How to get from Florence to Lucca for a day trip

Lucca is a lovely little town in Italy, still surrounded by 16th century walls, with a beautiful medieval historic center where you can walk among stone towers and small squares with no cars around. It’s located very close to Florence, but is definitely smaller, perfect for visiting in a day. Let me explain to you how to get from Florence to Lucca for a day trip, with all my tips to make your trip to Italy flawless.

Ciao! My name is Claudia, I am a licensed tour guide in Florence with over 10 years of experience. Learn more about me and my private guided tours in Florence.

Where is Lucca

Lucca is located about 70 km (just under 45 miles) west of Florence. Both cities are located in the same region, Tuscany.

Lucca is close to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, which is just 15 km away, with the famous seaside resorts of Versilia, such as Viareggio and Forte dei Marmi. It’s also very close to the city of Pisa, in fact you can even visit them together on the same day. It’s one of the most popular destinations for a day trip. If you’re looking for more ideas, you can find tons of them in my post about the best day trips from Florence.

Here is a map to give you a clearer idea:

Best time to do a day trip to Lucca from Florence

Given that Lucca deserves to be visited all year round, in my opinion the best period is between November and April, which is the low season. The Christmas holidays is actually not low season, but the lights and the atmosphere compensate for the higher prices and bigger crowds.

Summer is very hot, and it is the busiest time of the year. I also recommend you to avoid Halloween week, because Lucca hosts Lucca Comics & Games on those days, the most important Italian event dedicated to comics, games and cosplaying. It is such an important event that the hotels sell out months and months in advance, not only in Lucca but in the entire surrounding area, up to Pisa. It’s a fantastic event, but it monopolizes the city for almost a week, and sightseeing becomes impossible. And of course, prices skyrocket.

How to go from Florence to Lucca for a day trip

There are basically two options to go from one to another: train or car. If you’re asking me which is the best way to go from Florence to Lucca (and vice versa) my answer is definitely the train, for more than one reason.

• Because the train is cheaper. A train ride costs 8.40 euro, VS many more euro to go by car (toll, gas, parking).
• Parking in Lucca isn’t easy: cars cannot enter the historic centre, so you must leave it in a paid parking outside the walls (which are often full).
• The train station in Lucca is located just outside of the walls, it’s in a more convenient location than most of the parkings. 
• Trains are frequent, there’s at least one train every 30 minutes connecting the two cities. And they run from the early morning (5 am) until 10.00 pm.

The only time I recommend using a car is if you are on a road trip in Tuscany or Italy, and want to stop in Lucca. In such case the best thing to do is booking a hotel in the historic centre, with a private parking. The hotel will also provide you a pass for the traffic limited zone.

From Florence to Lucca by train

This is the easiest and cheapest way to go from Lucca to Florence and vice versa. The trains connecting the two cities are very frequent and cheap. They aren’t exactly very fast, considering the short distance. There are no high-speed trains between the two cities, only regional trains. Most of those trains are direct, but when booking online you’ll find also some options with a change in Pisa. The price will be the same, but stopping in Pisa will take more time, and there is always the risk to miss the connection. Be sure to book the direct train from Florence to Lucca, unless you want to stop in Pisa.

“Fast” regional trains take 1 hour and 20 minutes, and about one leaves every hour. In addition to the fast regional trains, there are other regional trains, but they are even slower because they make more stops, or because you have to change trains at Pisa station. These trains take approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes.

On regional trains there are no numbered or assigned seats, and they are often crowded, especially during rush hours, because they are used daily by many commuters. If you want to guarantee yourself a seat, arrive at the station at least 20 minutes early, you should already find your train at the platform, ready to leave. Don’t bring bulky luggage unless necessary, because there aren’t suitable spaces.

How to book the train tickets

You can book train tickets in advance on the official website of the Trenitalia company. Any other site is a re-seller and increases the ticket price by several euros. But remember that since there are no assigned seats, having booked the ticket in advance does not entitle you to a seat, the first-come, first-served rule applies. You can also buy tickets at the station, up to 5 minutes before the train leaves. 

