Tuscany
Pisa, Lucca and Forte dei Marmi in a day
Forte dei Marmi is 48 km from La Spezia, about 45 minutes; Lucca is 77 km and close to an hour; Pisa is 78 km and about the same. The day runs one way and back, not as a loop. Lucca is the substantial stop, Pisa the short one, and your driver is not a licensed guide.
| Duration | [[TODO: total duration for pisa-lucca]] |
|---|---|
| Drive time | [[TODO: driving time each way for pisa-lucca]] |
| Distance | 77 km |
| Passengers | 8 |
| From | [[TODO: from-price per vehicle for pisa-lucca]] |
Where the day goes
- Pisa
78 km (48 miles) and about an hour from La Spezia. The car sets down on Via Cammeo or Via Andrea Pisano, about 500 m from the Piazza dei Miracoli, on the flat and with no steps. Coaches are not allowed there at all.
- Lucca
77 km (48 miles) from La Spezia and the main event of this day. The historic center sits inside the walls and inside a restricted traffic zone.
- Forte dei Marmi
48 km (30 miles) and about 45 minutes from La Spezia, which makes it the closest of the three. The motorway exit is Versilia; no exit carries the town's name.
- Pietrasanta
50 km (31 miles) and about 45 minutes, a few minutes inland from Forte dei Marmi. A marble-carving town with a piazza built for sitting in, and an easy addition to the same day.
A sample day
- Early morningPick-up in La Spezia and south on the A12. Pisa is 78 km (48 miles) and about an hour away.
- Mid-morningPisa. The Piazza dei Miracoli, the photograph everyone takes, and out again before the middle of the day fills the square.
- Late morningInland to Lucca. A short leg across the plain, away from the coast road.
- MiddayLucca. Lunch inside the walls, the amphitheater square, and enough time to walk or cycle a stretch of the ramparts.
- Mid-afternoonNorth-west to the coast, leaving the motorway at Versilia for Forte dei Marmi, with Pietrasanta a few minutes inland if you want both.
- Late afternoonForte dei Marmi. The pier, the shops, and the Apuan Alps behind the town with the marble quarries showing white on them.
- Early eveningBack to La Spezia. From Forte dei Marmi it is the shortest leg of the day, about 45 minutes.
A sample day - times are illustrative.
What the price includes
- A private car and driver for the agreed itinerary, for up to 8 passengers
- A price agreed in writing before you travel, which does not change unless you change the itinerary
- Waiting time at every pickup: 60 minutes at an airport, 15 minutes anywhere else
- Flight tracking when the day starts at an airport - we ask for the number and follow it
- Italian, English and Russian spoken
- Payment by Visa, Mastercard, Maestro or American Express
Not included
- A licensed guide. Pisa and Lucca both have ticketed monuments, and guiding inside them is a licensed guide's work. Licensed guides are arranged on request.
- Entry tickets for the tower, the cathedral, the baptistery or any museum
- Meals, refreshments and anything bought at a beach club
- Anything not written into the quote. What the price covers, and what applies if you cancel, is confirmed in writing with the quote before anything is booked.
Is this the right day for you?
This is the day to take when Florence is too far. Florence is 149 km from La Spezia and about 1h45 to 2h each way, which is at least two and three quarter hours of driving round trip before anybody gets out of the car; on a short port call or a travel day it is the tightest trip sold from this coast. Pisa is about an hour each way, Lucca about the same, and Forte dei Marmi about 45 minutes. Take one of the three and you still have your afternoon; take all three and it is a full and satisfying day, driven in one direction and back. What does not work is Florence and this day together. And if your window is shorter still, Portovenere and Lerici are 20 and 19 minutes from La Spezia.
How far is each of them from La Spezia?
Closer than most people expect, and in an order that surprises them: Forte dei Marmi, the furthest north, is the nearest of the three to La Spezia.
| From La Spezia | Distance | On a normal day |
|---|---|---|
| Forte dei Marmi | 48 km (30 miles) | about 45 minutes |
| Pietrasanta | 50 km (31 miles) | about 45 minutes |
| Lucca | 77 km (48 miles) | about 55 minutes to 1h05 |
| Pisa | 78 km (48 miles) | about 1 hour |
Those are the legs from La Spezia, and they stretch in the rush hours and through July and August. Pisa to Lucca, and Lucca to the coast, are short hops on top of them, and they are what decides whether all three towns fit into one day.
Which way round do you drive it?
In one direction and back, never as a circuit. Forte dei Marmi is closest to La Spezia and Pisa is furthest, so the day either runs south to Pisa first and comes home up the Versilia, or it starts on the coast in the cool of the morning and works south. Which suits you depends on the day, the season and what you want from the last hour; your driver says which before you set off, not after.
Where does the car stop in Pisa?
Close to the piazza, and this is the strongest practical argument for a car on this route. The car stops on Via Cammeo or Via Andrea Pisano, about 500 m from the Piazza dei Miracoli: five to seven minutes on flat pavement, with no steps.
Coaches cannot use Via Cammeo at all. They are sent to the free Via Pietrasantina park roughly 2 km out, and their passengers finish the journey on a shuttle or on foot - half an hour each way, at the start of the visit and again at the end of it.
