HALF-DAY TOURS WITH TOUR GUIDE WANDA MARTINELLI
Guided Tours in Lucca and the Surrounding Area
Lucca – Half-Day Walking Tour
Lucca – Half-Day Walking Tour
Lucca – Half-Day Walking Tour
This tour lasts approximately 2.5 hours.
As Lucca is totally flat, the walking tour is suitable for people of all ages, including those in wheelchairs.
It includes an introduction to Lucca explaining the city's history and its past/present economy. We'll stroll on the ancient city wall (wheelchairs too!) and on San Paolino Street. We'll see Puccini’s birthplace (exterior only), the dazzling church of San Michele (with its wedding-cake façade), the imposing Piazza Napoleone and the adjoining Piazza del Giglio, the Romanesque San Martino Cathedral housing the famous Volto Santo (a wooden crucifix supposedly made on the night when Jesus died).
We"ll walk along the busy Via Fillungo, the poshest shopping street in town flanked by stunning medieval buildings and towers, including the tree-topped Torre Guinigi. The tour ends at Piazza Anfiteatro, the miniature Coliseum converted centuries ago into condominiums, nowadays one the most picturesque squares in Tuscany.
Lucca – Half-Day by Bike
Lucca – Half-Day Walking Tour
Lucca – Half-Day Walking Tour
This tour visits the main sites listed in the Lucca - Half Day Tour... with an extended ride on the lovely city wall.
Lucca, being totally flat, is one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in Italy! Everybody rides a bicycle in Lucca, as you will soon find out. Your tour guide, Wanda Martinelli, will help you rent the bike. (Please consider that it might be necessary to push the bike when visiting the busiest/narrowest streets.)
The Villas
Lucca – Half-Day Walking Tour
Lucca – Half-Day Walking Tour ... plus wine tasting!
This tour lasts approximately 4 hours.
More than 300 historical houses were built in the hills of Lucca between the 16th and the 17th centuries by the rich silk merchants as country residences. This tour includes Villa Torrigiani in Camigliano with its gardens and stunning baroque interior (visit allowed on the ground floor only), and Villa Reale in Marlia. Recently refurbished, Villa Reale is a spectacular example of Empire Style decoration and the park is simply magnificent.
You will be able to learn the history and the stories of these places and their past owners but, as Wanda is a local girl, you will also get some modern gossip.
Other villas in the area are also open to the public, so a different itinerary can be easily arranged.
Tickets at cost.
Lucca – Half-Day Walking Tour ... plus wine tasting!
Lucca – Half-Day Walking Tour ... plus wine tasting!
Lucca – Half-Day Walking Tour ... plus wine tasting!
This guided tour visits the same sites as the half-day tour and adds approximately 1 hour of wine tasting.
When your feet are tired and your brain is heavy with fresh insights, a bit of wine can reconcile you with the whole world. Local wines have come a long way during the past 20 years and many can now boast DOC labels. Should you be interested in other Tuscan wines, we can offer that option, too. We will visit one of the oldest wine/food shops in town where you will be able to taste 3 different wines served with yummy finger food.
Lucca and Puccini
Lucca – Half-Day Walking Tour ... plus wine tasting!
On the Spurs of Puccini
This tour lasts about 3.5 hours.
Lucca can boast an extremely rich musical tradition. Perhaps the most famous musician born here is the much-loved Giacomo Puccini.
Today his birthplace is a most interesting museum. You can see portraits, a rich collection of letters, his Steinway piano, an amazing costume for Turandot, plus other significant memorabilia.
Puccini’s private life was rather turbulent for those days (scandalous in fact!). Wanda will share all the ins and outs of a “Dynasty”-style saga that has become even more intricate in recent years as Puccini’s large estate has been in turmoil.
Please note the museum is closed on Tuesdays. Admission ticket - 9 euro per person.
On the Spurs of Puccini
Lucca – Half-Day Walking Tour ... plus wine tasting!
On the Spurs of Puccini
This tour lasts approximately 3 hours.
Puccini spent some 30 years of his life at Torre del Lago, a little lake resort approximately 25 km west of Lucca. The house, a small but extremely rich museum. It only can be visited with the help of audio guides that provide the official version of most events in his life. Wanda can share the saucy details!
The tour continues to Viareggio, one of the most elegant seaside resorts in the Belle Epoque time, where Puccini spent the last four years of his life (the house can only be seen from the street). A stroll along the (once) posh sea promenade featuring very interesting Art Nouveau buildings completes the tour.
Admission ticket - 9 euro per person.
A Villa with Wine & Olive Oil Tasting in the Hills
Pietrasanta, Marble and the World Of Modern Sculpture
A Villa with Wine & Olive Oil Tasting in the Hills
This tour lasts approximately 4 hours.
