Best Things to Do in Lucca

Lucca, located just a few kilometres from Pisa, is one of Tuscany's best-kept secrets. With its medieval architecture, intact 16th century city walls and panoramic views from the city's towers, it offers some of the region's best attractions and is also an ideal place to visit on a day trip.

Some of the best things to see and do when discovering Lucca include visiting St Martin's Cathedral, taking a gastronomic tour of the wine route, touring the Casa del Boia, visiting the Giacomo Puccini Museum, swimming at Viareggio beach, seeing the Torre delle Ore and watching the sunset from the Magdalena Bridge.

The Cathedral of San Martino is one of the most representative Catholic temples in Tuscany and has a unique history. According to tradition, it was originally built by San Frediano, a saint from Lucca who lived in the 6th century. The current cathedral, which combines Gothic and Romanesque styles, was completed in the 11th century and is notable for its rose window, barrel vaults and the frescoes, sculptures and relics inside.

The Cathedral is one of the most popular sites for visitors as it reflects the history and culture of the city and is also a landmark of Tuscan religious architecture, so it is often included in the best tours of Lucca. If you visit the region in November, you can also take part in the patron saint festivities of St. Martin of Tours.

The church is located in front of Piazza Antelminelli, which is one of Lucca's most famous squares, so you can make the most of your visit by having lunch in one of the many bars and restaurants in the area.

Interesting details

• Price: The entrance ticket to visit the Cathedral of San Martino costs approximately 8 euros and includes a visit to the museum of the temple.
• Opening hours: daily from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm.
• Location: Piazza Antelminelli, Lucca.

One of the best ways to get to know the spirit of Tuscany is through its flavours, and Lucca is the ideal place to use as a base to get to know the vineyards and wineries of Chianti. On these excursions you can taste Tuscan wines and combine the experience with a gastronomic tour, as most of the tours include lunch.

From Lucca you can discover the vineyards of Chianti on bus tours or also on electric bike tours, which include wine tasting, cured meats, fresh pasta and traditional Italian desserts, such as tiramisu and homemade gelato, which is very popular in Cinque Terre.

These tours usually last about 4-5 hours, so they are compatible even with a short stay in the city. If that is your case, here is a list of the best things to do to discover Lucca in 1 day.

The Casa del Boia is one of Lucca's historic buildings and its fascinating history makes it a must-see in the city. This Renaissance building is ornamented with frescoes and sculptures and is named after a local myth that Tommaso Jona, a professional executioner who came from Rome, lived here and occupied the house, which became the centre of many historical events.

According to legend, the house is haunted and voices are heard at night, but it was also the site of meetings between Lucca's politicians and Benedetto Paltoni, the executioner who replaced Jona, and who initiated negotiations to abolish the death penalty, an event that took place in 1846, one year before the Italian reunification promoted by Giuseppe Garibaldi that reinstated national laws in the country.

Today, you can visit the museum of the Casa del Boia, take guided tours of the building and learn about its history, which is one of the most striking and curious in Lucca.

Interesting details

• Price: the entrance fee to visit the house is approximately 9 euros per person.
• Opening hours: daily from 10.00 am to 4.30 pm.
• Location: Via dei Bacchettoni 10, Lucca.

Lucca's architecture is notable for its medieval style and from the top of the Guinigi Tower, once one of the highest points in the city at 44 metres, it is possible to see the skyline and also the sun set if you visit late in the day and wait for sunset. Guinigi is actually a bell tower and its striking design is complemented by a wooded garden at the top.

There are many theories as to why the tower's builders included a wooded garden at the top and one theory suggests that it was an attempt to surpass in height the Torre delle Ore, then the highest point in Lucca, although it is possible that this was just a Renaissance distinction, as combining the urban with the rural was all the rage at the time of its construction.

Climbing the Guinigi Tower takes about 1 hour and involves a staircase of 230 steps, as there are no lifts available, so the organisers advise against visits by young children and people with reduced mobility.

Interesting details

• Price: The entrance fee to the top of the tower is approximately 5 euros.
• Opening hours: daily from 10.00 am to 7.30 pm.
• Location: Via Sant'Andrea 41, Lucca.

Giacomo Puccini is considered one of the greatest musical composers of all time and most of his work and personal items are currently housed in the Giacomo Puccini Museum, which is an exhibition dedicated to his life and work, which is also an exponent of the culture of Lucca, his hometown and where he began his career in the local orchestra.

Among the museum's exhibits you will find original scores and personal objects, photographs and historical documents about the composer's career, recordings and videos of Puccini's most famous operas such as La Boheme, Tosca and Madama Butterfly, musical instruments that were used by the musician during his childhood and many of the works of art that the composer acquired during his career.

