Lucca, Tuscany, Italy

Lucca is bigger than many of the other hill-top Tuscan towns in Northern Italy and is the best place to go shopping, but still has the charm and history and big tree lined town walls and the famous tower with trees growing out of the top.

Lucca makes an excellent base for a Tuscan holiday. Bigger, busier and perhaps not quite as peaceful as some of it's smaller neighbours, such as Montepulciano, Volterra or the vineyards surrounding the Chianti Road, but it has a lot to offer in terms of things to see and do, places to shop eat or drink. Lucca is also is just or short drive away from all of the other beautiful Medieval Tuscan hill towns and Vineyards and of course the cultural cities of Pisa and Florence.