Genoa or Lucca?

These are two wildly different choices. Genoa is a busy industrial port city of almost 600,000 people and Lucca is a tiny Tuscan town of maybe 10,000 inside the walls and another 90,000 or so in the immediate countryside.

What kind of experience are you looking for and what interests you? How did you come to narrow the choice to these two cities?

Lucca has thick medieval walls and architecture, a ton of churches and otherwise just kind of Italian life. It is close to Pisa, the coast and other smaller cities but it is a much quieter kind of visit. If that interests you then Lucca might be a good choice.
If you want museums and bigger sights and more modern, busier pace then maybe Genoa makes more sense.

If you're just looking at cities someplace like Verona might be a good choice for something in between a small town or a big city and it's relatively close to Bologna. Siena might make an interesting Tuscan hilltown choice if you want something smaller but with a lot of sights and activities.

If you list your interests and travel styles I'm sure you'll get many suggestions on potential places to stay,
=Tod

Tod, thank you for your reply.

The question you ask is difficult to answer. We love the attractions and options that a large city offers, but also love the "authentic" experience and feel of small towns. As I mentioned, we are going to Bologna (or at least planning to) after visiting CT, and then plan to go to Verona (or Lake Garda) after that - we're still debating whether to make Verona our base and visit Lake Garda from there, or vice versa.

We have been to Siena before and loved it!

For what it's worth, here is the order to places we're planning to visit:
Milan (here for 3 days after flying in)
Genoa (or Lucca)
Cinque Terre
(Lucca?)
Bologna
Verona (or Lake Garda)
Dolomites
Lake Como
Milan (fly home)

This plan is still in flux and we are open to adjusting it.

Wikivoyage is a helpful website to learn more: https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Main_Page. Enter the city name in the Search Wikivoyage field in the upper right.

That is very cool! Thanks, MaryPat.

I've only ever passed through Genoa and never stayed but I have heard so-so things about it as a tourist city. I'm sure some people will jump to defend it but it is not generally a city tourists seem drawn to stay in so I might advise you to look into it as a city before just deciding to stay there.

Either Milan to CT or Lucca is a long day on the train - I've done Varenna to La Spezia in a day and it will be kind of a trek. Keeping that in mind I would choose CT next because otherwise you're doing inland to Lucca, back to the coast and then crossing back inland to Verona etc.

If you are really interested in the lakes I would advocate not necessarily use Verona as a base for Lake Garda. The lower part of the lake is easily accessible by train but that means it is touristy as possible with water parks and the likes with the original interesting towns kind of buried underneath all that. If you want to really explore the lake I would advocate for taking the bus and visiting towns up the east side of the lake. Malcesine has access to the upper lake ferry and a cable car up Mount Baldo.

If I was putting this together I would think about Milan > CT > Lucca > Bologna > Lake Garda > Verona > Dolomites > Lake Como > Milan (fly home) but you also don't mention how many nights you have in total. I would say this is a minimum of 21 nights and probably a little more to give everything time. If you have less I would probably drop one of the lakes or Lucca and work from there.

Lucca is your only Tuscan destination and I really like the city, but not everyone likes it as much. I would advocate at least two nights there (one full day) or better three (two fulls) to explore the city. It's easy to include Pisa if you want big sights part of your visit because Lucca has quieter appeal.
Verona is an upscale, mostly pedestrian, chic, arty city with an intact Roman Arena and theater tucked in the bed of the river. It has a "cafe culture" feeling to it and feels IMHO much smaller than its population.
Bologna is a big city with an ancient university, and old city core and is the food capital of Italy. It has a younger and hipper vibe than many Italian cities.
I'll leave the Dolomites to someone else but I know many people plan on renting and returning a car in Verona as part of this plan.

Hope that helps, have fun figuring it all out,
=Tod

A lot of good information, Tod, thank you. Our trip is a total of 25 nights (26 if you count our last night in Milan before flying out early the next day).

Bob, apologies if I missed it in the prior posts, but can I ask when you plan to be in Genoa or Lucca? My wife and I spend a lot of time in Lucca. We might be able to suggest an event that might be going on if/when you're there.

David, we're planning to be there early June next year.
Since you spend a lot of time in Lucca, I assume you'd choose it over Genoa, correct?

The annual Lucca Summer Music Festival usually starts early June. There's always several popular performers. They'll start announcing performers in the fall. I haven't been to Genoa, but we prefer the more rustic towns. As said previously, all depends on your interests. Lucca has the Renaissance wall and several towers to climb and many churches, but it's mostly a great town to to simply enjoy the Italian everyday lifestyle. Great ambiance and great food and wine.

Thanks, David. We'll look into it.

Hi Bob ~
We are currently in Genoa. It’s been a good, bad and surprising few days. Firstly we struggled with securing accommodations (back in July 2024) we have sadly discovered Booking . com does not deliver what they promise.
The struggle has been understanding the neighbourhood you’re in. Well, we are on the hill above the train station. Bad move. Anytime staying near a station is sketchy but we thought we were far enough away. It is not pleasant. We have felt safe though. Restaurants and amenities are not plentiful in this part of town.
We got on the bus yesterday and headed for the water and then walked a couple k. We are wanderers.
It’s nicer in the business core, busy even on a Sunday. Beaches are slowly shutting down but water is still warm (very clear) as are the temps. They are not of a palm tree and golden sand nature.
The core seems to be a mix of beautiful heritage buildings, stores and churches.
We’re not sure if this is a wandering type of town to just enjoy the sights and cafes and historical sites, as after a number of blocks it became more commercial.
This is an industrial crowded town, the cruise ship pier is near the train station, so need I say more.
If you had a lot of time, I’d recommend to give it a visit but if you’re trying to maximize your time IMO only, I’d give it a pass.
Sorry Genoa. I’m sure there is more to you, but after enjoying numerous Italian cities and towns, we weren’t impressed.
So now we have 5 nights in the north we’re struggling what to do with!!
Venice, Como, the Dolomites, Milan and Mandello we’ve enjoyed in the north. Heading to Perugia (Umbria) now then Rome, then home. 37 days away 17 to go ~ life is good!

If anyone is looking for a quieter town ~ Mandello on Lake Como is beautiful.

Thanks very much about your opinion of Genoa. I think we've decided to give it a pass.
Thanks also for the tip about Mandello. We were planning on staying in Varenna.