Any comments from travelers experienced with Lucca and the environs?

I've been becoming increasinly attached to the area south of Sienna (Sant'Antimo, Pienza, Montalcino,etc.) but this property outside of Lucca in the village of Massa Macinaia looks so lovely. Also, I am travelling with another couple who is a bit "type A" and I thought they might prefer the option of being somewhat closer to a smaller but yet sophistocated city. What do you think?
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This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kim,

Have you read the book, "A Garden in Lucca" by Paul Gervais? This is the house and property that he and his partner purchased and restored. I enjoyed the book a lot - although I skipped over gardening details that I didn't understand/didn't care about - and think it would be a fantastic place to stay!

Have you read the book? It is a well written and interesting book. Here is what I said about it on the site:

"Paul Gervais, A Garden in Lucca - Finding Paradise in Tuscany (2000, Hyperion). Paul and his partner Gil, two American men, bought a villa near Lucca in the early 80s. The book is about the villa and how he created a large, formal Italian garden. There were a few too many garden details for me, but I really enjoyed the book. The woman who owns Villa Chiusa (a large villa that is rented through TuscanHouse) knows Paul and his garden. You can even rent their guesthouse - http://www.agardeninlucca.com/"

The place sounds incredible! I think it is a very upscale, wonderful place - and priced that way - but probably more affordable with two couples.

At one time Zak from TuscanHouse told me he was maybe going to list that place - last year he said this. And I saw a listing for it on the Wanted in Rome web site - they were advertising the rental. http://www.wantedinrome.com/

My favorite locations for a first countryside trip to Tuscany are:
- Chianti (lots of good restaurants and stores, close to Siena and Florence),
- south of Siena around Pienza (beautiful towns, lots of good restaurants and stores, close to Siena, close to Pienza, Montepulciano, Montalcino)
- around Lucca (Lucca is a great town, you can get up into southern Liguria).

Any of these three areas are good bases for travel. You are right that your friends may tire of a smaller town - Lucca is a good size.

Personally we have only spent one day in Lucca, but we will be spending a week there in September. Mare wrote some notes about Lucca:
http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/notes/mare_lucca.htm

David and Liz will have better information (and probably several others) about this area as a base - both have been there on trips. Kim, one of our regulars, will be there with her family in the next few weeks. It is a very popular location for people staying in vacation rentals.

Let us know what you decide!!

Okay, Colleen and I posted at the same time - - and she was more consise!!

Pauline,
Only because I didn't make the effort to post as many interesting details as you about the area! (And I forgot you already had a book review I could copy over ... )

Thanks for the responses Colleen & Pauline!

I'm vascillating every day as far as where this trip will be based, but I guess right now the two "higher-end" otions ar the Lucca prperty and this house owned by Sandro Chia:

Molino

(It's the Molino house I'm interested in)

So...yet another subjcctive query... If you were taking your first Tuscany trip all over again...where would you stay? The Garden in Lucca place or the Sant'Antimo place?

Thanks.

Okay, that's it! I am going with you All these places look great. We have a very good review of another Sandro Chia place, represented by Tuscan Enterprises:
http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/reviewsdb/italy_rentalreview.asp?ReviewNumber=69

Tracy from NC stayed there and loved it. (We can't get her input because she is in London right now!)

Thanks for finding that Sandro Chia website - I will add it to our list.

If it was me, I would choose southern Tuscany. But, what you really need to do to decide is have each person write out what they want to do and see while there. Southern Tuscany gives you great access to Montalcino, Pienza, Montepulciano, the chanting at Sant'Antimo, the frescoes at Monte Oliveto, a quick trip over to western Umbria, Orvieto. It is beautiful and peaceful countryside but with many lovely small towns with great restaurants. You can also get to Siena easily.

Lucca is an interesting city and there are great places to explore, but that area does not feel as peaceful to me as Southern Tuscany. The autostrada goes down the valley in front of Lucca. Some of that valley feels a bit industrial to me. I have not been in the mountains north of Lucca - that is supposed to be beautiful. I do like southern Liguria which you can get to from there, but I am not so crazy about that arm of Tuscany from Lucca along the coast to Liguria. The autostrada goes along the coast, and the other main road inland is very busy and frequently crowded with traffic. Carrara was a very dismal town when we finally found it - not much going on - and it is up in the mountains. The seaside towns only get fabulous once you get into Liguria.

But, this is an impression based on only a few brief visits. As I said, I have booked a week there for us this fall. I hope to spend a couple of days in Lucca exploring. A day or two going north into the mountains looking for some hiking. Maybe a day trip to Pisa.

