The Best Things to Do In Lucca, and How To Do Them

If you’ve looked up Lucca, Italy online or on social media searching for the best things to do in Lucca, you probably found that many bloggers and travelers will tell you that you can see Lucca in a day (even a day trip), and you probably could. Trust us when we say it’s a great city to enjoy at your own pace. Not just the main tourist attractions. Lucca is the perfect base for day trips to other areas, ensuring you have a tranquil retreat to return to after exploring the wonders of the region. 

Since Lucca is a smaller borghi and a little less well-known than heavy hitters like Florence, you won’t need to do lots of tours. You will need to know how to do what you want to do, and have a plan for those things. Lucca is very traditional in having lots of closing times throughout the day. On specific days many businesses are closed. Lucca is still a little off the radar. So while you’ll hear about it in ‘hidden gem’ type articles, they may leave out some of the best things to do, focusing only on the highlights. 

Iconic Piazza Anfiteatro Lucca, Italy

This post focuses on how to spend your time in Lucca. For more on where to stay, what to eat, and how to get around/to Lucca, read our Lucca Travel Guide.  And if you want ideas for day trips from Lucca, go here. 

*No BS, we want to be transparent; some of the links included on this page may be affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, we earn a commission if you make a purchase. We only recommend products and companies that we have vetted. Thanks for your support. This helps us bring you travel tips!

Skip to one of the best things to do in Lucca:

• First time visits
  • Walking tours in Lucca
  • DIY tours in Lucca
  • Food tours in Lucca
  • Cooking experience in Lucca
  • The wall of Lucca
  • Go on a bike ride
  • Climb a tower
  • Lucca’s 100 churches
  • Lucca’s beautiful piazzas
• Things most day-trippers miss
• Combine Sightseeing with Lucca Visitor Card
• Wine tasting in the Colline Lucchese

Must Do For First Time Visits to Lucca

Walking Tours To Take In Lucca

The quickest way to learn about a city is to do a walking history tour. It’s a great way to see a lot in a short period of time, while getting your steps in and getting the lay of the land. Did you know that in order to be a tour guide in Italy, you have to pass exams on the topic you are guiding tourists for? This means that when you do a walking history tour, the person guiding you will know the area well. You can ask your guide all of the questions you have, and leave having a real sense of the place you visited. 

How To Do It

Unique Walking Tours in Lucca

DIY Tours To Take In Lucca

Look, we love a good tour, especially from a passionate guide who is full of fun stories. But sometimes we’d like to do it at our own pace. We like to have the freedom to make stops and detours, especially on a nice day when we have extra time. 

How To Do It

Our favorite way to get all the info and stories, but at our own pace, is a self-guided audio tour. We love VoiceMap for this. The Lucca’s Secrets: See the Walled City’s Historic and Artistic Wonders self-guided audio tour takes about 2 hours if you do it straight through. We recommend making this a whole-day event. You’ll be going through some of the amazing piazzas and visiting all the iconic landmarks, so make a day of it. Shop and stop for lunch, an afternoon espresso, gelato, aperitivo, and stay for dinner when you’re done.

Eat Some Of The Best Food In Italy With A Food Tour

If you’ve read any of our other guides, you are aware that the food in Italy varies by region, and even specific cities will have their own local dishes that you should really only eat there. This is because it will always be the best where it is from. If you asked us which regions have the best food, we would tell you Lazio (Rome), Puglia, and of course TUSCANY! We can’t pick just one favorite; they are all delicious. 

In Lucca, you will find typical Tuscan dishes like pappardelle al cinghiale, bistecca fiorentina, and great panini. But there is so much to discover that is local to Lucca; we won’t ruin the surprise in case you decide to do a food tour, but if you want more information on what to eat and where to eat in Lucca, head over to our Lucca City Guide. Still, though, we recommend doing a food tour in Lucca.

