Tracey A.
Yelp
By the end of - actually before the end of - three weeks in Italy I'd had enough of climbing to the tops of towers. So much so that I took one look at Pisa's Leaning Tower and shrugged: No need to go up there.
In Lucca though, there's but one tower and if you've never seen trees growing atop something that sits up hundreds of stairs here lies that opportunity.
Torre Guinigi is 230 mostly wide stairs topped by a lookout area featuring a number of mature trees. During my visit, rains made the lookout area quite puddle-filled and getting around to the each side of the lookout area was made difficult as one isn't supposed to actually get up into the dirt area of the trees. It required some gymnastics but I was able to make my way around the space to view Lucca from above in all directions.
Come in dry weather and you should have no such difficulties.
For about 6 euro (less for students) you'll see Lucca from above and see the trees which grow way up there. This isn't the tallest lookout tower from which I observed Italy, nor is it the best (that'd be Florence's Duomo and, in second place, the nearby Bell Tower) but it's a fun and sweet little part of your day and something worth doing while in Lucca, even if only to say you did it.
