Day 28 - Thu 25 Sep 25: Montecatini Terme (Lucca, Pisa)

September 25, 2025

Thu 25 Sep 25: Montecatini Terme (Lucca, Pisa)

A much needed slightly later start today leaving the hotel at 09:30 by bus for Lucca about 30 minutes drive away. With a population of about 89,000, the city is known as the Italian City of Art, with well-preserved renaissance-era buildings and monuments. Here we had 2 hours to wander through the narrow cobble-stone streets and around the historic city centre including the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro with origins from the 1st century AD. I also climbed the Guingo Tower, a 45m tall tower that dates back from the 14th century and has wonderful views across the city and and into the hills. There is much more to see in Lucca than time allowed and it had a nice feel about it, much more relaxed than Florence yesterday. When I started planning our Italy holiday, I actually picked Lucca out as a nice place to base ourselves for 5 days to visit other attractions in the area. Our short visit ended at 12:30 when we boarded the bus for our next destination - Pisa on the Arno river also about 30 minutes away. Here we had a 90 minutes to wander around the Piazza del Miracoli including the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Pisa Baptistry and Pisa Cathedral which was unfortunately closed for renovations. Sadly, we didn't see anything else of the city which has much more of interest to see including historic churches, and several medieval and Renaissance palaces. Maybe next visit. The day was most cloudy and 23 Deg, and just as we boarded the bus for our next destination the rain started to fall, but thankfully it stopped raining when we arrived at a local farm in the hills close to Montecatini Terme. Here we visited a local Olive farm where we learnt all there is to know about the growing, harvesting and production of quality olive oil, including tastings, followed by another lovely 3 course meal washed down with good Italian wine capped off with a nice fresh Limoncello. After another full day of adventure we arrived back at our hotel at 6:30pm and retired to our room for an early night to recuperate.