Have a Cooking Experience And Cook With Local & Seasonal Ingredients

The experience with Chef Matthew Cook

Matt has teamed up with the Commune di Lucca to secure special locations in the city to conduct his experiences. Ours was inside part of the famous Muro di Lucca (walls of Lucca). To start our experience, Matt took us on a short walk in the historic center of Lucca to show us some bodegas that have been here for centuries, still frequented by the locals. Along the way, he picked up ingredients we would need for the cooking part of our experience. He carefully selected seasonal ingredients, planning our meal as we went, showing us the true Italian way. Each cooking experience with Matt is unique because he builds each class around the seasonal ingredients discovered while visiting the local bodegas at the start of the class. No experience is the same.

How to Do It

If you want to do something special while you are in Lucca, or need a private chef for your time in Tuscany, reach out to Matt at info@matthewcook.it and tell him we sent you! You can also find him on Instagram @chefmatthewcook or get more details on his website www.matthewcook.it

Another Lucca dining option

Many travelers dream of having dinner in a local’s home when they visit Italy. Since Matt’s cooking experience is not in his home, we want to tell you about the Market Tour & Typical Dining at a Local’s Home in Lucca. This activity is guided by a local Cesarine who will take you to a market to shop for ingredients before returning to their home to cook a typical Lucchese meal, which you will enjoy with wine.

Il Muro di Lucca- The Wall

Il Muro is, hands down, the top attraction of Lucca. This incredible fortress has stood guard over Lucca for centuries, a testament to its enduring strength and significance. Remarkably, it stands as a rare survivor, being the only Renaissance wall used as a park in Italy. The wall has been rebuilt several times. Evolving from a thin medieval-style wall into a formidable fortress that has kept many armies at bay. It is the symbol of the city of Lucca, and the Lucchese are very proud of it. 

Muro di Lucca (Wall of Lucca)

How To Do IT

Today, the wall has been transformed into an active park, inviting visitors to experience its rich history and beauty. It’s not just any park — it’s wide enough for a road with a dirt path and trees on each side. Only pedestrians, bicycles, and pets are allowed on the wall, making it an animated part of everyday life in Lucca. You’ll find locals walking on the wall throughout the day (especially when the weather is nice). Many take their after-dinner stroll (passeggiare) on the wall. 

It’s easy to get onto the wall. There are many ramps up to the wall; some are less steep than others, and the ones closest to the main Porte (doors) are the easiest to find. Head to the Lucca tourism office to pick up a map of the wall. 

The whole loop takes 45 minutes to an hour on foot, so you’ve got plenty of time to take in the views. Riding a bike on the wall takes about 25 minutes. No matter how you choose to experience it, walking or biking, the wall is sure to amaze you. Lucca is bursting with bike rental shops; some cater to large groups, with a fleet of bicycles and rischi (rikshaw-type multi-rider contraptions). Our favorite place to take visitors to rent a bike is Amici Bici, where you’ll find the friendliest staff around. They have great customer service and reasonable prices.

Go On A Bike Ride

In addition to riding the wall, there are many nearby routes and trails you could take an e-bike on. Lucca is a big cycling city (the most bike-friendly city in Italy), and you will see cyclists outside the wall year-round. Many of the bike rental shops in town offer maps and suggested routes to take. Some routes take you along the Serchio river towards the coast, and others will take you to some nearby villas or a winery. FYI, drinking and driving laws apply when riding a bike, so if you go to a winery, rental shops will encourage you to only have one glass.

How To Do It

There are many bike rental shops throughout Lucca, and you will absolutely see them when you are walking around (particularly on the streets that face the inside of the wall). And many times you can get a bike by walking in; however, if you are a large group, you should contact them ahead of time to make a reservation. If you just want to ride the wall or ride around Lucca, this is all you need. It typically costs €5-8 for an hour, and most have full-day rates as well. 

If you’d like to get outside of the center and visit some nearby areas, we have some great suggestions. Do a Self-Guided Bike Tour In Nature to Villa Reale. The bike tour company will provide you with an app and maps (entrance is not included), a helmet, and a phone holder. This takes most 4-7 hours to do. A popular option is to do a Self-guided Bike Tour from Lucca to Pisa. This takes 4-8 hours, depending on whether you return on bike or via the train (with the bikes). The bike tour company is the same as the last one, and they will provide you with the same app with directions, a helmet, and a phone mount for the bike. This bike rental/tour company is located just outside the train station, making it super convenient if you’re coming from another city to Lucca, and they offer luggage storage too! 

