Holidays in Tuscany: Lucca, Pisa and much more.
Rent a villa in this area and enjoy some of the most beautiful and peculiar cities in Italy: Lucca, Pisa and its famous tower, Pistoia, San Miniato and Forte dei Marmi are waiting for you.
The Northernmost area of Tuscany has a lot to offer beside the most famous tower of the world. After a quick stop in Pisa, almost any tourist rushes across the region to get to Florence, but mind: around here you’ll find some of the most fascinating towns of Italy.
A visit to both Pisa and Lucca, the most important towns of the area, will take at least a couple of days, but it will be worth the effort! Follow our itineraries:
Pisa
Lucca
Where to stay
We selected the best villas and the most charming manor farms in Lucca, Pisa and surroundings.
Pistoia
The town of Pistoia can be easily reached from Pisa or Florence, and it probably deserves more attention than it usually gets. Saturday and Wednesday are the market days and Piazza del Duomo gets full of stands and crowded with people. The alleys around the square are beautiful and perfect for a lazy walk. The main attractions are surely the Duomo itself and the octagonal Battistero that dates back to the 14th century. Pay a visit to Piazza degli Ortaggi, choose a café, have a seat and admire the Giro del Sole, a contemporary artwork by Roberto Barni.
San Miniato
There’s a clear reason to pay a visit to this charming little medieval hamlet, and it isn’t related to art or history. That reason is white truffle. Taste the specialties cooked with this wonderful and unique ingredient at Peperino (Via IV Novembre, 1): this is one of the smallest restaurants in the world, so book in advance! Or you can go on a true quest for truffles yourself, booking one of the tours offered by Barbialla Nuova, a farm located 20 km South of San Miniato (more detalied informations are available on www.barbiallanuova.it).
Viareggio
This seaside resort is famous for its carnival, but also as the place where the romantic poet Shelley died: after his death, his friend Lord Byron had him cremated on the beach. If you’re spending your summer holidays in Tuscany you will surely visit Viareggio, whose beach is one of the most known on the Tyrrenian Sea. Take a walk on the Passeggiata along the sea and stop by Gran Caffè Margherita, a café founded in 1929 and known as the favourite place to go for musicist Giacomo Puccini.
Forte dei Marmi
One of the most famous seaside resorts of Italy: spend the day at the beach and the evening at La Capannina (Via Marco Polo, 2), and you’ll feel immediately in the Italian 60s. Pay a visit to Piazza Garibaldi to admire the Figlia del Sole by the contemporary sculptor Giò Pomodoro and the Fortino, built by the will of Leopoldo I Duke of Tuscany in 1782.