The museum also offers educational programmes, workshops, children's activities and interactive guided tours, making it an excellent experience for the whole family, especially if you are a fan of Italian music and culture, as the work of Giacomo Puccini is an exponent of the history of Lucca, Tuscany and the country.

Interesting details

• Price: entrance to the museum costs approximately 9 euros per person and 7 euros for children under 12.
• Opening hours: daily from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm.
• Location: Corte S. Lorenzo 9, Lucca.

Viareggio beach is the main bathing area in the Lucca area and is not only one of the most visited beaches by locals but also by tourists, as many visitors from Pisa come to visit it, as it is noted for the many services it offers and because from there you can access some of the best scenery in Tuscany, especially from the lighthouse and the marina.

In the port area you will also find some of Lucca's best restaurants, where you can buy fresh fish and taste Tuscan wines, such as Chianti. From here you can also watch the sunset over the Ligurian Sea, which is one of the most beautiful on the Italian Riviera.

Summer is the ideal time to visit the beach and is part of the region's high season, but it is also worth a trip in winter or autumn, when you won't be able to swim, but you can still enjoy the scenery, a quiet walk by the sea and the flavours of Lucca.

The Mura di Lucca is the perimeter delimited by the ancient walls of the city, which were built in the 16th century and which, because Lucca did not enter into wars since then, remain intact, being the second largest undamaged walled complex in the world, only behind the fortresses of Nicosia, on the island of Cyprus.

These fortifications, which are built of stone and brick, surround Lucca in a 4-kilometre circumference that is part of the cultural identity of the city and its surroundings, marking Lucca's long tradition as a republic independent of Italy and the central powers.

You can tour the fortifications on a hike or bike ride, on your own or on a guided tour, but from here you can get the best panoramic views of the city. You can also relax in its parks and gardens, which are located on top of the walls and, like the Guinigi Tower, combine nature with urban constructions.

La Mura di Lucca is also the epicentre of the city's fair events and musical concerts, so if your visit coincides with the schedule of a cultural or musical show, you can watch it in the area of the walls.

The Torre delle Ore is one of the oldest astronomical clocks in Italy and is known not only for its precision, but also for the details of its architecture, which combines Romanesque and Gothic styles. Moreover, since 1390 it has been the tallest building in Lucca and is a fundamental witness to the history of Tuscany, which in the Middle Ages was characterised by private towers, which were built for protection.

Nowadays it is possible to reach the top of the tower, see how the astronomical clock works and enjoy one of the best panoramic views of the city. You can also visit it during a guided tour to learn about its history, which is closely related to the architectural and cultural richness of the city.

The top of Torre delle Ore can be reached by a small staircase of 207 steps, although it is not recommended for people with reduced mobility or claustrophobia disorders, as the climbing compartments are very small.

Interesting details

• Price: The entrance fee to the top of the tower is approximately 3 euros per person.
• Opening hours: daily from 10.30 am to 6.30 pm.
• Location: Via Fillungo, Lucca.

The Nottolini building is a Roman aqueduct built in the 1st century that stands out for its architecture, but also for its perfect engineering, a novelty of its time, which made it possible to provide uninterrupted water supply to the city using a complex system of floodgates and reuse of the river channels of the region.

The aqueduct will attract your attention because of the arches and columns that support the water channel. Some of the arches are more than 40 metres high, which is considered a technical achievement for the period in which they were built. Today, you can visit the aqueduct, which is considered one of Lucca's technological wonders.

Although the aqueduct is in the city, being located in an area away from the tourist centre, it is usually included among the best excursions from Lucca.

If you plan to visit Tuscany in spring, you will also see the vegetation blooming on the paths around the aqueduct, which are remarkable for the variety of colours of the trees and flowers.

The Magdalena Bridge is a historic bridge in Lucca that was built in the 13th century and is characterised by its single arch and two towers, which serve as an example to illustrate the methods used in medieval architecture. This bridge is located over the Serchio, which is the river that connects the old part of the city with the new one, and is nowadays one of the best places to watch the sunset and take sunset photographs.

This bridge, which is also the oldest in Lucca, also served for years as a meeting point for travellers and traders. When the exchange of goods became more fluid, the construction, which was originally made of wood, was replicated in exactly the same way but in stone in the 17th century. From then on, a great number of myths and legends were created around it.

The Magdalena Bridge is now one of Lucca's main tourist sites and can be reached by buses on the E4 and E5 lines or the Trenitalia train services to the outskirts of the city, but it is one of the attractions worth discovering outside Lucca's historic epicentre.