Things to do in Lucca
Walled city mornings, Roman ruins, one great dinner, and a proper cocktail.
This is a trip for people who want to eat and drink the way locals do, spend almost nothing on the wrong things, and spend real money once or twice on the right ones. Days one and two stay inside Lucca's walls, where the Roman grid is still legible under the medieval streets. Day three heads to Pisa properly, past the tower and into the city's quieter, stranger side.
Day 1: The old forum, on foot
Start with buccellato at an 1881 pasticceria, walk the Pisan-Romanesque facades, eat a slow lunch at an owner-led osteria, and end with crudo and a cocktail done exactly right.
- 9:30 AM
Pasticceria Taddeucci
Baking buccellato since 1881 on Piazza San Michele; get a slice of the anise and raisin ring with an espresso.
Map - 10:15 AM
San Michele in Foro
Start outside at Pisan-Romanesque masterpiece: stacked twisted columns and the winged St Michael on the old Roman forum, free to admire the façade.
Map - 12:30 PM
Osteria da Pasquale
Warm owner-led osteria, order the veal ragù pasta or the caponata; generous Tuscan cooking at honest prices, beloved by locals.
Map - 2:00 PM
Santi Giovanni e Reparata
Descend through layers of Lucca, Roman houses, early Christian baptistery, archaeological dig, only 45 minutes but genuinely surprising.
Map - 7:30 PM
Ristorante All'Olivo
Seafood landed daily from Viareggio, crudo, whole grilled fish, Montecarlo Bianco pairings; the one splurge of the day, and worth every euro.
Map - 9:30 PM
Franklin '33
Speakeasy-style bar, the residents' pick for a proper cocktail after dinner, get there before 22:30 and let them make something classic.
Map
Day 2: Palazzo Pfanner to the amphitheatre
Baroque garden, Roman oval piazza, farro soup in a vaulted osteria, and the trip's one memorable dinner at a kitchen that earns the word inventive.
- 9:30 AM
Forno Amedeo Giusti
Historic oven, focaccia plain and topped, seasonal, locals queue for warm slices, the city's best focaccia.
Map - 10:15 AM
Palazzo Pfanner
A baroque garden of statues, lemon pots and an octagonal fountain behind the palazzo; open mid-March to December.
Map - 12:30 PM
Osteria Baralla
Historic osteria inside the old amphitheatre vault, farro soup and traditional plates done exactly right.
Map - 2:15 PM
Piazza dell'Anfiteatro
Stroll the oval piazza built into the 2nd-century Roman amphitheatre footprint, Lucca's living room, best after lunch.
Map - 7:30 PM
Osteria Miranda
Inventive creative kitchen praised by residents for service, the one memorable dinner of the trip.
Map - 9:15 PM
Via Fillungo
An after-dinner walk down Lucca's medieval main street, shop windows lit and the day crowds gone.
Map
Day 3: Pisa beyond the tower
Specialty coffee, the Arno's delicate Gothic chapel, home-cooked bordatino, Roman ships hauled from the silt, and a courtyard dinner under a pergola.
- 9:30 AM
Filter Coffee Lab
Pisa's serious specialty coffee roastery, the real local caffeine fix to start the day.
Map - 10:15 AM
Santa Maria della Spina
Pisa's most delicate Gothic jewel right on the Arno, the heart of this whole area, don't miss it.
Map - 12:30 PM
Trattoria Sant'Omobono
Pisan home cooking in a former church, get the bordatino or pan-fried rabbit, exactly what locals eat.
Map - 2:15 PM
Museo delle Navi Antiche
Real Roman ships hauled from the silt with cargoes intact, turns Pisa into a proper maritime city.
Map - 7:30 PM
La Pergoletta
Dinner under the pergola in a courtyard off Via delle Belle Torri; order the cappellacci and the cod fritters.
Map
Where to stay
Alla Corte degli Angeli
Right inside the walls and a short walk from every Day 1 and Day 2 stop, with rooms that earn their price without showing off.
Hotel Ilaria & Residenza dell'Alba
A notch more space and calm on the quiet east side by the Fosso canal, ten minutes on foot from every stop.
Make Lucca your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App StoreBefore you go
Book ahead
- Torre Guinigi: a few days ahead
- Torre delle Ore: a few days ahead
- Puccini e la sua Lucca: a few days ahead
- Lucca Bikes and Bites: a few days ahead
- Ciclovia Puccini Lucca to Pisa: a few days ahead
- Rafting on the Lima River: a few days ahead
Skip these
- Eating on the Anfiteatro oval frontage by default, have the drink there and eat a street away.
- Doing Lucca as a rushed 3 hour day trip and missing the evening Puccini recital and the passeggiata.
- Paying luxury prices for a large group coach that gives Lucca only 60 to 90 minutes.
- Driving into the ZTL, sat nav does not outrank the varco attivo signs.
The full Lucca travel guide: when to go, safety, getting around