Lucca or Sienna

Since you're spending 4 days in Florence, you could do a day trip to Siena. It's easy to do by bus. You could add an extra night in Florence so you don't have to change hotels or go to Lucca for a different destination. Between Lucca and Siena, I'd pick Siena.

Between Lucca and Siena, I'd pick Siena, just a little more interesting for us. Lucca was a nice break and we enjoyed the town, but we preferred Siena.

can't speak for lucca, but we really enjoyed siena.
good luck :):)

I would pick Siena; there's much more to see and do there. Lucca is a wonderful, lovely little town, but has fewer 'wow' sights than Siena.

I agree with the others on staying in Siena vs Lucca. I also agree with the suggestion to visit Siena as a day trip from Florence. To me, Siena is not a town that you have to stay in overnight in order to get a feel for it. I try to minimize moving around & changing hotels too frequently & I personally wouldn't change hotels just for one night unless it's en route to somewhere else & it doesn't make sense to backtrack, etc. I enjoyed Lucca but not as much as I thought I would and I didn't feel that it was as fun to walk around as Siena was. Have a great trip.

I enjoyed Lucca very much, but if I had to choose only one of those places for a day trip and had not been to either one, I would choose Siena.

Same here. We've been to both and enjoyed Siena much more than Lucca. There's just not much to see or do in Lucca, imho.

We enjoyed both towns, really. Lucca was quite nice, but no sites were awe-inspiring. We enjoyed a relaxed stroll around the quaint town. Nice piazzas, a nice duomo (nothing like Siena's, however) and some nice towers to climb and view from. Riding a bike around the city walls was something I will never forget. So, as a relaxed, zero itinerary day, I think Lucca is a great choice. Siena is also a great location. Il Campo and the duomo alone make it worth visiting. There are plent of other nice piazzas, churches too, not to mention vistas as well, it being a hill town. I will also mention bussing it to Siena, the bus from Florence drops you off in the center of town, the train station is a short city bus/cab ride into the center. Were I to do it again, I would at least consider a lazy afternoon in Lucca as well as Siena. Florence has a lot, but much of it can be seen (perhaps best) at night

Siena.

As previous posters stated, if you have not been to either then go to Siena. Have been to Siena a few times and enjoyed it but visited Lucca this past Sept. for the first time and really loved it! There are no huge sights in Lucca like Sienna but nonetheless it is a beautiful place. We loved walking around the wall (or you can bike it) and dining in Piazza dell'Anfiteatro, which is a lovely oval shape. Buon Viaggio!

I agree with Siena for all the same reasons.

Siena is a great small city. It has everything you would expect in a hill town, plus a great Cathedral, public square and more. Lucca is a flat town, not a hill town, it has a nice wall turned park but is otherwise unremarkable. Of the two, I wouldn't hesitate to choose Siena. If you put Lucca against any other hill town, I would pick the other hill town unless the people visiting couldn't negotiate hills and needed a flat place to walk around. Siena, being bigger, has some hills to negotiate but not nearly as severe as many hill towns.

No question....Siena. Lucca is okay, but Siena is maybe the best city in Italy. Hands down...the best. Magical at night.

Kyle, I have to say I'd be leaning towards Siena as well. It's a beautiful city, lots of history and some interesting sites to see. The Duomo is quite spectacular. However, it will probably be "quiet" in February (which will be a severe contrast to the activity during the Palio). I was there in June and visited a Bakery/Coffee shop that served some wonderfully delicious biscuits with icing sugar. Unfortunately I can't remember the name of them (will have to check my Diary to see if I made a note of the name). I do remember that they were a bit on the "pricey" side. Happy travels!

I hated Sienna. Loud, loud and brown. In Lucca, about the only thing to do is ride bikes around the wall around the city. Can I make another suggestion? Consider Orvieto or Cortona. Those towns have such charm. Cobbled streets, fun shopping, lovely local people, incredible views (especially Cortona). I LOVE Cortona and I really like Orvieto.

Been to both, Siena by far the better choice.

Visited both, and loved Siena