pisa and lucca

We did both in one day from Florence this year. Took the train to Pisa, walked around, saw the tower and other sights, then stopped in Lucca. Rode bikes on the wall, had a very nice lunch, and wandered around the city. It was a long day, but very doable with the easy train connections.

Spent one night in Lucca last summer - kinda wished it had been 2 or 3. Then again, I'm a slow traveller.

Lucca is simply lovely. We can't wait to get back there.

It would be a good idea to take the train from Florence to Pisa and spend most of the day there and then take the train to Lucca. Stay overnight in Lucca and spend a whole day there. Then take the train to Florence if you're in a hurry to get back.

What's so wonderful about Lucca is that every building in city is old, and it has marvelous 16th century walls that are quite a delight to wander. It's a very compact city, somewhat smaller than the center of Florence. Good towers too.

September will be perfect timing.

Have fun.

I think these two beautiful towns need their own day. We did them on long day trips from Florence and wish we had more time to explore. Both are lovely and you'll enjoy wandering around after you've seen the main sights. Besides, who wants to rush seeing the cathedral in Pisa? Too much beauty to take in quickly!

I love Lucca, I would spend one night there if possible and take a half-day for Pisa. Or, if you prefer not to do one-nighters, plan on one daytrip for both towns: a few hours in Pisa, get to Lucca by lunchtime, and spend the afternoon and evening there. There are both buses and trains from Florence to Lucca.

A few years ago we spent a very nice day visiting both towns. We trained to Lucca, wandered all over, rode bikes, and had a late lunch. Returning to the train station, we noticed connections to Pisa and hopped onboard. Then, it was very easy to grab a bus from the Pisa train station to the tower area and back again for the return train to Florence. This was our second time in Pisa so it was sufficient for us. Connections were frequent and convenient and we didn't feel overwhelmed. An extra night or two would be great, but I think it's doable as a daytrip. Safe travels.

It sounds like you have enough time to do it either way, but it would not be unusual to see both in one day. All trains and buses mentioned here are direct service and run about hourly. If you start with the train to Pisa (one hour), then you can later take a bus from Pisa's Field of Miracles to Lucca (one hour, runs hourly except Sundays, bus stop shown Rick's guidebook map). Train from Lucca back to Florence takes about 1.5 hours and departs as late as 22:30 most days.

As others have mentioned both towns can warrant a full leisurely day or you can combine both into one busy day. I do recommend taking the bus from Florence to Pisa as the bus drops you off right at the entrance gate to the Field of Miracles. If you decide to go to Lucca the same day, you can pick up the bus to Lucca at the same spot. Once you're finished with Lucca, you can then catch the train to Florence. If I remember correctly, you have to buy your bus ticket from Florence to Pisa before you board the bus. From Pisa to Lucca, you just pay the driver. Unless you're planning to climb up the Leaning Tower, you can see Pisa in 2 to 3 hrs. We bought the combo ticket that let us in to the cathedral, the Baptistery and the graveyard. We had a late start that day and got to Lucca around 6 pm so we only had time to walk part of the wall and have dinner. I definitely want to return there and explore the town further. Btw, got all the info about taking the bus from my good old RS guidebook!

Recognize this is personal opinion based on my experience, I hope I don't get beat up too badly for it.

IMO I'd skip Lucca in favor of a more scenic hill town. Lucca is a just okay town in an area full of amazing hill towns. As far as I can tell Rick recommends Lucca primarily for it's accessibility by train. I would only recommend Lucca to someone who needs to visit a flat town rather than a hill town because of mobility issues . Lucca's wall has been turned into a nice park for a walk or bike ride around the center. The wall itself seems newer than, say, San Gimignano's. It seems to be post cannon construction: brick, somewhat star-shaped, reinforced with earth - rather than a medieval type stone wall.

Pisa's Field of Miracles, that includes the leaning tower, is really nice and worth spending a few hours to see. IMO after seeing the sights in this small area, you can leave Pisa and not be sorry. The immediate area around there is 100 percent tourist trap. Try not to be jaded before you get to the really worthwhile sights.

Thanks for the help. It sounds like we can see the sights in Pisa pretty quickly and then spend most of the day in Lucca. I agree there are several hill towns in Tuscany to explore so maybe we will do that with our extra day. Thanks again.

I checked my journal when I got home and we did not take the bus from Florence to Pisa. Instead, we did take the train then took a cab from the train station to the Field of Miracles. We did take the bus to Lucca to Pisa at the same spot the cab driver dropped us off. Sorry, this is why I'm so glad I keep a travel journal because even though this trip was just a year ago, certain things get jumbled up in my memory. I was thinking about the bus to Siena. In that instance, we tried to buy the ticket from the driver and he wasn't selling it so we had to find a tabacchi store and buy it there. We also had to wait a whole hour for the next bus! When you take public transport to get around Italy, stuff happens. And by the way, speaking of taking the train back from Lucca to Pisa, we got caught in a 24 hr train strike that started at 9 pm that evening. We were waiting for the 9:30 pm train that never came. Ah, Italian train adventures!

About a year ago, I spent two fine nights in Lucca, and during the day in between, went to Pisa for the afternoon. Lucca is a very livable town, less touristy than many of the hill towns. Walking, running, biking, or picnicking atop the very wide and grassy wall is great. Climb a bell tower with trees on top. Strolling, shopping, good food. Puccini musical performances pretty much every evening of the year. I like Lucca. The visit to Pisa was easy, aside from my own misplay getting on the train in the wrong direction. After 30 minutes I thought I should be arriving already, finally looked closely at the map inside the train to see I was headed away from Pisa, not toward it. A wasted but scenic hour, and a good story. In Pisa there is a small train station very near the Field of Miracles, but I'm not sure if all trains stop there or not, not sure if you can actually buy tickets at that station, and when I arrived there, I needed some locals to point me in the right direction to reach the Field. The walk between the Field and the Centrale train station is a nice, busy quite urban walk, about 15-20 minutes with no stops at all. At the Field of Miracles, I'd say you might spend from 30 minutes to 3 hours. 30 minutes to see the impressive tower and churches from the outside and take some photos; more time if you enter and visit the buildings; still more if you climb the Tower, advance reservation recommended for that.

We spent 2 nights in Lucca with a day trip to Pisa one day and really loved it! Lucca was great... very sweet and quaint, we rented bikes twice and just went slow, wandering... loved those 2 days!

There is a train that stops a short distance from the Campo, but as Larry noted, not all trains from Florence go there.