I hope you do as well.

[OnWeGo]

Thanks for the great feedback! Really wanted to try to see a new place even though we LOVED Florence. It looks like Lucca will be our "go to" place at this port stop.

 

I take it we can catch a train from Livorno to Lucca? Any idea how long it takes to get there?

[euro cruiser]

I take it we can catch a train from Livorno to Lucca? Any idea how long it takes to get there?

Total travel time by train is a little over an hour, give or take 10 - 15 minutes depending on your connection.

 

You take one train from Livorno to Pisa Centrale, where you change for the train to Lucca.