Pistoia

Love Pistoia! Can you pack a small bag of irreplaceable items to take with you? Here’s a link to what I and others on this forum have said about Pistoia: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/prato-or-pistoia-or-both

Thanks, Nancy! We wouldn’t leave any real valuables in the car, but I suppose they wouldn’t know there were just clothes in each bag until they’d taken them. I wasn’t sure if cars are broken into at random/trunks opened, mostly when valuables are left visible.

I haven't been to Pistoia but it is often mentioned as great little town by Italians and often considered as a place to live by people who move to Lucca or in the area.

The bottom line is no one can predict what will happen on the one day in the one place you decide to park, but Pistoia has almost zero tourism so I doubt there are roaming bands or thieves looking to target tourist rental cars. These warnings are appropriate but they really are most relevant in places with heavy tourist concentrations. Otherwise you're just dealing with about same chance of crime as anyone else in Pistoia might be dealing with. You can always use the old trick of throwing an Italian language newspaper on the dashboard so your car looks "more Italian" than rental to anyone looking it over.

Prato is another nearby town with a historic downtown but modern, more industrial Italy around it. It has an excellent fabric/wool museum in an old factory if that's any interest.

Assuming you're entering the old town know which gate you want to enter Lucca from and what your path to parking is before you enter the city.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

Pistoia is not in America. Car break-ins are rare in smaller towns.

However it is a good idea to take valuables with you in a smaller backpack and back the car against a wall or pillar, if you plan to leave suitcases in the trunk. Actually you could even scatter your clothes all over the trunk. It's more time consuming to steal garments one at the time, than it is to run away with a bag or suitcase.