Pisa and Lucca

[Bingee]

We have decided not to do Florence and Cinque Terra, but I know there isn't a whole day in Pisa. Is it worth tacking on Lucca to Pisa and how do you get between the two?

[ckruetze]

I was really disappointed in Pisa. More tourists then you can count and not really that good restaurants - more expensive tourist traps. The only good thing about going there was I can now confirm the tower is leaning.

Not sure about Lucca but if it doesn't have the one and only tourist thing for everybody to see maybe that could be a nicer trip.

How to get around, I guess train or private hire car with a driver would be the quickest.

[deButler]

We spent a month touring Italy last year and spent one night in Lucca and wish we had done another. My daughter and I rented bikes from a shop right beside the wall and rode around the entire town in a very short time. It was soo pleasant and not very crowded. The Cafes in the “town square” (which is round) are very neat with apartments wrapped completely around them looking down. We had amazing Tuscan BiStecca at the restaurant of our apartment owner. 

We took the train from Florence to Lucca which has to change in Pisa. Since we were stopping any way we dropped our luggage near the train station and caught a city bus to the other side of town to see the tower. It was interesting to see since it is basically the “Eiffel Tower of Italy” but the city itself was very disappointing. And last year there was NO ONE there!! This year we did a Trans-Atlantic to Rome and then 2 weeks taking my Mom back to many of our favorite places and the tower in Pisa was SOO crowded you couldn’t get in or get a decent photograph. One thing I discovered this year is to book your stops through the Pisa S. Rossore train station and you can walk <1 km to the tower from that station. 

To Lucca from Pisa Centrale is only about 30 mins on the train. It’s a very quick and easy trip. By far the easiest way to travel around Italy.