Lucca, and where else?

Lucca was lovely. It was a great stop for us between Rome and Venice. Such a cute little place.. not a lot to do, but it was a nice relaxing couple days in between the bigger cities.

Lucca is worth the visit. We only stayed two night, and I feel we could have stayed another night or two longer.
From there we took a day trip to Cinque Terre. You could also spend a day or two just in Cinque Terra, as they are in same area.

I went to Lucca for a day trip from Florence and wished I'd had longer to enjoy it. So, yes, I think it's worth it to stay 2 -3 days. It's a nice change from the bustle of Rome or Florence. Pistoia is supposed to be a nice place to visit - it's about a 45 minute train ride from Lucca. I hope to go there the next time I'm in Italy.
From Rome to Lucca, it will probably be about 3.5 hours by train - Rome to Florence to Lucca.
No one knows when Italy will accept international travelers yet.

Lucca is a fabulous visit. We have stayed there several times, lots to do in the area and plenty to do within the walls and of course, walking on the walls themselves. We have stayed at hotel Piccolo Puccini several times and enjoyed our stay there, Paolo and Franco go out of their way to help and very reasonable prices for a fabulous location. Message me if you need more info

We stayed in Lucca as a base, visiting nearby Pisa by train. We would have visited Florence, had there not been a train strike that day. We also rented a car (Hertz, walkable office on the west side of Lucca) and drove up to Carrarra and Le Cinque Terre one day, and through the hills to Vinci (lovely town, tiny, small da Vinci museum) another day.

In the evenings we went to concerts (largely Puccini) in the churches at night.

Have you purchased the RS Guide to Italy?

Given you posting history and questions about travel in Italy I think it would benefit you.

At this point no one has a clue what travel in Italy will be like for the future. The world has changed. Future travel has and will continue to be impacted.

Lucca is lovely. Hopefully, you’ll be able to visit.

Lucca is great, but you can see it in one full day. Also, visit Pisa and Cinque Terre.

I've been to Lucca twice; once for two weeks, and once for four days.
Neither time period was enough.
It's a very slow relaxed pace there, so you will love it if you just want to meander, drink coffee in a lovely piazza, hear wonderful opera, see a small museum or two.
There are lots of day trips you can take from there: Cinque Terre (a long day), Bagno di Lucca, Barga, to name a few.
Next visit to Italy I plan to stay there much longer.
It's very civilized, and not packed full of people brandishing guide books and rushing about.

Orvieto, closer to Rome, is also worth some time. It has a lovely hilltop historic district. It can be a day-trip from Rome (by train), but it's also worth at least a couple of nights. It has several real sightseeing targets (great cathedral, museums, etc.)

We spent four nights in Lucca, a lovely walled city. It has it’s own local dishes too. You could drive deeper into Tuscany to add Volterra or one of the Chianti towns such as Panzano.

Thanks everyone for the great answers.

Can you take trains from Lucca to Cinque Terre? To Volterra? Or do you need a car?

Trains from Lucca to C .T . via Pisa; car to Volterra.

As CJ stated, trains will take you to CT, Pisa, Florence, Montecatini Terme (they have a great funicular to see the entire valley there), etc. With a car, easy rides to Voltera, Vinci, the vineyards and olive groves surrounding the area. We have spent weeks in Lucca doing these trips and also just enjoying the ambience of Lucca.