After spending the day prior exploring Pisa, and realising we had nothing else to see for the rest of our trip (see Pisa to find what we got up to), we decided to cross some other European cities off our travel list.
An as you already know from this blogs title, we got the train to Lucca. This took around 30 minutes and cost us 3.90€ one way per person. A little tip, it was cheaper to buy tickets at the station than online. So if you can, get there a few minutes earlier. For those worrying about the complications that come with public transport, the tickets were so simple to buy. You can change the languages on the machines so it was just like catching the trains in the UK. Apart from these ones were on time. Saying that, as we ventured out and back into Pisa our train tickets were never checked (waste of money really) but it did say online that they had to be punched? We did not come across a machine that did this and had no issues. I also do not know if that is even true.
When we arrived, we had a short walk to the city walls. Getting into the city definitely still felt very medieval, you had to walk around a corner of the wall to find the hidden archway, and coming out of the first tunnel you can see a second, smaller archway. The views from the top of the wall were reyt good. On one side, views of the old city. On the opposite, a typical Tuscan landscape: mountains towering over the typical red and yellows of the surrounding buildings.
We didn’t really have a plan or any idea of what we were going to do while we were here. As the weather was nice, we decided to walk along the top of the wall, and apparently everyone and their dog decided to do this too. Literally. For those who don’t know, it is a circular wall going around the city. The path is pretty wide, with tress lining each side; parks and water refill station at different points. Now we are not historians, but if you’re interested in the history (that doesn’t include and isn’t limited to Lucca’s appearance of Top Gear) there are tours available at quite a cheap price.
At the point we guessed to be halfway around, we made the descent down the cobbles into the city.
Now, if you’re unsure of things to do or see in an area you are visiting in December, chances are there is a Christmas market somewhere. Lucca is no exception. There were decorations and trees all around the city. Or the part that we walked around anyway as all of the small streets blend into one. And eventually, we stumbled upon a Christmas market, do not ask us to locate it- it is like a maze in there
There are a few attractions within the city, for example, the Piazza dell’Anfiteatro which is a small area in the centre of Lucca with buildings surrounding it in an oval shape. Rather a fancy design but there wasn’t much going on when we arrived as it was still pretty early in the day, typical Italian fashion of nothing getting done before 12:00 PM.
Then the highlight of Lucca for us was the Guinigi Tower which is a 230 step tower that takes you 45 m above Lucca which is an amazing view in itself. But then the fact they have trees planted on top of the small roof makes it even cooler. We paid 8€ each to go up which we thought was a bit steep at first (pun intended) but after seeing the view and pretty much having the place to ourselves (mainly because it was December) it was worth it. Highly recommended.
Tight Travellers 