How long are you going for? Can you go to both places - one week each?

By the way I have personally eyeballed Gil & Paul's two bedroom rental near Lucca and found it quite charming (I met them socially). The garden is one of the most stunning I've seen, there's a beautiful pool, and they'd give great advice about restaurants and attractions. Additionally, their estate makes amazing wine. We will definitely rent this place at some point when we're a smaller group.

Also, the apartment, while secluded in a gorgeous spot, is actually walking distance from a tiny town, very helpful when you want that morning cappucino. My favorite thing is a rental which feels secluded, but isn't.

R.G.

We debated this decision for 3 months last year - Lucca versus Southern Tuscany versus Chianti. I can't tell you how many times we went back and forth.

As Pauline said, we decided on Lucca and will be staying there in, oh my gosh, 2 1/2 weeks! Of course, our next trip, Chris and I plan to rent an apartment near Montepulciano.

We ended up at Lucca b/c of the kids really - most of the things they wanted to do/see seemed to be closer to Lucca (e.g., pisa, riding bikes on the walls, possibly the beach or pistoia zoo) plus, we're not spending much time in Florence this trip and Lucca provides and easy one hour bus ride to the city.

So that's my two cents - I'll let you know how it worked out in 4 weeks (bummer,we'll be back by then).

R.G. Did you see inside the apartment? Did it look great? The photos are fabulous.

My favorite too is to be in the country, but in walking distance to a caffe and store. The best of both worlds!!

Hi! We just got back from an incredible three-week trip to Italy, one week of which we spent in the area just north of Lucca. We LOVED Lucca--a really beautiful little city, with pleasant public spaces, lots of green space to enjoy along the walls (rent a bike!), and some very interesting history. We were staying in one of the cottages managed by Philip Henderson, who owns the Mulino dell'Opera near Bagni di Lucca (I'm his webmistress). The cottage was charming, by the way, and dinner at the Mulino was definitely something to write home about!

We really enjoyed our time in the area--except, I have to say, for Pisa, which we thought was hugely over-rated and over-priced (15 Euros to climb the tower! No thanks.). And except for the Pinocchio Park, which was dismal (even for our 5 year old) AND overpriced... more about that another time! Maybe it's better in the high season.

We spent a couple of days enjoying Lucca, spent another day driving around in the Apuan Alps (found that amazing restaurant "La Ceragetta" that Gavin recommended in another thread, but I'll post the full story about that later!), spent yet another day driving through "wine and villa" country (gardens of the Villa Reale are DEFINITELY worth a look!), and just generally explored the area.

I also found the autostrada between Florence and Lucca under-whelming and very industrial, but once you get out of Lucca heading north, everything is wonderful!

More later, I'm still jet-lagged! But wanted to put my 2 cents in for Lucca, which was great.

Sonia

Welcome home Sonia!! I finally got that video clip you emailed me to work! You were right - I just needed the Quicktime player. I will post it on the website soon as another video test.

We look forward to hearing all about your trip!!

Yes, Pauline, they gave me a tour of the little house. It was very nice, some antiques, lovely views. Plenty of room for two couples. I'm dimly remembering that it wasn't the most majorly equipped gourmet kitchen I've seen, but then, the house is not for a large group, having only two bedrooms. One bedroom was slightly smaller than the other, but the smaller one, as I recall, was a gorgeous double with a terrace (I think -- am not absolutely certain), so the bedrooms kind of evened out in general impact.

Again, the estate was staggeringly beautiful, a true piece of Italian history. Anything else you want to know?

We are eying Lucca ourselves for next year, having only been there once, for a day.

R.G.

Now that I think of it, I saw it too long ago -- two years, and briefly -- to have my impressions be any more detailed than what I've given. But you know I do reviews when I can. I am nothing if not a fountain of opinions!

R.G.

Well, we will just have to convince PRSchouten to book it and then send us a review!! Two years ago is okay for a review if you stayed there, but you are right - too long ago for a "glanced at" review. Thanks R.G.!!

I'm so close to making my final decision Pauline and I PROMISE to write an indcredibly in depth review of this place or where ever else I end up staying. (FYI- I'm a "newbie " to your wonderful site but have become completely addicted to this board since discovering it. I still can't figure out whether that is good or bad!

I've been meaning to post a review of a great rental in the Marais area o fParis and also a fantastic small villa in Zihuatanjeo. I will do my best to post within the next week.

I fully recommend addiction to the message board - then it makes the rest of us addicts feel more "normal".

It is a fun time on the boards now because several people have just returned from trips, some people are there right now, and many are leaving soon. The excitement is catching!!