stay in Lucca after after Best of Tuscany tour?

Lucca is delightful in itself, and there are also plenty of places you could reach by train. Yes, go for it!

When is your tour? Height of summer, or later in the fall? Or May?

I ask because, while I know Lucca is much-loved here, we found it way too hot when we were there in late June 10 years ago. There is very little greenery within the city, so little shade at mid-day, and the buildings soak up and radiate a lot of heat. We were staying inside the walls and had to walk across town to the Laundromat (it was halfway through our trip). I found the heat oppressive for walking.

We stayed 3 nights in Lucca in October 2022. We could’ve spent at least a fourth. Plenty to do and see inside the walls, plus renting a bike to ride the path atop the walls, and the long river path outside the city. We visited Pisa for a few hours after leaving Lucca and bound for Cortona, and it looked like Pisa was worth at least a couple nights, too. The time in Pisa was worth it, and we didn’t even climb the leaning tower.

When is your tour? Height of summer, or later in the fall? Or May?

It is in mid-September

We stayed in Lucca for four nights and never went outside the walled city. Lots to see and do!
Rent bikes and ride the city walls.

Lucca is close to Pisa and also La Spezia where you could get a local train into Cinque Terre. It's a quite popular town.

We LOVED Lucca. In fact, when we come back to Italy for another trip, we will definitely make sure we get back there. I think Pisa was close, so you can do a quick day trip, but I would recommend staying in Lucca, not Pisa.

Lucca is wonderful. Plan to stay after your tour

Lucca is a wonderful place to settle in. I spent four nights there, and took a half day trip to Pisa. I enjoyed it, but that was was enough Pisa for me.

We had Lucca as part of our Villages Italy Rick Steves tour. We loved it. You might want to just come to the tour a few days early and do Lucca then if the tour starts there. We found that we were tired after the Villages tour and were happy to be on our way home. Before the Villages tour we did four nights in Venice and two in Padua because our tour started in Padua. Does your tour end in Lucca or close to it? Our tour started in Padua which required us to fly to Venice anyway so it made sense to go to Venice even though we had been before and we were happy to explore Padua before the tour began because we really had only one full day in Padua.

Several years before COVID we stayed in Lucca for a month! We LOVED just hanging out and being part of the culture. Back then no Americans but lots of Brit tourists.

We, like others, loved Lucca. It's a wonderful town to feel like a "temporary local" in--in fact, your question makes me think I need to go back soon. Is there enough to do? I'm easily amused so I'm probably not the one to answer this, but if you enjoy a stroll, gelato, old things and small shops, I'd say Yes.