You must validate your ticket before the train leaves: if you hav booked it online, you can validate it with a click from your confirmation email. If you bought a paper ticket at the train station, you must stamp it using on of the yellow stamping machines in the train station.

You can change the date and time by 11.59pm on the day before the trip, while on the day of the trip you can change the departure time before the ticket is validated. From the moment of validation the ticket can no longer be modified.

From Lucca to Florence by car (and vice versa)

If you have decided to take a road trip around Italy and Tuscany, you will probably need to rent a car. I always use Booking.com for my trips, to find the best offer among the most reliable international car rental companies. And free cancelation is always appreciated. If you want to learn more about renting and driving around, read my tips about Florence Car Rental.

To go from Florence to Lucca by car you need to take the Autostrada A11, also called Firenze-Mare. Autostrade are toll highways, with service areas and snack bars called Autogrill along the way. The A11 motorway is a very wide and safe road with two lanes, but the third one is under construction and will be opened soon.

On the motorway it only takes 50 minutes on the road, provided there are no traffic problems or roadworks in progress. The toll up to Lucca currently costs 5 euros.

Parking in Lucca

Watch out: the historic center of Lucca is a large pedestrian area where cars cannot enter. Once you arrive in the city you’ll have to leave your car outside the walls, in one of the many car parks in town. To be honest, this is the biggest reason why I think that going by train is just easier. Anyway, the largest outside of the walls is the multi-storey car park called Parcheggio Mazzini.

If you stay at a hotel in Lucca, you can ask them for advice on where to park, or you can book a hotel with a private parking.

What to see on a day trip to Lucca

Lucca is truly a wonderful little city, and there are many things to do and see. It also has very tasty traditional cuisine! If you only have one day to visit Lucca, here are the things you shouldn’t miss:

• A walk on the ancient walls, turned into a public park with a gorgeous view of the city from above, with is red rooftops, towers and old churches.
• Climb the Guinigi tower. It is one of the few surviving 14th-century towers, and is unique because at the top there is a hanging garden with some large, ancient holly oaks.
• Visit the beautiful Piazza dell’Anfiteatro, with its perfect oval shape, which was once the Roman amphitheater. And maybe indulge in a cappuccino or a gelato.
• The two most beautiful and important churches that you can visit are the cathedral (Duomo di San Martino) and the church of San Michele in Foro.
• Villa Reale di Marlia. A magnificent villa that once belonged to Napoleon’s sister. You can visit the interiors of the Neo-classical villa, and also the wonderful baroque gardens, with a camellia avenue, an Italian garden, a green theater made of plants and much more. Even if it’s a bit out of the way it’s worth it. You can get there from Lucca station by bus 59 in 30 minutes (it doesn’t run on Sundays). The villa and gardens are only open from March to October.
• Taste the local soup, zuppa di farro alla lucchese, made with spelt, beans and veggies.
• If you are there on the third weekend on the month, there’s one the most important antiquities markets in Italy. It’s all over the streets of the historic center.

If you want to discover all the most important places, the unmissable monuments and the history of this ancient city, I recommend you take a guided tour of the historic center with a local guide, who will show you the highlights of the historic center, while strolling around. It is the best way to see as much of Lucca as possible in the shortest time possible.

Lucca and Pisa on the same day trip

Lucca and Pisa are very close, less than 20 km (12 miles). It’s about 30 minutes by train, and even less by car. And both cities are quite small, so you can easily visit both on the same day, spending half a day in Pisa and half a day in Lucca.

The trains between these two cities are very frequent and cheap. Once again they are regional trains used by local commuters, therefore often crowded. And once again you can book them on Trenitalia’s website.

If you want to visit both cities without having to worry about anything, you can book an organized tour, a day trip to Pisa and Lucca including transportation and the option of also including entrance tickets and guided tours in both cities.You will be able to see the leaning tower and the cathedral of Pisa, visit the historic center of Lucca and taste a local dessert.

That’s all, I hope this blogpost is useful for organizing your trip to Italy and choosing the best way to go from Florence to Lucca (and vice versa). If you have other tips to add to mine, leave me a comment and share your experience with other travellers.