Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
147
artillery technology had made such battlements irrelevant, and Lucca surren-
dered, along with its cannons, without a fight. When Napoleon became King of
Italy in 1805, he put his sister, Elia Baciocchi, in charge of Lucca. She freshened
up the town, adding gardens and the appropriately named Piazza Napoleone.
Today, Lucca has a vibrant small-city feel amid its historical monuments,
palaces, and gardens. Regional food (especially local olive oils) fills its shops and
restaurants, opera fills its theaters, and local Lucchese fill its wide avenues on their
evening promenades through town.
LAY OF THE LAND
Reaching Lucca
by train
is pretty easy from Florence. Over 20 trains a day con-
nect the cities on an 80-minute ride costing just
€
5. The
Lucca train station
(Piazza Ricasoli; ticket office
%
0583-467013
)
is just a couple of blocks from
the historic south edge of the wall. Trains go to Pisa with similar regularity, and
cost only
2.50 for the half-hour ride. While it's a snap to walk into town, if
you're traveling with heavy luggage,
take city bus no. 1, 2, or 3, all of
which go to the center of Lucca.
There are also plenty of taxis at the
train station.
Hourly
buses
connect Lucca
to Florence via the
Lazzi line
(
%
0583-584876;
www.lazzi.it).
The
ride takes about 75 minutes, costs
about
€
“
A few of the churches are justly
famous . . . but with Florence nearby
and Pisa around the corner and Siena
not too far away, these don't call for
studious attention, and that can be
great relief and Lucca's greatest
asset.
—Kate Simon,
Italy: The Places
5, and stops at Piazzale Verdi
on the west side of Lucca.
It's less than an hour's drive to
Lucca from Florence, about 64 km (40
miles) away on the A11 expressway.
The commute to Pisa is even shorter, just 24 km (15 miles) to the south on SS12.
Traffic and parking are restricted inside the city, though free parking can be found
on city streets outside the walls.
Lucca's main
tourist office
(Piazza Santa Maria, 35;
%
0583-919931; www.
luccaturismo.it; May-Oct daily 9am-8pm, Nov-Apr daily 9am-1pm and 3pm-6pm)
is located on the south side of the piazza, just inside Porta Santa Maria. It has the
usual collection of maps and brochures, and also a bookstore selling the useful
English-language
Grapevine
magazine of events and listings for
€
in Between,
1970
2, as well as
Internet access (
€
3 for 30 min.). For an entertaining and informative audio tour
of the city, rent headphones from the tourist office for
€
6. At a leisurely pace, the
tour takes about 2 hours. Lucca has
another tourist office
with similar services in
Cortile Carrara, off Palazzo Ducale, facing Piazza Napoleone
(
%
0583-919941
).
If you want to do as the Lucchese do, you may feel inspired to travel around
the city—especially the city walls—by bike.
Bikes
are available for rent at two
shops next to the main tourist office:
Antonio Poli
(Piazza Santa Maria, 42;
%
0583-493787; www.biciclettepoli.com; Tues-Sun 8:30am-7:30pm)
and
Cicli
Bizzarri
(Piazza Santa Maria, 32;
%
0583-496031; 8:30am-1pm and 2:30-7:30pm).
Just about every place in town charges the same
€
€
2.10 per hour, or
€
11 per day
for basic bicycles.
