Things to Do in Lucca: The Best Experiences Beyond the Obvious

Lucca rewards those who take their time. It is not a city of single landmarks to be ticked off a list but a place where the cumulative effect of a morning walk, a long lunch, a climb up a medieval tower, and a late afternoon coffee in a sun-drenched piazza amounts to something genuinely memorable. The following are the experiences that matter most — the ones locals would recommend and that stand up to repeat visits.

Walk or Cycle the Renaissance Walls

The Mura di Lucca are the defining experience of any visit. This 4.2-kilometre circuit of perfectly preserved Renaissance fortifications doubles as a public promenade and cycling track above the city’s rooftops. Entry is free; bike rental costs around €3–4 per hour. Whether you walk the full loop or cycle several laps with a picnic, the walls offer a perspective on Lucca that no museum or monument can match. Read our complete guide to the Lucca walls for everything you need to know before you go.

Piazza dell’Anfiteatro

One of the most unusual public spaces in Italy, Piazza dell’Anfiteatro was built on the footprint of a Roman amphitheatre, its elliptical shape still clearly defined by the medieval buildings that rose directly on top of the ancient foundations. The arena that once held gladiatorial contests is today an enclosed piazza ringed with cafes, gelaterias and small shops. Its proportions are intimate and its atmosphere calm — this is not a tourist trap but a genuinely living neighbourhood square. Sit outside with a coffee and watch the locals. The arched entrances to the piazza, carved through the buildings, are themselves worth photographing.

Climb Torre Guinigi

Torre Guinigi is the most distinctive of Lucca’s medieval towers — topped, improbably, with a group of mature oak trees whose roots have grown into the room below the battlements. The climb involves around 230 steps but rewards with a 360-degree view over the city, the surrounding Lucchesia, and on clear days the snow-capped peaks of the Apuan Alps. The tower was built in the 14th century as a symbol of the Guinigi family’s power and wealth. Admission costs a few euros and the queue is rarely long outside of peak summer weeks.

Cattedrale di San Martino

Lucca’s cathedral is one of the finest Romanesque buildings in Tuscany. Its facade, with three asymmetric tiers of arcaded loggias in black and white marble, is immediately striking. Inside, the most important works are the Volto Santo — a wooden crucifix said to have been carved by Nicodemus and venerated since the Middle Ages — and the tomb of Ilaria del Carretto by Jacopo della Quercia (1406), considered one of the masterpieces of early Renaissance sculpture. Ilaria, the young wife of the lord of Lucca, lies in serene repose with a small dog at her feet, a symbol of fidelity.

Chiesa di San Michele in Foro

Built on the site of the ancient Roman forum, San Michele in Foro has one of the most extraordinary facades in Italian Romanesque architecture — a soaring four-tiered screen of arcades with twisted columns, intricate carving, and a giant Archangel Michael at the top. The interior is relatively simple by comparison, but the facade, particularly in early morning light, is genuinely breathtaking. It occupies the geographical and spiritual heart of the city.

Casa Natale di Puccini

Lucca is the birthplace of Giacomo Puccini, composer of La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot. The house where he was born in 1858, on Corte San Lorenzo near Piazza San Michele, is now a small but well-curated museum. It contains original furniture, portraits, manuscripts, and the piano on which Puccini composed parts of Turandot. For opera lovers it is a genuinely moving place; even for those less familiar with his music, the intimate scale of his early life in this city adds a layer of meaning to the streets outside.

Palazzo Pfanner

Palazzo Pfanner is a baroque palace with one of the most beautiful private gardens in Tuscany — a formal Italian garden with a central fountain, lemon trees in terracotta pots, baroque statues of the gods, and an outdoor loggia. The garden can be visited independently of the palazzo and is particularly lovely in spring when wisteria climbs the walls. It is also visible from the city walls above — a bird’s-eye view of the garden is one of the pleasant surprises of walking the Mura.

Lucca Comics & Games

Each October, Lucca hosts Lucca Comics & Games, one of the largest and most important pop culture festivals in Europe. The entire city centre becomes the venue — exhibitions, signings, panels, and cosplay events fill every piazza, church, and palazzo. Attendance regularly exceeds 300,000 visitors over four to five days. If you are a comics, gaming, or anime enthusiast, the timing is unmissable. If you are not, it is worth knowing that the city is extremely crowded in this period and accommodation must be booked many months in advance.

Wine Tasting in the Lucca Hills

The hills immediately surrounding Lucca — the Colline Lucchesi — produce DOC white and red wines that are little known outside the region. Several estates offer tastings and cellar tours, often combined with lunch or a tour of the olive groves. The nearby town of Montecarlo, about 15 kilometres east of Lucca on a hilltop, is the best destination for a wine-focused half day — small producers, good food, and views over the Arno plain. The drive through the hills is itself beautiful.

For a half-day excursion into the Parma mountains, you can also visit a Parmigiano Reggiano dairy — an easy day trip from Lucca, about 90 minutes away.