4 weeks in Lucca next April/May

[patrickhutchinson]

My wife and I are thinking about spending 4 weeks in Lucca next April/May and could use some advice on where to stay.

We'd love to find an apartment or house in an area where we can walk to a grocery store, restaurants, cafés and other shops. We may have a car for part of the trip, but we'd really like to be able to do most everyday things on foot.

We're open to being inside the walls, just outside them, or even in a nearby town if it's walkable and easy to get into Lucca.

If we do have a car, free parking at or very close to where we're staying would definitely be a plus.

Any areas or neighborhoods you'd recommend? And if anyone knows of a good apartment, local rental agency or website for a 4-week stay, I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks!

 

[Penn251]

Have spent a month in Lucca a few different times. Great choice. What are you looking for in terms of an apartment - number of bedrooms, number of baths, are stairs OK, etc.? If your needs match up, there are couple pf apartments we liked. I do recommend staying inside the walls - easier all around and you can park for free at a couple of different places just a couple pf blocks outside the walls. There is a large free parking lot at Piazzalle Don Franco Baroni (closest walking entry/exit from walls is just behind Basilica di San Frediano) and another smaller one a few blocks outside Porta Elisa on Via Dei Pubblici Macelli. As far as areas, what do prefer - in the thick of things or in a quieter area? Everywhere inside the walls is an easy walk to what you need/want.

April/May is a great time to be there - before the crush of the summer season and just as the chestnut trees on the wall are spreading their leaves.

In case it's helpful, here is a link to a previous post I did on things to do using Lucca as a base: https://www.sloweurope.com/community/threads/lucca-october-2025.7997/#post-48868

Feel free to ask specific questions any time. There are other Lucca-philes that will likely chime in as well.

 

[Alpinista]

Can't help with apartments, but If you end up staying outside Lucca, there is free parking at the LunaPark fairgrounds and on the street in the area of Via Fabio Filzi near the train station. Short walk from the free spaces into the city.

In April, the Santa Zita flower festival is held in the amphitheater at the end of the month. Note the women who buy bunches of flowers at the festival and then take them to Basilica San Frediano to touch them to Saint Zita's tomb as an act of devotion. The week before the festival in Lucca, the nearby town of Borgo a Mozzano holds an azalea festival that is very nice (you can stop at the Devil's Bridge while in Borgo). Am sure you will get tons of recommendations for things to do in Lucca, but it is these little things that add to the enjoyment.

 

[patrickhutchinson]

Have spent a month in Lucca a few different times. Great choice. What are you looking for in terms of an apartment - number of bedrooms, number of baths, are stairs OK, etc.? If your needs match up, there are couple pf apartments we liked. I do recommend staying inside the walls - easier all around and you can park for free at a couple of different places just a couple pf blocks outside the walls. There is a large free parking lot at Piazzalle Don Franco Baroni (closest walking entry/exit from walls is just behind Basilica di San Frediano) and another smaller one a few blocks outside Porta Elisa on Via Dei Pubblici Macelli. As far as areas, what do prefer - in the thick of things or in a quieter area? Everywhere inside the walls is an easy walk to what you need/want.

April/May is a great time to be there - before the crush of the summer season and just as the chestnut trees on the wall are spreading their leaves.

In case it's helpful, here is a link to a previous post I did on things to do using Lucca as a base: https://www.sloweurope.com/community/threads/lucca-october-2025.7997/#post-48868

Feel free to ask specific questions any time. There are other Lucca-philes that will likely chime in as well.

Thank you — this is exactly the kind of reply I was hoping for, and the parking information alone is worth more than a week of my own searching.

We may have a car for the full six weeks, and I had been leaning toward looking *outside* the walls precisely because of the ZTL and parking. You've just talked us back inside. Noting Piazzale Don Franco Baroni and the lot on Via dei Pubblici Macelli — thank you.

To answer your questions:

• Three bedrooms preferred, but Two bedrooms minimum. Two baths preferred, but one full bath is fine.

• Stairs are no problem — we don't need an elevator.

• A view would be a real bonus, though not a dealbreaker.

• We'd like to be within an easy walk of a grocery store and some restaurants.

• Good internet and a washing machine are both on our must-have list.

• On atmosphere: we'd lean toward a quieter street rather than right on top of the nightlife, but still central enough to walk everywhere. Sleeping well matters more to us than being in the thick of it.

Dates are 16 April 2027, staying three to four weeks in Lucca, then moving on to Umbria for a couple of weeks.

If either of those apartments you liked sounds like a fit, we would genuinely love to hear about them.

