Language School:
brought us to Lucca for 1 month in 1995 but we stayed 3 months and have been coming here ever since. From elegant shops in Via Fillungo, open air cafés in the Roman Amphitheatre, superb 4.2km tree-lined walk/cycleway around the walls, atmospheric central fruit/vegetable markets + antique stalls to the Botanic Gardens and stunning Pisan-Romanesque churches full of artistic masterpieces, Puccini’s birthplace provides a superb, peaceful haven where you can live in the real Tuscany with easy access to the busier centres of Florence and Pisa, plus the gorgeous, classical hills of Chianti and beyond.
Position is:
in a word, ‘favoloso’. Close to the enormous walls, built 1504-1645, still intact, enclosing a peaceful, fascinating, cycle/pedestrian-friendly city + very close to railway station with direct links to Pisa, Florence and Galileo Galilei Airport (Ryanair). You can cycle into the Piazza S Michele (the very centre of town) in less than 10 minutes, or walk there(it’s flat!)in 20 minutes. There are local buses as well. Private off-street parking. Easy access to A11 (Florence-Pisa-Viareggio - Livorno) motorway. Explore Tuscany: Siena, San Gimignano, Volterra, Florence, Pisa by cycling trails and back roads. You can carry the bikes with you on nearly all the local trains from Lucca. Or simply walk: we have all practical details for everything from a leisurely afternoon stroll in Chianti to a breathtaking 3 day walk through the Apuan Alps where Michelangelo selected the white marble for his sculptures. A short drive or train ride to La Spezia on the Ligurian coast for the amazing Cinque Terre
Tuscan cuisine:
is based on the renowned local ingredients bought freshly at the daily markets: tomatoes with true taste, basil you can smell from 100m away, local sheep’s milk cheeses like ricotta and pecorino, that wonderful crunchy 'Toscano' low-salt bread (ask our friend Luca at the fabulous bakery in Via S Lucia) and the legendary Lucca olive oil. Add the excellent red wines made locally from Sangiovese grapes plus the crystal-clear spring water gushing freely from the public fountain 200m from the villa. You can buy fresh local produce and engineer culinary masterpieces in your own kitchen and we can arrange cooking courses at the Villa or in the Lucchese Hills as well as gourmet meals delivered to you at the Villa.
Other Activities:
Language school, Italian cooking lessons, bicycle access to Lucca plus all Tuscany with easy access to legendary Tuscany walks, Florence, Pisa, Siena
marks the location of the property in Piana di Lucca