Climb A Tower That’s Not Part of A Church

Visit Some Of The 100 Churches

Have A Spritz In A Beautiful Piazza

Like any Italian city, Lucca has some great piazzas to grab a spritz, cappuccino, or even a meal in. Each piazza has a different view, but most have some sort of restaurant or cafe in it. We’ll start with Piazza Anfiteatro, which is probably the most famous and unique piazza in Lucca.

Piazza San Martino/Piazza Antelminelli

Piazza San Martino and Piazza Antelminelli are two adjoining piazzas surrounding Lucca’s Duomo. These are the main piazzas for the antique market mentioned above. For nightlife, we see many of the youngsters gathering at Undici Undici for drinks and socializing; we like to go for a late afternoon drink and a snack.

Piazza del Salvatore

Piazza del Salvatore is a small piazza with a church on one side, and if you take any of the streets leading off of it, you will find some great restaurants. Within the piazza is one of the oldest bodegas in the city: the Ortofrutta Lucca Centro (fruit and vegetable shop with an abundance of in-season goods). Enoteca Vani is a great wine bar for a glass and a snack, and they have a wine shop next door. Strabuono has some tasty panini too.

Add These Things To Your Itinerary And See The Things Most Day-Trippers Miss

The Orto Botanico

The Orto Botanico (botanical garden) is a quiet place to escape the city. The turtles in the pond are super cute, too. It’s €6 to enter, and you can buy combined tickets for this, Torre Guinigi, and Torre Delle Oro.

How to combine sightseeing in Lucca with the Lucca visitor card

In the spring of 2026, Lucca introduced its first visitor card. This visitor card (similar to city passes) saves visitors 56% of the cost of individual entry fees to 11 cultural sites, museums, and towers across the city. These savings are only realized when the use of the card is maximized. There is a 3-day (Incanto €29) and a 10-day pass (Meraviglia €48). The visitor card is valued at €66 for all included entries. Passes are free for individuals with disabilities and up to 3 minors per adult pass.

Where to buy the Lucca visitor card

Lucca visitor cards can be purchased in person at the ticket office for Torre Guinigi and the Cathedral of San Martino (Lucca’s Duomo). This is the most practical way to buy it if one of these will be your first stop. Otherwise, you can buy them at the IAT (tourist information office) in Piazza Verdi. There is a way to purchase them online, but in classic Italian fashion, it’s hard to find the link; avoid that and purchase them in person.

What’s Included In The Lucca Visitor Card

There are 11 sites included in the Lucca visitor card. If you only plan to visit a few, there is one other trick to saving some euros, so keep reading.

• Guinigi Tower (Torre Guinigi)
• Clock Tower (Torre delle Ore) 
• Complete cathedral, museum, and archaeological complex: Cathedral+ Museum+Baptistry (Complesso museale e archeologico della Cattedrale (Cattedrale + Museo + Battistero + area archeologica). This is Lucca’s Duomo.
• Puccini museum in his birth home (Casa Natale, Museo Puccini)
• National Museum of Villa Guinigi (Museo Nazionale Villa Guinigi)
• National Museum of Palazzo Mansi (Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Mansi)
• Botanical Gardens (Orto Botanico)
• Complete Basilica of San Frediano and bell tower entry (Complesso della Basilica e Campanile di San Frediano)
• Roman House museum (Domus Romana) 
• Ancient mint museum of Lucca (Museo Antica Zecca di Lucca)
• Internal combustion engine museum of Barsanti and Matteucci (Museo del Motore a Scoppio Barsanti e Matteucci)

How To See Just a Few Sites And Still Save Some Money

If the Lucca visitor card has more sites than you think you want to see, there are ways to combine a few without needing the whole card. The municipal ticket combines Torre Guinigi, Torre delle Ore, and Orto Botanico for €14. This can be purchased at the entrance of any of these 3 sites. If you plan to add anything else, like the Puccini museum or the Cathedral, then you should get the visitor card. 

