Lucca as a base? Places to stay?

Lucca is conveniently located for seeing Pisa (it's more than just the Tower), the CT, and other areas along the Western coast. But it's hard to see much of the Cinque Terre (NW of Lucca) or Florence (E of Lucca) in just a day (adding in time for train travel to each). A small group I was with several years ago spent 1 full day (with train travel to get there) in the Cinque Terre and I really felt that was rushed - at least 2 days would have been better. We spent 3 full days in Florence and that felt like more than enough to me, especially if you won't be seeing many museums. I like to actually see and get a feel for a place, rather than just check something off my bucket list, but I know everyone travels differently. BTW, try to spend a day in Lucca and rent bikes to ride along the raised wall which has been turned into a park - it's lovely! If you send me a private message, I'll let you know the name of a restaurant we enjoyed in Lucca.

Stephen, I spent a couple nice nights in Lucca in October 2013, at the Hotel Rex, which is a nice, quiet, affordable hotel just a few steps from the train station. It is an RS-recommended hotel, with a 10% RS discount if you ask about that when booking, as I remember. Many recommend staying inside the old town walls, but I chose the Rex because I was arriving by train, was going to visit Pisa by train, and would be leaving early the final day to go by train to Florence and on to Milano to then fly home. So, it was super convenient and worked out fine. It is just about a 3 minute walk to the gate into the walled city. I arrived from Volterra, as I remember I left Volterra by bus, then connected up with a train to Lucca. Train was about an hour to Florence, but I myself would not want to treat Florence as a day trip, too much to see and do there, too beautiful in the early morning and especially the evenings. Lucca seemed like a very liveable town, not as touristy as the hill towns. Good food, good shopping areas, a tower to climb with trees growing on top, some form of live Puccini music every evening, and certainly a highlight is the wide top of the ancient wall going around the city, where you can walk, run, bike, picnic, etc. I have no experience making a day trip to CT from Lucca, but that does not seem to be a very satisfying way to visit the CT either.

Stephen,

Staying in Lucca is certainly possible, but you'll have to consider the travel times to the places you want to visit. Here's a short list....

• Cinque Terre (using Monterosso as an example) - about 2 hours each way, usually with 2 changes
• Siena - about 2.5 - 3 hours each way, with 1 or two changes
• Volterra - about 2.5 - 3 hours each way, plus a short bus ride as Volterra doesn't have a train station. The nearest station is Volterra - Saline - Pomarance about 10 kM from Volterra. That's likely going to be a tough day trip by public transport and one that I'd probably skip.
• Florence - about 1.5 - 2 hours each way, a few direct trains and others with 1 change.

For lodgings in Lucca, I'd also recommend Hotel Rex. It's in a great location for transportation, and an easy walk into the walled city.

Thanks for the replies!