Lucca

Lucca is one of the few Italian cities to retain its Renaissance-era defensive walls fully intact; the area of most interest to visitors is enclosed within them. The top of these broad walls, built mainly in the 16th and 17th centuries and never breached in battle, now forms a tree-lined ring park roughly 4 km around, a favourite spot for walking and cycling. The composer Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca in 1858, and the city's historic centre — a dense grid of narrow medieval streets, including the oval Piazza dell'Anfiteatro built over the footprint of a Roman amphitheatre — is otherwise largely unchanged in plan since the Middle Ages.

Tourist Centre , Piazzale Ricasoli, 203 ( just outside the railway station, by the San Pietro south entrance to the walled city ), ☏ +39 0583 494401 , [email protected] . Daily 09:30-19:00 . You can deposit luggage here (€5 per bag for the whole day), hire bikes and join guided bike tours. ( updated Aug 2023 )