If you aren’t interested in climbing those towers or seeing the botanical gardens (particularly if the weather isn’t great for those things), you may just want the complete Cathedral entry, which includes the Cathedral, the adjacent museum, and the baptistry for €9.

One Last Way To Save On Visiting Lucca Cultural Sites

If you are looking to save money, or rather make smart decisions while you are in Lucca, it’s worth noting that every first Sunday of the month, many museums are free. This is true throughout Italy; it is part of the Domenica al Museo initiative, and includes national museums. In Lucca, you can visit the National Museum of Palazzo Mansi and the National Museum of Villa Guinigi for free on Sundays.

Go Wine or Olive Oil Tasting in Lucca

You’ve simply got to go wine or olive oil tasting here. Lucca has some of the best olive oil in all of Italy! You’ll find it in the historic center and in restaurants everywhere, and many wineries will have some as well. Italy, and specifically Tuscany, is famous for its incredible Chianti wine. The wine is produced in a specific area known as the Chianti. Lucca is not in the Chianti area; it has its own geographic designation for wine produced in the Colline Lucchesi. It is just as delicious and has a slightly lower cost than Chianti (look for Sangiovese from the Colline Lucchesi).

The Colline Lucchesi reds, crafted from a blend that is dominant in Sangiovese or Merlot, are mouth-watering. And let’s not forget the Colline Lucchesi white wines, which are made from a blend dominated by the ever-delicious sauvignon blanc or the rare and complex Vermentino. Lucca and the surrounding hills have a terroir that is simply perfect for growing wine. You can book exciting excursions that will take you wine tasting. Another option is an e-bike self-guided tour to nearby wineries (many also have olive oil).

Wait, there’s more… on one side of Lucca, you will find the borghi of Montecarlo, which has its own DOC for whites and reds! First recognized for white wines in 1969, uniquely known for blending Tuscan grapes with French varietals (no wonder we like them so much). The Montecarlo white wines are typically made with Trebbiano Toscano (40-60%) and Vermentino or other French whites like Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, or Roussanne. The Montecarlo red wines are made with 50-75% Sangiovese and blended with Canaiolo, Ciliegliolo, Syrah, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon.

How To Do It:

Since Lucca is a cycling town, we’re going to start with a few ways to taste wine by e-bike. We need to caution you that there are still laws about drinking and driving, and they apply to bikes, too. Think of this as a way to take a nice bike ride and get a little bit of wine, maybe get something to eat, and buy some wine for later. You’re an adult, so make good choices.

• Self-guided bike tour + picnic in the vineyards– pick up your bike just outside the Lucca train station around noon or 3 pm for a perfectly timed ride to a vineyard where they are waiting for you with a pre-packaged picnic or local snacks and wine that you can enjoy on the lawn by the vineyard. You’ll get an app with a map to where you’re going, a helmet, a lock, and a phone mount. This takes about 3-4 hours. 
• Guided E-Bike Tour with Wine Tasting from Lucca– After meeting your guide and picking up your bike just outside the Lucca train station, your 3-4 hour tour will begin with a short ride on the walls of Lucca before heading into the countryside for some local snacks and wine. With a guide, you won’t have to do any of the thinking; just follow them and enjoy the view. 

For those who don’t want to combine a bike ride with wine tasting, we’ve got you. Check out these wine tasting tours from Lucca:

• Private wine tour in the hills of Lucca with a sommelier – Meet your private tour guide for a 4-5 hour tour into the hills of Lucca. This includes a light lunch (with olive oil from Lucca), 5-8 tastings of wine at 2 wineries, and some bottled water. What makes this unique is that your guide is an award-winning sommelier with a deep understanding of the wines you’ll taste and the wineries you’ll visit. 
• Tuscan Wine Tour in Lucca by van– this is a small group tour, so you may make some new friends on this 5-6 hour wine tasting tour. On this tour, you’ll have a light lunch of Tuscan snacks and learn about the winemaker’s process for making the wines you taste. The wines are all organic, and you’ll be visiting a certified organic cellar.

