Lucca, Tuscany’s Family-Friendly City

While the Tuscan city of Lucca, between Florence and Pisa, has its share of magnificent churches and notable artwork — the primary attractions in most Italian cities — it also has several highlights far more appealing to children and family travelers in general.

City walls they can bicycle on, a piazza surrounded by a “petrified” Roman amphitheater, a tower with trees on top, a church hiding a Roman home — Lucca is full of surprises.

The first attraction includes the ring of town walls. While not unusual for medieval towns to be surrounded by fortifications, Lucca’s wide walls feature a bicycle path along the top, lined on either side by trees. You can rent bikes at several places in Lucca; Bicicletta Poli is close to Porta Santa Maria, and bikes cost about $5 an hour.

From nearly any point in the city, you can spot two tall towers, one with what looks like a small forest on top. Guinigi Tower was one of several hundred defensive towers built into the mansions of wealthy families in the 14^th century, serving as places where they could retreat in case of attack.

Why the Guingi Tower has a grove of ancient oak trees on its top is unknown, but they’ve been there since the 1600s. Climbing the 230 steps to the top is a family-favorite activity in Lucca.

You can also climb Torre della Ore on the other side of town, but you can’t stand in the shade of ancient trees at its top. From the top of Guingi Tower, or as you stroll through the historic center, notice how an entire set of streets curve to form an oval.

Encourage kids to look up at the buildings there to spot traces of the stone arches that have been filled in with bricks or plaster. These curved walls were once a Roman arena, and the buildings you see were built into it, slowly absorbing the ancient structure. Look for the old entrance arches and step into an oval piazza — formerly the floor of the arena.

For more hidden Roman surprises, go to the former Church of San Giovanni. If kids look carefully at the tops of the columns inside, they can spot recycled ancient Roman stonework. Follow stairs down into the crypt to find mosaic floors of a Roman home that once stood on this site, as well as thermal baths from Roman times.