Lucca - what to see

I'd have to say that the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro is a must. Oval shaped piazza built on the ruins of an old Roman amphitheater. Opera fan? Puccini's home and museum.

My recommendation is to rent a bike and just explore. We did that and went around the walls and up and down lots of streets. That was lots of fun. There was this one church that has some sort of excavated underground basement sort of ancient Roman ruins. That was really interesting. Sorry, I forgot the name but we lifted it right out of the RS guidebook. Enjoy!!

Definitely just fun to wander. And to see the town from this tower: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinigi_Tower

Lucca is one of my favorite places in Italy. I was there for 3 days and spent one day on a tour of the huge mansion/manor type house outside of Lucca proper (sorry I can't remember the name of the area.) But the real treat for me was just wandering around inside the walled city. I climbed up all of the towers (my favorite was the one with the trees growing on top), I went to the "oval" area mentioned above (the Beatles did a concert there - back in the day.)
Went to a Puccini concert one evening ( Puccini was born in Lucca), even rented a bike and rode around the top of the city walls a couple of times.
Great photo ops from the tops of the towers and the top of the city wall on my bike ride.
Just wandering the streets , window shopping, having a gelato.......to me a great visit to my
one of my favorite cities (or we could call it a town.)

Not sure when you will be there, but during the daytime it can get overrun with daytrippers. If you have the ability to stay later, I would highly suggest that. Walking around the town in the morning, I got pictures of san michele, piazza anfiteatro, and via fillungo with exactly zero people in them.

Besides the walls, must do's in order:
1. Nighly Puccini concert
2. Eat at Felice (get the cecina, or any of their pizzas. cheap and sooooooo delicious. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187898-d1825982-Reviews-Pizzeria_da_Felice-Lucca_Province_of_Lucca_Tuscany.html)
3. Guinigi tower
4. Stroll via fillungo starting at piazza anfiteatro
5. At night (if you'll be there from 9pm-11ish), Enoteca Calasto for wine (if they are having an opera singer/piano player there that evening - check ahead of time)

You'll probably come across it if you take the advice to "wander," but we thought the facade of the church of S. Michele is just stunning.

You'll probably come across it if you take the advice to "wander," but we thought the facade of the church of S. Michele is just stunning.