Lucca or Pisa

I've been to Pisa three times and each time I swore I'd never go back. The entire town is a huge tourist trap.

Lucca, on the other hand, is one of my all time favorite towns in Italy. Been there twice, once for a whole week. Stay inside the walls. I could keep going back - it is lovely!

Lucca is a charming, relaxing shady walled city. Pisa is a one important tourist site, dusty city.

Thirding Lucca.

IIRC the two aren't very far apart so logistically (getting to other towns for day trips) they are fairly equal. And I think Lucca is a more pleasant place to spend time, especially evenings.

Yes, Lucca, great little town. Stay inside the walls if you can. Train service is great, it is on the main line to Florence. You can easily go to 5 Terre or Pisa for day trips. If you haven't been to Pisa it is worth a visit once. I like the story of the Campo Santo reconstruction after WWII, a great Italian story for which we owe them a debt of gratitude.

Second leg, maybe Orvieto in Umbria. Perhaps Perugia in Umbria. A town I really like is Spoleto in Umbria. I am not sure of the train service there but I am sure they have some that would work out for you.

Lucca is one of my favorites.

In Umbria, Perugia has better connections to other towns nearby. Montefalco and Todi were beautiful, too.

We want to have things to do (side trips). If going to Cinque Terra is it better to concentrate on one area and which would be the easiest to get to and to enjoy. Can you enjoy a town right from the train station? Any other places that we should see as long as we're in the area? I'm wondering if it would be better to make Florence our base (I liked Lucca because of it's size). I know there are tour companies in the area that could drive us to out-of-the way places but where would we even want to visit. We like historical areas and in the past focused mainly on hill towns. I read somewhere where Chuisi has a lot of estruscan sites.

I'll join the consensus and enthusiastically recommend Lucca. An easy city to navigate, and riding a bike atop the city wall is a fun experience for "youngsters" like yourselves. Without a doubt, you would be pleased with Relais San Lorenzo, a hotel in the city center. It was amazing and very reasonable. http://www.sanlorenzorelais.it/

Lucca, Lucca, Lucca...

You can easily take the train to Pisa for a few hours, which is more than enough time.

wbfey1...great suggestion for a accommodation ...thank you

Frances
You asked about 5 Terre. All 5 towns, and La Spezia, are all in easy reach from one another by train so where you stay isn't determined by where you visit. Vernazza is the hot spot with the most tourists, Monterosso has an actual beach to enjoy. The other three are less visited. You can also daytrip north of 5 Terre too lots of places reachable by train from any town. Also, all towns are easily accessed at the train stations, the stations are all right in the town.

Stick with Lucca. If you need a car and driver you can hire one in Lucca.

Frances,

Of the two, I'd also recommend Lucca. It's a beautiful walled city with some interesting history, and easy to reach by train. If you stay inside the walls, it's a bit of a walk to the station, but there is a hotel right in the station plaza (Hotel Rex) which is very convenient.

Lucca! We stayed in Lucca for 9 days 2 years ago. It was a great base to see Chianti, Cinque Terre, Portovenere and even Florence. We plan on going back this September for another 2 weeks while basing ourselves in Lucca.

Lucca is one of my favorite cities. Basing from there would be a great idea...can day trip from there to many interesting places or just enjoy Lucca. I took a cooking class there and bought my favorite leather purse from a great shop away from the main shopping street. Can hear Puccini sung every night in one of the churches there and a bike ride and picnic on the ramparts is a wonderful experience. There are towers to climb, park with a merry go round and great cafes. I love the size of Lucca...not too big and not too small.

Pisa has one attraction, otherwise it's a largely forgettable town, apologizes to any residents.

Lucca on the other hand has charm, the indescribable quality that people seek when visiting Italy. Lucca has it in spades. Best to spend several nights there, experience the town slowly waking up, locals-only going about their business, slowly the tourists and school field trips come overwhelming the town as delivery trucks hurry off the streets. Then the reverse happens in the later afternoon, the trains come and whisk away the tourists and the town is left to the locals.

Here is another vote for Lucca. On an RS Village Italy tour we stayed in Hotel Luna and it is inside the walls of the city. You can read reviews and see photos on tripadvisor.com.
(from another Frances)

With all the votes for Lucca I'm wondering if 3 or 4 days is even enough. We won't be driving, using trains or day tours (or even possibly hiring a driver one day to see the northern countryside). And I also want to just spend time wandering the town and getting the feel of Italian life (not to rush things). That's what makes Italy so special. Should I look at possibly 5-6 days for Lucca, Rome 3 days, and then other town for 3 days. Since we're traveling that far I can't see not staying. We're retired so we can be very flexible. My goal is to stay and savor la dolce vita 12-15 days.