Is Pisa worth a stop, or is it a tourist trap?
Both at once, and it is easier to enjoy once you accept that. Piazza dei Miracoli is one of the great sights of Europe - the cathedral, the baptistery, the camposanto and the tower, all on the same lawn - and the streets immediately around it are a souvenir market and a queue. Experienced travelers say so bluntly and they are not wrong.
So this day treats Pisa as the short stop: enough for the piazza, the photograph, and the cathedral if it is open. The long hours go to Lucca. Reverse that and you will spend your afternoon somewhere you have already seen the best of.
What is Lucca actually like?
Lucca is the reason to do this day, and the reason this page is not called the Pisa tour. It is a complete walled town that people live in rather than a monument that people visit.
The ramparts are wide enough to walk or cycle the whole circuit under the trees, with the rooftops on one side and the plain on the other. Inside, the Piazza dell’Anfiteatro follows the oval of the Roman amphitheater built over it, and Via Fillungo runs between the Duomo and San Michele in Foro. It is flat, compact, and the pleasure of it is walking without a plan - which is what people who have already done the coast and the villages ask for on a second visit.
Does the season change this day?
More here than anywhere else on our list, because the Versilia is a resort economy rather than a town that happens to have visitors.
In July and August, Forte dei Marmi is the beach clubs, the shops, the evening passeggiata and the traffic that comes with all three. In February it is a wide empty beach, a pier, a handful of open bars, and the Apuan Alps behind the town with the marble quarries showing white. The second version is quieter and cheaper and many people prefer it, but it is not the same trip and nobody should be sold one as the other.
Pietrasanta, a few minutes inland, is steadier through the year: a marble-carving town whose workshops still supply sculptors.
Do I need a guide?
Not to enjoy the day, but the answer here is different from the answer on the coast. Your driver is a licensed private-hire driver, which is not the same qualification as an Italian licensed tour guide, and inside a ticketed monument that distinction is a legal one. Pisa and Lucca have buildings with centuries of argument inside them, and a licensed guide earns their fee there. Ask when you book and one is arranged.
Without a guide the day still works the way it is sold: the driver sets you down, you take the time you want in the town, and the car is where you agreed it would be when you come back.
Does this fit a cruise port day?
This is the day the Florence page sends you to when the call is short. The arithmetic, driving only:
| Itinerary | Driving, round trip |
|---|---|
| Forte dei Marmi, with or without Pietrasanta | about 1h30 |
| Pisa alone | about 2 hours |
| Lucca alone | about 2 hours |
| Pisa, Lucca and Forte dei Marmi together | a full day, driven one way and back |
| Pisa and Florence | at least 2h45, before the Pisa to Florence leg is counted |
Everything else sits on top: getting off the ship, the port shuttle, the security check on the way back in. All-aboard is earlier than sailing time, by half an hour to an hour depending on the line, and your ship’s exact time is published on board. Tell us that time when you ask for the quote and the day is built backwards from it.
The port logistics are on the La Spezia cruise port page, and the full Florence arithmetic on the Pisa and Florence day.
Asking for a quote
A quote comes back within 24 hours. Ask on the contact page and say which of the three towns matters most to you. If you only have half a day, say that too - it is better to take Lucca properly than all three badly.
The written quote carries the pick-up point, where the car waits in each town, the price and the terms, and it is all agreed before anything is booked. The same car also does transfers, including long-distance ones, if what you need is the journey rather than the day.
Questions about this trip
Is this the shorter alternative to the Florence day?
Yes, and it is the reason this page exists. Florence is 149 km from La Spezia, about 1h45 to 2h each way, and a Pisa and Florence day carries at least 2h45 of driving before the Pisa to Florence leg is even counted. Pisa, Lucca and Forte dei Marmi are 78, 77 and 48 km away, so any one of them is about an hour or less each way and the day can be cut to fit the time you actually have.
Where does the car stop in Pisa?
On Via Cammeo or Via Andrea Pisano, about 500 m from the Piazza dei Miracoli: five to seven minutes on flat pavement, with no steps. That is the quiet advantage of a car here. Coaches are not allowed on Via Cammeo at all and are sent to the free Via Pietrasantina park about 2 km out, where the choice is a shuttle or a half-hour walk.
Is Pisa just a tourist trap?
Piazza dei Miracoli is one of the great sights of Europe and the streets around it are a souvenir market, and both of those things are true at once. That is why this day treats Pisa as a short stop - long enough for the piazza, the cathedral and the photograph - and gives the hours to Lucca, which is a working town people enjoy walking around rather than a monument with a queue.
Does the season change this trip?
More than any other day we drive. Forte dei Marmi and the Versilia are a summer resort economy: in July and August the beach clubs, the shops and the evening crowd are the whole point of the place. In February it is a quiet town with a long empty beach and the marble mountains behind it, which some people prefer. Say which version you want and the day is built for it.
Do we need a guide for Pisa and Lucca?
Not to enjoy the day, but a guide adds real value here in a way it does not on the coast. Both towns have ticketed monuments with a great deal of history inside them, and in Italy guiding inside a monument is the work of a licensed guide, which a private-hire driver is not. Licensed guides are arranged on request when you book.
Other days out
Last updated