Lucca, Italy: The City's Quirks You Need To See
By Gillian Boyd Published 14 August 2026
Lucca has quirks: a Roman amphitheatre turned main square, ancient walls, trees growing atop a medieval tower and a living history festival not to be missed. What is there not to love?
Getting There
Lucca is only about an hour by car or train, 80km west of Florence. We travelled here by train from Florence. Next we went to Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera coast.
Piazza dell’Anfiteatro
The main square in Lucca, the Piazza dell’Anfiteatro, used to be the site of a Roman amphitheatre. Hence its unusual oval shape.
The Piazza is surrounded on all sides by yellow painted buildings with Italian restaurants and a piece of modern art sculpture in the centre.
The Piazza is a pleasant place to spend an afternoon or evening with an Aperol Spritz and watch the world go by – a special offer from all the restaurants for only €3. So I had one or two…it would have felt rude not to. I also ate the best tiramisu I’ve ever had.
Piazza dell’Anfiteatro in Lucca, Tuscany
Torre Guigini in Lucca, Tuscany
Torre Guigini
From the Piazza dell’Anfiteatro, a 3-minute walk through the narrow-shaded streets led us to the Torre Guigini – a medieval tower with holm oak trees growing at the top! Yes, real live oak trees!
We climbed the 230 steps to reach the top and admire the 360-degree view over the terracotta rooftops and across to the hills of the 3 distinct ranges – the Apuan Alps, the Apennines and Monte Pisano which give Lucca a stunning backdrop.
The mountains also made Lucca a welcoming few degrees cooler than Florence. I would have liked to sit there longer but there is not a lot of space due to the trees and other visitors had arrived.
On the ground floor we passed a small modern sculpture exhibition.
Piazza San Michele in Lucca, Tuscany
Piazza San Michele
Only 5 minutes away was the large square of the Piazza San Michele with a chrome sculpture in the corner.
We had fun photographing the reflections and it reminded me of a smaller version of the ‘Coffee Bean’ sculpture in Chicago.
The white church was very ornate on the outside with a highly decorative façade at the top that was visible from the side. The inside though, was disappointing. The interior of the church was a drab grey and looked like it had been built from concrete breeze blocks.
Here, we saw signs advertising the Historic Festival, a Food and Olive Festival and a programme of various musical performers appearing for the summer festival. It seemed like there was plenty to entertain us all.
Walking along old walls of Lucca
Walk the Old Walls of Lucca
Spend an hour or so walking the 4.2km of the tree lined old walls of the city and soak up the history. It is very pleasant as cars are not permitted on the wide flat path. As a consequence, it’s also popular with cyclists.
Although today it is a free public park with plenty of benches to sit on and relax, the foundations are Roman, from 180 BCE.
The walls were expanded and developed in the twelfth and sixteenth centuries for defence with 11 huge bastions. These enabled the guards to view from every angle and were successful in keeping rival states and the Medici at bay.
The walls even gave flood protection in 1812 from the River Serchio.
Historical re-enactment of medieval battle
Ladies in crinoline dresses at historical festival
See a Living History Festival
When we arrived at the picturesque medieval town of Lucca, we soon heard the surprising sound of bagpipes being played. It seemed we had accidently arrived during the Lucca Historiae Fest 17-22 June 2025, rebranded as the Rievocando Lucca (Recalling Lucca) 19-24 May 2026. This wasn’t just hearing about history, this was getting to experience some of it. And we do love a good immersive experience!
Lucky
Situated on the old walls of the city, Lucca was holding its third annual history festival. It was a stroke of good luck for us to stumble across this fascinating festival. We were only in Lucca on this date because there had been a train strike, so we had flipped our schedule around at the last minute. What had originally seemed like a nuisance with the train strike, proved to be a blessing. And even better, it was free!
2000 Years
This living history festival told the 2000-year-old history of the city through a series of battle re-enactments and an original mix of expressive forms including dance. More than 500 re-enactors came from all over Italy to participate.
Not only were we able to watch but there was opportunity to mingle with the performers and to join in some of the activities including the medieval dancing. Don’t worry, they guide you through the steps.
WW2
At the bastions of the old walls, World War 2 Resistance had set up camp with tents, old motorbikes and jeeps, American soldiers (they were in Lucca in WW2) and military camps. An English-speaking historian kindly spent some time explaining about the WW2 resistance in Lucca and the role of the Americans to us.
Napoleon
Moving on, we soon witnessed a battle between Napoleonic soldiers complete with gunfire and setting off the canons. The smell of smoke reaching our nostrils.
When we reached the Southern Belles in wide crinoline dresses fanning themselves, it was calm, refined and elegant. The battle was not happening at this point. Gone with the Wind soundtrack ran in my head -‘Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.’
Medieval
Drums thundering in time, announced the medieval soldiers preparing to battle with pikes. When it was over, the celebrations and dancing began.
Flag throwers in historical dress performing in Piazza dell’Anfiteatro
Watch the Flag Throwers
In the Piazza dell’ Antfiteatro (main square), we saw a performance of 3 medieval marching bands beating drums loudly, accompanied by flag wavers. In unison, they treated us to a theatrical display of skill and entertainment.
The 3 bands came from Lucca, Pisa and Contorno. Men, women and even children partook in the theatrical displays which lasted about 2 hours. We were mesmerised.
It was fascinating, free and I would highly recommend it to anyone, not just history buffs and families.
Lucca has a packed programme of events and exhibitions throughout the year from a summer music festival to film entertainment, traditions and markets. There is bound to be something for everyone. See turism.lucca.it
Final Thoughts
Lucca is a beautiful city with a ton of history and its own charm. After the noise and crowds of Florence, it felt refreshing and picture postcard perfect. In fact our taxi driver in Florence told us, it is where he would like to get married. From the oak trees on the top of the tower to an amphitheatre for a main plaza, Lucca has it own unique quirks and I love that.
Stumbling upon the Historical Festival was a wonderful surprise that really differentiated Lucca from all the other historic towns we visited during our 2 week itinerary of Tuscany. Getting to experience the immersive history and talk with the re-enactors was truly memorable.