Pisa and Lucca: the Leaning Tower and the city of walls
Piazza dei Miracoli with the Tower, the Cathedral and the Baptistery in the morning, Lucca with its tree-lined walls, Piazza dell'Anfiteatro and Torre Guinigi in the afternoon.
Two Tuscan cities half an hour from each other. In the morning Pisa and its Piazza dei Miracoli, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987: on the green lawn stand the Cathedral, the Baptistery and the Tower, which has been leaning for more than eight centuries. After lunch Lucca, enclosed within its 16th and 17th-century walls, wide and tree-lined, where you can stroll: inside, Romanesque churches, the oval square born from a Roman amphitheatre and the tower with trees on top.
Leave Imola for Pisa, Piazza dei Miracoli2 h 30 driving, 219 km
Pisa, Piazza dei Miracoli2 h 05 of visits: The Leaning Tower, The Cathedral, The Baptistery
Lunch in Pisa1 h 00 of visits: away from the Tower, towards Borgo Stretto: cecina, zuppa pisana, baccalà; in Lucca for a snack try buccellato.
Drive on to Lucca30 min driving, 27 km
Lucca2 h 20 of visits: The walls, The Cathedral of San Martino and San Michele in Foro, Piazza dell'Anfiteatro and Torre Guinigi
Drive back to Imola2 h 10 driving, 197 km
Back in Imola
Times are a guide: driving times are worked out without traffic, then come the visits and ten minutes at every stop to park. In summer towards the coast and at rush hour allow extra time.
What you will see
1Pisa, Piazza dei Miracoli
The Leaning Tower 45 min
It is the bell tower of the Cathedral, begun in 1173. It started to lean just a few years later, when they had reached the third floor, because the ground beneath is soft: work stopped for almost a century and the tower was only finished in the 14th century, with the upper floors slightly bent to straighten it. Between 1990 and 2001 it was closed and made safe by removing soil from under the higher side: today it leans at about 4 degrees and is stable.
The climb (more than 250 steps) is done in half-hour slots with a timed ticket: book ahead. Children under 8 cannot climb.
The Cathedral 30 min
It was begun in 1064 by the architect Buscheto with the spoils of a naval victory against the Arabs: it is the model of Pisan Romanesque, with bands of white and grey marble and loggias on the façade. Inside is the pulpit by Giovanni Pisano, carved between 1302 and 1310, and the bronze lamp which, according to tradition, led Galileo, a Pisan, to discover the laws of the pendulum.
Free entry with a timed voucher, collected from the ticket office.
The Baptistery 25 min
Begun in 1152 by Diotisalvi, it is the largest baptistery in Italy: round, Romanesque below and Gothic above. Inside is the pulpit by Nicola Pisano from 1260, Giovanni's father. Every half hour a custodian sings a few notes in the centre of the hall, and the echo from the dome makes them last a long time, like a choir.
Ticket, combined with the Camposanto and museum.
2Lucca
The walls 20 min
Lucca's walls, built between the 16th century and 1650, encircle the city for more than four kilometres, with eleven bastions. They were never used in a war: in the 19th century Maria Luisa of Bourbon transformed them into a raised tree-lined avenue, and today the people of Lucca stroll, jog and cycle there.
Free access. On the walls you can hire a bicycle and do the whole circuit in half an hour.
The Cathedral of San Martino and San Michele in Foro 35 min
The Cathedral of San Martino has a façade of superimposed loggias and inside houses the Volto Santo, a large wooden crucifix venerated for centuries, and the tomb of Ilaria del Carretto, carved by Jacopo della Quercia between 1406 and 1408: the young wife of the lord of Lucca sleeps with a little dog at her feet, a symbol of faithfulness. Not far away San Michele in Foro, on the site of the Roman forum, has a façade higher than the church itself, all little columns and marble.
The Cathedral is free; the sacristy with Ilaria's tomb requires a ticket.
Piazza dell'Anfiteatro and Torre Guinigi 40 min
Piazza dell'Anfiteatro is oval because the houses were built over the tiers of a Roman amphitheatre; in 1830 the architect Lorenzo Nottolini cleared the centre and today's square was born. Not far away is Torre Guinigi, 45 metres high, with a garden of holm oaks on top: after more than two hundred steps you can see the whole city within the walls. Lucca is also the city of Giacomo Puccini, who was born here in 1858.
The square is free; Torre Guinigi requires a ticket.
Tips
Climbing the Tower of Pisa must be booked with a time slot: book it between 10 and 11.
Those who want more time in Lucca can cycle round the walls instead of climbing Torre Guinigi.
In September Lucca hosts the Luminara di Santa Croce and in autumn Lucca Comics: the city is packed.
The same trip from other towns
How long it takes from each town, the drive back included. Tap a town to see the plan from there.
Almost every old town has a limited traffic zone (ZTL) with cameras: park outside and walk in. The fine reaches your home, abroad too. ZTL and car parks town by town
This trip with a driver
Romagna Transfer picks you up at your hotel, drops you in front of every stop and brings you back: no parking, no ZTL, and the wine is yours to enjoy.
Trips written by our editors from the facts of our monument pages and the official sites. Opening days and hours change: the note under every place tells you what to check before you leave. No prices: you find them on the museums' sites.
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