The tour includes one villa of your choice and one of the most prestigious vineyards. You will be able to enjoy 3 different wines during this private event, served with yummy finger food, plus their olive oil.
Admission to villa and wine tasting at cost.
Montecarlo with Wine Tasting
Pietrasanta, Marble and the World Of Modern Sculpture
A Villa with Wine & Olive Oil Tasting in the Hills
This tour lasts approximately 3.5 hours.
No, not the millionaire-bustling casino city of Monaco. It’s Lucca’s Montecarlo we are talking about: an amazing, medieval town perched on a hill top, defended by a massive castle (that has recently been restored and can only be visited by appointment). The castle is a special attraction for children, ideally aged above 5.
The little town, still partly surrounded by a wall, offers some stunning views and features an interesting Romanesque church. It also is famous for its 18th century miniature theatre. (Its visit can be arranged, mornings and weekdays only. There is no entrance fee, but a donation is much appreciated.)
The hill flanks are covered in vineyards. Montecarlo is in fact renowned for its wines. The visit includes a stop at one of the best vineyards for a taste of their special “white,” but good red wines are also produced nowadays.
Pietrasanta, Marble and the World Of Modern Sculpture
Pietrasanta, Marble and the World Of Modern Sculpture
Pietrasanta, Marble and the World Of Modern Sculpture
This tour lasts approximately 3 hours.
Pietrasanta ("holy stone"... a nomen omen!) is some 25 km from Lucca. It’s a miniature medieval town at the foothills of the Alpi Apuane mountains, where Michelangelo stayed on his tours hunting for the perfect block of marble. All major bronze and marble sculptors nowadays come to Pietrasanta to execute their works in conjunction with the skillful, renowned local artisans.
With 10 days' notice, a visit to a foundry or marble workshop can be organized.
Barga and The Devil’s Bridge
Celle and Vetriano ... Music to your ears!
Pietrasanta, Marble and the World Of Modern Sculpture
This tour lasts approximately 3 hours.
Barga is some 30 km north of Lucca, along the Serchio Valley, towards the mountain area of our territory, known as Garfagnana. The so-called Devil’s Bridge is a stunning medieval stone bridge halfway between Lucca and Barga, a lovely ancient town perched on a hilltop, featuring a remarkable Romanesque church, narrow lanes of cobblestone flanked by historic buildings and surprising glazed terracottas by the Della Robbia family.
Bagni Di Lucca and The Devil’s Bridge
Celle and Vetriano ... Music to your ears!
Celle and Vetriano ... Music to your ears!
This tour lasts approximately 3 hours.
Bagni di Lucca means the 'spas of Lucca.' Bagni is a little town with a special charm, in a narrow, green valley along the River Serchio. Before getting there, we stop on the way to visit the mysterious Devil’s Bridge, a stunning example of medieval building technique.
Known since Roman times for its thermal springs, the spas of Bagni di Lucca became the destination and meeting place at the end of the 18th century for Europe’s aristocracy and some of the most famous romantic writers such as Ouida, Byron, Shelley, and Robert Browning. This is very much off the beaten track, and definitely a place for connoisseurs.
Celle and Vetriano ... Music to your ears!
Celle and Vetriano ... Music to your ears!
Celle and Vetriano ... Music to your ears!
This tour lasts approximately 3 hours.
This is another off-the-beaten track tour for music lovers. Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca (please see other tours) but his ancestors, all of them musicians, originated from Celle, a tiny, picturesque stone village approximately 30 km north of Lucca. By appointment, we can visit the Puccini house where some significant traces pertaining to Giacomo’s life can be found. Driving then downhill and uphill again we reach the equally minute village of Vetriano where we visit – again, by appointment only - the smallest theatre in the world, listed in the Guinness Book of Records. Here we’ll be shown a video with a 10-minute recording of Tosca and offered a drink to celebrate Puccini’s everlasting art.
Minimum number of participants: 10
New Tour: World War II near Lucca
As the Allied Forces were moving north from Sicily and liberating Italy from the Nazi-fascist occupation, the Germans organized the construction of a massive line of defence that came to be known as the Gothic Line or the Green Line. It stretched across Italy for 320 kms (about 200 miles). Thousands of Italians were forced to labour to create bunkers, anti-tank walls, trenches, pits, and mine fields. In our area and in our beautiful mountains, the Gothic Line was actually the war's line from September 1944 to April 1945. Sadly, it was also the theatre of cruel battles and civilian massacres. Ten miles north of Lucca, on both embankments of the Serchio River, the Germans applied the best of their skills to build an insurmountable bulwark that was never used militarily. This remains a unique and perfectly preserved site. We can visit it in Borgo a Mozzano in conjuction with a specialty museum, organized by WW2 enthusiasts.
Quotations on request.