Lucca, Pisa and Rome good for 8 days?

Have you done any reading about Lucca? I was on your thread on the other site. If you don't do some of your own research you are going to end up just as confused as before.

Well bored in the sense that we might want to move on but if I book 3-4 days and we are done after 2-3 I don't wanna feel stuck.

We had 3 nights in Lucca, spent one day going to Pisa, part of one at Viareggio and the rest of that day in Lucca walking the walls, etc. we could have used one more day in Lucca for Lucca. But more time in Rome is always a good idea so if you can see the tower on arrival then spend three nights in Lucca, it should be enough, leaving you 5 nights for Rome.

hey relegate
when is this trip and how "old" is older kids?
apartmentslucca.com
come&seeitaly.com has tours if interested (wine tours or barga and garfagnana)
luccatours.com
fattoriaaldotto.it a winery in lucca
extravirginlucca.com cooking class
cucina-italiana.com half day cooking classes, many different ones and has accomodations
rent bikes to ride inside or outside of the wall. make sure you give time just for lucca itslef. sit at cafe glass of vino, lunch or dinner (check the hours open, some may close at 2pm and open at 7pm), people watch, no cares enjoy. when you have research done and what's important to see, don't sweat, not all can be done. you'll be planning another trip on your flight home.
stop at tourism kiosk and see what they have
take a bus or train to viareggio to the beach
the town of collodi near lucca is home to pinocchio park, garzoni gardens and butterfly house.
with lots of things to do no boredom. all the cities you"re seeing london, paris and rome will be busy and crowded, if during summer will be hot. your place should have A/C. travel by train (center to center), a car is useless. no parking within city, expensive parking outside of city, laws of driving within them.
if you are in rome for a few, walk around down the small streets (alleys), will bring you something new. withlocals.com has things if interested. oldfrascatiwinetour.com read their blog and about us, train 30 minutes to the countrysides, area is known for frascati wine, off the beaten path.
have a fabulous time
aloha

My husband is from Lucca, so over my 4 trips to Italy, I've spent about 6 weeks there. There are zillions of lovely day trips. You're very close to Pisa, and easy trip to Florence, less than an hour from the beach. My favourite place in Tuscany is the Garfagnana, which is an untouristed mountainous part in the north of the region. All of those are easy to get to by train. If you have a car, your options expand.

Depends on what you want to do -- Lucca is pretty chill, and Rome is high-octane. I personally am not the biggest fan of Rome (where are your interests?), but there is certainly LOTS to see there. What's your energy level? How are you with heat, high humidity and crowds? If you're ready to take those on, then spend more time in Rome. If you want a more low-keyed, hanging out vacation, spend more time in Lucca.

One day in Lucca is plenty. You can walk the town and see it all in a full day. It is a great town to visit.

Kids will be 11 and 14 when we go, I'm kind of thinking that we stick to Lucca for a few days. This will allow us to fly into Pisa and see the tower, relax for at least a day and not do a bunch of stuff. We could go to the beach if we wanted to and take a day trip to Florence then head to Rome?

That sounds really perfect. Kids may like biking the wall, and with so many day trip options you really can't run out of things to do.

With boys that age I highly recommend you rent bikes and ride around on the top of the city walls. I was in Lucca a couple days and loved it. I went to a coffee bar where Puccini used to go and a concert at a deconsecrated church and went up the tower that has trees growing on top. It is a great just walking around place.

After talking with my kids some more they are interested in Venice, I am not opposed and want them to enjoy and see things they want to as well. So thinking we will fly from Paris to Venice for 2-3 days, take the train to Pisa and see it for a short period then head over to Lucca for maybe 2 days, then head down to Rome. Since we have to go through Florence from Venice > Pisa and from Pisa/Luca to Rome we might hop off for a few hours and check some stuff out but I'm not sure.