You really need much more than a day to truly get to know the city of Puccini. To fall in love with it, however, requires far less time. Keep in mind the following suggestions on what to do and see to make your romantic day of discovering Lucca very special indeed.
The atmosphere of Lucca's historic center will be one of the most pleasant memories of your trip. Beautiful to explore by walking hand in hand with your loved one or together by bicycle, the center of Lucca will impress you with its elegance, its intertwining of alleys and squares, and its colors.
Permit yourselves a long look through the shop windows and into the boutiques that line via Fillungo, Lucca's principal shopping street. If instead you would rather have some tender moments before one of the city's most beautiful panoramas, climb to the garden on top of the Torre Guinigi, one of Lucca's reference points.
Inside the beautiful Cathedral of San Martino you will be able to admire the paintings of important artists such as Tintoretto and, above all, the famous funeral monument to Ilaria del Carretto. Linked to this sublime work is a sad love story: Ilaria del Carretto was the wife of Paolo Guinigi, lord of Lucca between 1400 and 1430. When the young woman died when she was only 25 years old, her husband asked the great sculptor Jacopo della Quercia to create a work depicting her as sleeping. At the woman's feet is depicted a dog, a symbol of eternal fidelity.
Piazza dell’Anfiteatro is one of the most characteristic and beautiful places in Lucca. Built on the remains of an ancient Roman amphitheater, the famous elliptical-shaped square is now a favorite gathering place for the people of Lucca, especially on sunny Sundays. Bars and trattorias with outdoor tables offer aperitifs and traditional local dishes, reminding you that perhaps it's time to treat yourself to a gourmet break.
If you are passionate about music history, you cannot miss the opportunity to visit the birthplace of the great composer Giacomo Puccini. Among its rooms you will find traces and evidence of his work and operas, as well as objects and furnishings that belonged to him and his family. His operas are among the most beloved and performed of all time, and the plots revolve around love stories with female protagonists and almost always tragic endings.
And here comes the most romantic moment of your trip to Lucca. Leave the historic city center behind and head for the long Renaissance walls, perhaps keeping Porta san Pietro as a landmark. As you climb the walls you will find that they are covered with a green lung, a large roof garden that runs all around the historic center. From here you can enjoy a quiet and relaxing walk surrounded by the panorama of the hills of Lucca. You will have the opportunity to observe the city from a privileged position and, if you can do so with the light of sunset, it will seem even more beautiful.
