Location: Lucca
Top Things to do in Lucca
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Things to do in Lucca, Tuscany: The Best Specialty Museums
Lucca's array of wonderfully intact historical sites makes it a must-see stop on any Tuscan itinerary. The medieval city walls still stand—you can hike or bike on top of them. Also visit the Duomo di San Martino and the Roman amphitheater.
Restaurants in Lucca
1. Antica Tipografia Biagini
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 32 reviews
Antica Tipografia Biagini is a museum of antiques lettterpress machines
2. Puccini Museum - Casa Natale
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 637 reviews
The museum is located in a flat on the second floor of an ancient building in the heart of Lucca, where Giacomo Puccini was born on December 22, 1858. In this house the composer spent the years of his childhood and first youth. The birth home was transformed into a museum in 1979 and carefully restored in 2011: today it looks like when young Giacomo lived there. The museum preserves Puccini’s Steinway & Sons piano on which he composed Turandot, autograph scores of youthful compositions, letters, photographs, precious drafts, such as the “libretti” of Tosca, La fanciulla del West and an extraordinary musical sketch of La bohème. Noteworthy the costume of Turandot worn by Maria Jeritza at the Metropolitan Opera House of New York in 1926. The birth home is a central element of Puccini Museum, the articulate museum complex that, following a journey along the footprints left by the great composer, rediscovers his personality, his passions, his genius.
Reviewed By mcr1018 - Phoenix, United States
I can take opera or leave it (although some of the music is well known outside the opera house), but when in Lucca, this museum is fascinating, We bought our tickets at the office & bookshop on the plaza (Piazza Cittadella; where the Puccini statue is), and the museum is well-marked on a street off of it. We walked up a long flight of stairs to the museum (there is a lift, but we read later that it has to be booked to use "at least 2 days before the visit" at the ticket office. We were welcomed by a very knowledgeable staff person who would occasionally stop in a room to tell us about something special (it wasn't crowded). We wandered around the rooms, following the map. Many items of the era and Puccini's life and creative works were displayed. Of particular pride was the Steinway piano and autographed scores and markings of modifications or interpretations. The 1926 costume of Turandot from the NY Metropolitan Opera amazing even to a opera neutral such as me. We saw the upper room (garret?) where he composed and could just see the "angel" statue over the rooftops from the Cathedrale San Michele--an inspiration. I've been to many homes of significant authors and composers, sometimes disappointed and sometimes inspired myself; this one was worth the time and entrance fee. [The map/program says no pictures or video recording, but the staff person said it was okay.]
3. Chiesa e Battistero di San Giovanni e Santa Reparata
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 306 reviews
Reviewed By K7787FEbrunol - Singapore, Singapore
Part of San Martino package Spend some time to go through the Roman foundations underground No need to go up the tower (and the effort) if you already went up the Cathedral tower
4. Paolo Cresci Foundation for the History of Italian Emigration
5. Collezione De Benedettis
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 30 reviews
A surreal journey through the myths and legends, monsters and mysterious creatures, amazing characters and impossible stories but true. A unique exhibition in Italy, which will take you in a mysterious dimension of reality. Available even for child!!
6. Archivio Storico Diocesano - UNESCO Programma Memoria del Mondo
7. Museo della Follia
8. Museo Nazionale di Villa Guinigi
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 167 reviews
One of the strangest sights in Lucca is this fifteenth-century home, with a battlement tower surmounted by oak trees whose roots have grown into the room below.
Reviewed By BestRegardsFromFar - Cape Town Central, South Africa
The art collections featuring Lucca-born artists as well as others who worked in town span over a long time frame (Etruscan & Roman as you start your visit) and showcase various arts, mostly of religious themes (paintings, sculptures, tapestries, altarpieces, wood carvings, mosaics...). The scenography is excellent and it’s a real pleasure to browse the rooms where the art pieces are highlighted in a excellent way (even more so that the museum is rather quiet). If you are coming back from Florence, you will truly appreciate this! If you are on our way to Florence, don’t expect the same peace and staging there, so do yourself a favor, and visit Villa Guinigi!
9. Complesso Museale della Cattedrale
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 174 reviews
Reviewed By henryj960
This cathedral complex has everything a visitor could wish for; a striking cathedral church that’s still in use, and an older cathedral now dedicated to cultural pursuits, an impressive diocesan museum with marvellous religious art work and sculptures. The bell tower is also worth a visit for the views it affords of the city.
10. Domus Romana
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 144 reviews
Reviewed By hollyhQ6413GF - Richmond, United States
We had a terrific University Intern give us our private tour. We arrived shortly after the museum opened. She truly loved her home town, Lucca, and felt honored to be an Intern. She deserves an A for her semester work. Her conversations & education about how to understand archeology was terrific. We visited four museums after her one hour tour. What she taught us made us understand so much more about Ancient Italy, throughout our next two weeks.
