Explore Italy: Lucca
/La Cattedrale di San Martino
Of the small, but well known Tuscan towns, Lucca has to be one of my favorites. This post will give you a small taste of Lucca to help you decide if this might be a place you might want to visit.
Lucca in a nutshell
Location: Tuscany, Italy
Best known for: Surrounding rampart walls that can be walked on.
Days needed to explore: 1+ - Lucca makes for a wonderful day trip, but it could also be leisurely enjoyed over a couple days.
What to see and do:
Bird’s Eye View of the Botanical Garden from my favorite spot on the wall
Walk or rent bikes for a turn on the walls; once around the city is about 4 kilometers / 2.5 miles
Duomo (La Cattedrale di San Martino)
Torre Guinigi (look for the tall tower with the tree on top)
Botanical Garden
Torture Museum? Nah.
Established: As far back as 218 BC, a Roman colony in 180 BC, the walls it is known for weren’t started until the 16th century.
Places to eat:
Forno Francesco Casali (bakery)
Gelatarium (gelato; self serve in the style of most American frozen yogurt shops)
Typical foods to try:
Walking under the wall to enter the city
Tordelli Lucchesi (the tortelli, or ravioli of Lucca, typically filled with meat, cheese, and greens and served with a meat ragù)
Minestra di Farro alla Lucchese (bean and farro soup)
Rovelline (fried slices of meat in a flavorful tomato sauce with capers)
Baccalà (cured codfish, fried)
Pane di Patate (potato bread)
Buccellato (a poor man’s bread, made with anise and raisins)
Torta co’ Becchi (a type of cake, the one original to Lucca is made with herbs, pine nuts, and a touch of orange)
More about Lucca
Lucca is small, not too touristy, but has a wonderful, relaxed feel to it and is easily explored in a day. It’s not a high adrenaline city with a long list of “must see” places, but the whole city is intertwined with that Italian rustic romance and charm which makes it perfect to wander along the cobblestone streets, no map needed.
Walking on the wall
Lucca is probably best known as the town with the outer wall you can walk on. Knowing this before going but not having ever really seen any photos of Lucca’s wall, I was surprised to find how wide it was. I guess I was picturing more of a medieval castle’s battalion and narrow-ish ramparts, but Lucca’s wall is more of a high mounded dirt wall that surrounds the city. It’s wide enough for a paved sidewalk where bicycles, joggers, walkers, and trees alike can coexist peacefully. Cars can drive on the wall even, although they’re no longer allowed. A leisurely stroll around the whole city wall on foot can easily be accomplished in a couple hours, if that. It gives you a lovely view of the town, and my favorite corner has some benches where you can sit and look down into the botanical garden. The garden has a paid entrance but I enjoyed it from the wall maybe more than if I had gone in.
Why I like Lucca
I went in October and while I’m certain Lucca is lovely year round, I’ve dreamed of going back in October because it felt so autumnal and perfect. I grew up in Michigan where the fall colors are vibrant and vast, so the change through autumn and winter in Italy from green to yellow to brown to not there is so gradual I hardly notice it. This is one reason I enjoyed Lucca so much, it felt the closest to a real fall I’ve felt in Italy. Trees and nature throughout the city also help when you’re surrounded by cement and brick so often.
