EJ · Excursion to Lucca & Pisa

This full-day excursion takes you in two of Italy’s gems, Lucca & Pisa. The wonderfully preserved city of Lucca was founded in 180 B.C. as a Roman colony. The massive, red brick walls that you’ll see were built between 1504-1645 to enclose the city and provide an excellent form of defense. Since the use of motorized vehicles is restricted inside the walls, Lucca is a delightful city to explore on foot. Be sure to check out the Cathedral and Via Fililungo (a smaller version of Rome’s Via Veneto that is lined with lovely shops), which winds its way through Lucca to Piazza del Mercato, the arena-shaped square. The piazza was built on the site of a Roman amphitheater, and it is surrounded by fascinating medieval homes that were constructed against the amphitheater’s walls.
The charming town of Pisa, which was originally a seaside city settled around 1000 B.C., is most recognized for the bell tower of its Cathedral, known throughout the world because of an architectural flaw (an inadequate foundation) that resulted in the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. While in Pisa, you will visit Piazza dei Miracoli, where you will see the Duomo, the Baptistery (a circular marble building dating back to the Renaissance) and, of course, the iconic Leaning Tower. With its unique tilt, it is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and the site where Galileo Galilei famously tested his theories about gravity. Construction began on the tower in 1174, and, before it was completed, it began to lean, with the angle worsening over time to 5.5 degrees. After work to stabilize it in the 1990s, the tower’s tilt was reduced to just under 4 degrees.