Lucca Guided Tour with Food Experience

Silvia is a reputable and licensed tour guide with years of extensive industry experience. As your premier tour guide for the Tuscany Region, she has a foreign language degree and speaks both Italian and English fluently. With more than 15 years if the tourism industry, she has organized countless tours of her hometown for tourists, visitors, and locals alike. From historic sites and architecture to the best in old town shops and jewelry venues, this amazing guide will truly show you the magic and mystique of Lucca. As a world renowned and popular tourist attraction, Lucca is blanketed with breathtaking scenery and picturesque landscapes at every turn. Explore the wonders of Lucca, which features medieval churches, art museums, Renaissance walls, and ancient palaces, that capture the true allure and essence of old Italy.

Lucca
Lucca is one of the most charming towns in Tuscany – source

 

The Lucca Tour

As part of your guided tour, you will embrace the beauty of Lucca with its enchanting villages, parks, hamlets, and the resort town of Viareggio. The coastal region of Versilia is also a must see for those that love the ocean and stunning mountain views. After a day of touring, enjoy the hottest nightlife spots with world class cuisine, wine, and the perfect blend of traditional and contemporary music.

Lucca Wine and Fine Gourmet Tours

If you love to sample fine wines and delicious Italian delicacies and entrees, your guide will connect you to the finest restaurants and outdoor cafes in the region. Dazzle your taste buds with the best in Torta Derbi, Buccellato, Cioccolato, along with traditional olive oil and salami specialties. This is a must for fine gourmet connoisseurs and aficionados that want to sample and taste the best in Italian cuisine. While the aromas and scents will captive your soul, you will also love the historic churches, monuments, architecture, and burgeoning art scene that Lucca offers.

Lucca Gardens

The guide will also take you on a walking tour of the regionally renowned Botanical Garden. The Palazzo Pfanner garden and Guinigi tower are also situated within long and woody city walls that cannot be missed. The Lucca Gardens tour showcases some of the finest frescoes in the region that exemplify the historic traditions and culture of this fascinating city. From elegant floral arrangements to lavish shopping venues, Lucca welcomes you and your loved ones with open arms

Florence Art Guided Tours With a Licensed Guide

Giuliana Grillotti holds official guides liscenses for the cities of Florence and Lucca. Her basic training is in Art history and she has a degree in Art history from the University of Pisa. She published her thesis in on Sacred Art in 1986 , specifically on the ancient goldsmiths and the translucid enamels of the old Luccan Dioceses. She obtained her Florentine guide’s liscence in 1992 and since then she has been active not only as a guide but as a writer and collaborator on projects designed to promote and preserve Florence’s cultural heritage. She was a regular contributor to a Florentine magazine where she had a column focusing on the art of the city. In 1997 she contributed an article to the book ‘The Renaissance Chapels of Florence’ . In recent years she collaborated with the provincial authorities on a project to promote the Park of Pratolino, known to many as the park of Villa Demidoff, and was involved in the publishing of a brief but complete guide to the park. She has also taught a course for the British Institute of Florence, on Giotto and his followers. Giuliana Grillotti is an appraiser of the Florentine Court House. Owner since 2003 NCC licence and minivan for tours into the real Tuscany

Itinerary proposed: Duomo -Piazza Signoria-Pontevecchio-Santa Croce

Firenze
Guided art tour of Florence with a licensed guide – source

 

This guided tour of Florence is offered by Giuliana.

Giuliana holds official guides liscenses for the cities of Florence and Lucca. Her basic training is in Art history and she has a degree in Art history from the University of Pisa. She published her thesis in on Sacred Art in 1986 , specifically on the ancient goldsmiths and the translucid enamels of the old Luccan Dioceses. She obtained her Florentine guide’s liscence in 1992 and since then she has been active not only as a guide but as a writer and collaborator on projects designed to promote and preserve Florence’s cultural heritage. She was a regular contributor to a Florentine magazine where she had a column focusing on the art of the city. In 1997 she contributed an article to the book ‘The Renaissance Chapels of Florence’ . In recent years she collaborated with the provincial authorities on a project to promote the Park of Pratolino, known to many as the park of Villa Demidoff, and was involved in the publishing of a brief but complete guide to the park. She has also taught a course for the British Institute of Florence, on Giotto and his followers. Giuliana Grillotti is an appraiser of the Florentine Court House. Owner since 2003 NCC licence and minivan for tours into the real Tuscany.

We also have other tours around Florence or you can decide to take a day trip from there and explore Tuscany and Liguria by taking a day tour to Cinque Terre from Florence.

3 Reasons why Lucca is a Visitor’s Delight

Lucca has such a lot to offer visitors! This lovely town is one of Tuscany’s most outstanding medieval walled towns and a walk around the almost completely intact 4km stretch of ancient fortifications will transport you back in time, as well as help you work up an appetite for some of the lovely Tuscan food you can sample in the town. Lucca also has some outstanding art and architecture to show off, but most people who visit Lucca come to see the walls, the towers or to attend one of the many summer festivals, so we will have a look at these three attractions in more detail.

 

The Walls of Lucca.

Nowadays the walls are a popular meeting place for locals, and thronged with walkers and cyclists in summer, but this was not always the case and they have had a turbulent history. The original walls were defensive, and built during Ancient Roman times, and few traces of these are visible today. The original Medieval walls were built in the 11th and 12th century and in the 14th century they had to be extended to accommodate the growing population of the town. The walls you see today were commissioned in 1504 in order to keep up with “modern” military advances, to ensure that Lucca could remain safe from the Medici. These walls were extremely advanced for their time, and required the collaboration of many Military architects from other parts of Italy. They were never breached! Along the 4 km stretch of walls you will find 11 bastions (all different from one another in design) and 3 gates. Inside the ramparts were large rooms to house soldiers, horses and munitions. The walls are always accessible to visitors and children especially will love exploring these ancient fortifications.

The Towers of Lucca

Lucca once had about 130 towers – representative of the power and wealth of the families who built them. Sadly, only 2 important towers remain today, the rest having been demolished long ago. The most recognizable symbol of the city is the Guinigi Tower which has a huge Oak trees growing from its’ roof top garden! You will have a wonderful view of the town from the top of this tower if you can manage the 235 steps to the top!

In the town you will also find the Torre delle Ore, or clock tower. This one is taller than the Guinigi Tower and has provided the citizens of Lucca with a clock since 1390! It is open to the public if you fancy climbing to the top for another great view.

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Festivals in Lucca

The lovely Piazza san Guisto is home to many festivals throughout the year. Some of the most important are the Summer Festival, where live music concerts featuring world-class bands are held every July, the Winter festival featuring Jazz and soft rock, the Comics Festival – all you ever wanted to know about comics – and the Puccini Opera festival in July each year – (Puccini was born in Lucca and is greatly revered in this town.)

Lucca guided tours.

If you have only few hours it makes sense to hire a local guide. By doing so you can explore on the highlights of the city and discover the long history that characterised Lucca. The guides are professional individuals who are trained by the local government, the town can be explored on foot in 2/3 hours. You can reach Lucca from Pisa, Cinque Terre, and Florence and it the the ideal destination for a day trip while you are on vacation in Tuscany.

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