Tuscany: A Week in Lucca
April 13 – 20
The string of five villages, known as Cinque Terre, are perched along the mountainous coast considered once of Italy’s most beautiful scenic corners.
The city of Lucca lies on the Tuscan plain just miles from the Mediterranean, ensconced in its remarkable Renaissance walls.
It makes for a delightful base to discover many of Tuscany’s lesser known treasures and hidden delights. Travel on a weeklong journey along the less-traveled tracks, exploring vineyards in the Maremma and wonders of contemporary architecture by Renzo Piano and Mario Botta. 
Several well-known gardeners will invite you inside their beautiful private retreats. Follow in Michelangelo’s footsteps in the marble quarries of Carrara, stroll the seaside paths of the Cinque Terre, and hear a private recital on the same organ Giacomo Puccini played as a young composer. Explore the tranquil, windswept hill town of Volterra, enjoy a homecooked lunch of organic local foods at a private villa, and be among the first to view singer Andrea Bocelli’s remarkable new “Theater of Silence.” Within Lucca itself, you can admire the city’s unparalleled collection of Romanesque pilgrimage churches, gleaming white marble fantasies dotting the otherwise brick-and-terracotta city.
Price: from $3,195 per person, double occupancy