For a unique wine tasting experience (in Lucca or anywhere else in Italy), we strongly recommend Winedering. Winedering connects travelers with hand-picked wine tastings, vineyard tours, food tours, and cooking classes across Europe. If you’re in Lucca, we recommend these great options with Winedering, just outside of Lucca.

• Enjoy a light lunch and wine experience at Tenuta del Buonamico. This is a very popular winery in Lucca; you will find many restaurants serving their wine. This 2-hour experience includes a guided tour of the winery, 6 wine tastings, EVOO tasting, and a light, traditional Tuscan lunch. If you’re driving, you’ll reach Tenuta del Buonamico in about 30 minutes from Lucca. 
• Combine cooking and wine tasting with Cooking Lessons and Wine Tasting in Montecarlo di Lucca at Fattoria Carmignani. A 4.5-hour immersive experience. Learn to cook a full traditional menu in this farm-to-table class. After cooking the meal, you will enjoy it with 7 wine tastings and follow it with a scenic walk in the vineyards. What a perfect way to spend the day. It will take you 25-30 min to reach Fattoria Carmignani by car from Lucca. 
• Discover the full expression of Valle Del Sole wines in a 2-hour tasting that includes 8 wine tastings. This is accompanied by some local fresh snacks too. Valle Del Sole is a 15-minute drive from Lucca.

*Note that the wine tours recommended above do not include transportation. If you would like a rental car in the area, check with DiscoverCars.

There are some differences when wine tasting in Italy versus in, say, Napa Valley, CA. Here are our top tips for wine tasting on your own in Italy:

• MAKE AN APPOINTMENT. Almost no wineries in Italy will take walk-ins. Find the wineries you are interested in going to and make a reservation. 
• Expect longer stops. The Italians want to tell you the story of the wine and their vineyard. Most tastings will include a tour of the vineyards and/or cellar before the wine tasting. 
• Italians almost never drink without eating something. Many wine tastings will include a minimum of some bread and olive oil. Make a day of it and find a place that does a nice lunch or dinner to accompany your wine tasting. 
• If you’re from, or have been to, Sacramento, CA, you might appreciate Tenuta Adamo just outside of Lucca. The winery owner is also the owner of Adamo’s Kitchen (an Italian restaurant) and Dodici Pizzeria in downtown Sacramento. This winery is not far from Lucca; we had a wonderful time celebrating our birthday there last year. *If you don’t have a car, you may be able to arrange for them to pick you up and drop you off for an additional fee. They don’t advertise this; just email them and say you want to come, but want to know if they have any advice or can help you get there.

View from Tenuta Adamo, Lucca, Italy

We hope this has helped you to map out the best things to do in Lucca and how to do them. If you do decide to make Lucca your home base, then read about great day trips from Lucca on our Lucca City Guide. If you have questions, send us a message. We live in Lucca, and answering your questions will help us to know our city better. We’re happy to help.

Your next reads for an amazing trip to Lucca and beyond:

Lucca City Guide– A first-timer’s guide to Lucca with everything from which neighborhood to stay in to where to eat. 

Ciao Bella, Navigating Italy by Train– Everything you need to know about booking and taking trains in Italy. 

Florence City Guide– A close-up on how to explore the beautiful Renaissance city, from neighborhood recs to wine bars, it’s got it all. 

The Best Things To Do In Florence And How To Do Them– An in-depth guide on how to do everything you want to do in Florence, from famous sites like The David to hidden gems.  

What You Need To Know About The Cinque Terre– Tips on getting there, where to stay, and things to know ahead of time.

When Is The Best Time Of Year To Visit Tuscany?– Our take on the best time of year to visit Tuscany & why, as well as where you should go.

-XO, The Twins

How can we help? We would love to hear your questions!

Contact us by email at thetwins@twicethetraveler.com

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