One question, if you don't mind. We're considering enrolling in a week or two of Italian at Lucca Italian School, which looks to be on Via dei Bacchettoni over near Porta Elisa. Do you know that eastern end of the walled city? Would it be a pleasant area to base ourselves, or are we better off somewhere more central and just walking over?

 

[patrickhutchinson]

Can't help with apartments, but If you end up staying outside Lucca, there is free parking at the LunaPark fairgrounds and on the street in the area of Via Fabio Filzi near the train station. Short walk from the free spaces into the city.

In April, the Santa Zita flower festival is held in the amphitheater at the end of the month. Note the women who buy bunches of flowers at the festival and then take them to Basilica San Frediano to touch them to Saint Zita's tomb as an act of devotion. The week before the festival in Lucca, the nearby town of Borgo a Mozzano holds an azalea festival that is very nice (you can stop at the Devil's Bridge while in Borgo). Am sure you will get tons of recommendations for things to do in Lucca, but it is these little things that add to the enjoyment.

Thank you. The Santa Zita flower festival looks fantastic!

 

[Penn251]

The apartments we stayed in, while both 2 bedrooms may be too small for what your are looking for. I will DM you the links and thoughts on them. AirBnB really is the easiest place to look for apartments in Lucca these days. What used to be the "local" agencies now all list thier properties on AirBnB. If you have used AirBnB before, you know that reading reviews carefully (including between the lines), and scrutinizing pictures is important. If cooking-in is important, pay attention to the comments on how well the kitchen is equipped- and stocked.

I think you would like the eastern end of Lucca, near Piazza San Franceso - much quieter but very easy walking distance to everywhere (the wall, the sights, restaurants, etc.). I would advise against Via Dei Bacchetoni itself as it is outside the ZTL and therefore has car traffic (albeit not a lot and not fast). We have stayed on Via Della Quarquoinia twice which is just east of Piazza San Francesco. The supermarket inside the walls (Conad) is on Piazza del Carmine, which is a 5 minute walk from Piazza San Francesco. There is a much larger one outside the walls (Esselunga) not too far from the parking lot at Piazzale Don Franco Baroni - 15 minute wal or so). Nice fruit and vegetable shop, cheese shop, delis and Pasticceria at Porta Santa Maria, which is also about a 5 minute walk from Piazza San Francesco. Piazza San Francesco itself has a cafe and a couple of restaurants - but importantly it has more of a quiet local family feel than most of the other piazzas in Lucca. It's also only a 11-12 minute walk to PIazza San Michele. It's a little farther to the train station - but even that is only abouty 15 minute walk. About a 15 minute walk to either of the free parking lots I mentioned. And - a couple of minutes away from the Italian language school.

To be fair, we have stayed also in the hustle and bustle area in an apartment on a small courtyard and the street scene (noise) did not travel into the apartment.

 

[vicogirl51]

I live 6 months out of the year a 55 min drive from the walled city of Lucca in a small village in the mountains near Bagni di Lucca . This year we are here just about 7 months as we are renovating a house.
My original home I’m in was built by my grandfather in the early 1900’s but we are trying to keep our village alive hence buying another house!
For beautiful fabulous views and sunsets , I recommend staying in mountain village plus you would be able to rent a nice villa at a huge savings rather than the inflated cost of a small apartment in Lucca along with free parking outside your door!
Don’t get me wrong I LOVE really love Lucca ( family members live there ) and I know many shop owners and restaurants but there is only so much to see and do in the city itself.
If you have a car it gives you the flexibility of seeing the entire Tuscany region with wineries ( Montecarlo town outside Lucca) , spas , great restaurants , beaches etc
As my native tongue is Italian, a 2 week language course won’t help much unless you have the basics of the Italian language already . My husband has spent 22 yrs here and yes understands it well but speaking is still hard !
Rather than sitting in a classroom for 2 weeks see the countryside !
Drive up to Abetone the ski resort area , Cutigliano a real cute medieval village
( eat at Fagiolino a good restaurant there) , go see Castelnuovo Garfagnana, go to Barga with wonderful views to the sea from the church at the top, drive to S. Anna di Stazzema ( where Germans killed the towns people looking for the Americans and partisans ) , go to Portovenere on the sea
( wonderful views and church) , Viareggio , Lido di Camariore , Forte di Marmi where Andrea Bocelli lives!
There’s so much to see and do in a month outside the Lucca walls ! Get GELATO at Theobroma outside walls of Lucca and Paniko inside the walls !!
Visit Bagni di Lucca where the English poets lived and are buried !! Shelley, Browning etc
There’s so much to see and do in our region!! Cooking class! Eating good pizza!!
But it’s your trip … just saying!