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Touring Lucca and Pisa Italy
By spokesman | May 16, 2008
Leaning Tower Of Pisa
Biking and Walking Path on Wall Surrounding Lucca, Italy
Side view of Lucca Wall
On my recent trip to Italy, I had the opportunity to visit the towns of Lucca and Pisa. The center of Lucca is surrounded by a wall system constructed during the 16th and 17th centuries. These walls which were originally built as a defence against Florence, provide an excellent way to tour the city. From the top of the wall, there are great views of the old city inside the walls as well as the new city and countryside outside the walls. The complete circle around the city is approximately 2.5 miles and the top of the wall has a wide paved path as can be seen in the photo. Cars are not permitted on the wall, so there is no traffic. The entire distance is shaded by tall plane and chestnut trees. We circled the entire wall as well as touring the city.
There are many places to rent bicycles in Lucca. If riding the wall and touring the city center is not enough biking, more adventurous cyclists may want to consider bicycling around the areas of Lucca outside of the wall, the nearby country side or even riding to the towns of Pisa or Vinci.
There are several routes from Lucca to Pisa, the home of the famous leaning tower. The tower has been stabilized and tourists are now allowed to climb it. The picture of the tower in this post was taken on my recent trip and you can see people on the tower. The distance from Pisa to Lucca can range from 14 to 33 miles depending on the route. The shorter more direct route takes you past San Giuliano Terme and then downhill to Pisa. The longer route is more strenuous but has beautiful scenery. You pass Calci and then climb into the Monti Piasani hills from where there are wonderful views. However this route includes some hills used by professional cyclists in training.
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Topics: Italy |
May 16th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Yeah, riding your bike on Le Mura in Lucca is a pure joy. I ran into Mario Cippolini once but I have to admit that he was faster on his bike than I was …
June 5th, 2008 at 9:30 am
we have 2 small children 5 and 7 is there anyway to do a bike tour with them? seats, trailers?
June 13th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
I love the wall! I went on it 2 years ago on my bike it was so fun. When we were on it we saw a tower with trees on top. So we got a map and walked there. But it wasn’t there. So we looked up and there it was.