On our last day in Italy we are meeting friends in Lucca. We will have a car and fly out from Florence at 10 am the next morning. For that last night in Italy would you recommend:
-We get a place in Lucca (easy enough to make it to the airport for a 10am flight including dropping off a car)
-Stay somewhere picturesque between Lucca and airport (cuts down time to airport but still makes most of last night)
-Drop off car and stay at airport hotel with shuttle
Thanks for your help.
Sherry
Being risk averse I would choose a hotel near the airport.
Easy freeway drive from Lucca to Florence. Drop off car at airport and you are on your way home. Spending the night in Lucca within the walls is about as picturesque as you can get.
I'm sure you've already checked that the car rental company you've rented from has an office at the Florence airport.
There's another option you haven't mentioned, which would be dropping off the car and spending the last night in Florence. Then take the T2 tram to the airport on the morning.
What day of the week? If it’s a weekday there is traffic going into Florence at around 8am.
Personally I like to be closer to the airport the night before my flight. It’s only 70 km (45 miles) from Lucca to the Florence airport but there is traffic coming into Florence at that time of the morning and s..t happens sometimes. Now I stay at the Hilton Garden Inn, behind the Florence Hall of Justice, after returning the car at the airport the day before (they don’t have a shuttle but it’s only 5 min away by taxi)
If you depart at 10:00am, you are on the same flight I was this week (AirFrance). Somehow, unlike in previous years, the check-in line was quite long. Got there at 8:10 and got to the gate just in time for boarding.
For a 10 am departure I’d stay in Florence, take a taxi or tram to airport
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/railway-accident-in-florence
I would definitely eliminate option 2 - you still have to change hotels and keep some uncertainty regarding the airport drive.
Option 1 isn't bad (you can make it to the airport in time), but 3 would be my choice as I tend to stress out and sleep poorly when I have a major flight the next day.
If the flight is at 10am you should be at the airport at 8am; the airport is tiny and easily gets crowded in the morning, when all the feeder flights to European capitals depart. Probably you can make it even at 8.30am but you would be cutting close and it is better to keep some margin. (For a couple of 7am departures this year I was there at 5.30am, but I had no luggage and I already checked in online the day before).
The rentals agencies are not at the airport but in a separate area, and there is a shuttle to the airport every 20 minutes. So you have to be settled with the rental agency at 7.30am; check if the agency is really open at 7am or so. Consider that you will need 1 hour driving from Lucca but you should better budget 1h 15min or more as commuters travel at the same time; actually the later you leave from Lucca, the longer will be the drive. So you should leave from Lucca at 6am or so. Look if the thing is feasible. If not leave the car in Florence the day before and spend the night there. Reserve a taxi; the airport is 10-15 minutes from the city center (20 at peak times).
Voting to stay in Florence. There's just enough risk for staying in Lucca to warrant staying closer to the airport.
Month of year? Day of week? Destination of flight? You're rolling the dice if you don't sleep in Florence.
This is super helpful everyone, thank you. Exactly the kind of intel I needed. Given all of this, at this point I'm leaning towards spending the evening in Lucca as our "last night", but then driving to the airport afterward and actually sleeping near there.
Sherry
