Travel Guide · Trip Inspiration
The Best Time to Visit Lucca, Month by Month
Garden fairs in spring, opera by the lake in summer, a city lit by candles in September and chestnut season in the fall.
There is no bad month in Lucca, only different versions of it. Spring brings gardens in bloom on the city walls, summer brings opera by the lake and rock concerts in the piazza, September lights the whole town with candles, and autumn smells of chestnuts and new olive oil. Here is our month-by-month guide to the walled city and the villa country around it.
At a glance
- Best overall: May, June and September, for warm days, open gardens and comfortable evenings.
- Best for music: July and August, with the Puccini Festival and the Lucca Summer Festival.
- Best for food lovers: October and November, for chestnuts, new olive oil and mushroom season.
- Quietest: January to March, when Lucca belongs to the Lucchesi.
Spring: March to May
Spring is when the Lucchesia shows off. The great villa gardens reopen for the season (Villa Reale di Marlia welcomes visitors from March), camellias and azaleas bloom, and the hills turn every shade of green. In April, Verdemura, Tuscany’s largest gardening and outdoor living fair, fills the bastions of the walls with around 170 exhibitors. It usually takes place in early April.
May is close to perfect: long, warm days, cool nights, and pools at the villas warming up toward the end of the month. It is also an ideal time for touring the historic villas and gardens.
Summer: June to August
June is our favorite summer month: everything is open, the countryside is still green and the heat is manageable. July and August are hot, often above 30°C (the mid-80s to 90s°F), which is exactly when a villa with a pool earns its keep. Plan sightseeing for the morning, lunch in the shade, and save the walls for the golden hour.
Summer is also festival season:
- Puccini Festival, Torre del Lago. Open-air opera on the shore of Lake Massaciuccoli, beside the villa where Puccini lived and is buried. The season runs each summer from mid-July to early September. See our guide to Puccini’s Lucca.
- Lucca Summer Festival. Big-name concerts in July, staged in the historic center and on the walls. It began in 1998 with Bob Dylan, and Eric Clapton, Ennio Morricone, Ray Charles and James Brown have all played since. The 2027 edition is the festival’s 30th.
From late spring to early autumn you can also see the Lucchesia from above. Hot air balloon flights lift off at dawn, when the air is calmest, for about an hour over vineyards, forests and hill towns, finishing with a glass of local wine on landing.
Families will find plenty to do in the heat, from beach days on the Versilia coast to river swimming in the Serchio Valley. Our 10 best activities for kids in Lucca has ideas.
September: Lucca’s own month
September is the month the Lucchesi celebrate themselves. The Settembre Lucchese brings concerts, markets and a funfair, and in early September the Murabilia garden show returns to the walls and the Botanical Garden with more than 250 exhibitors.
The highlight is the Luminara di Santa Croce on the evening of September 13. The lights in the old town go down, thousands of candles flicker in the windows along the route, and a procession carries the city through the streets in honor of the Volto Santo, the ancient wooden crucifix kept in the cathedral of San Martino. It is one of the most moving evenings in Tuscany. Book early if your dates include it.
The heat breaks, the pools are still warm, and the grape harvest begins in the Colline Lucchesi and Montecarlo.
Autumn: October and November
Autumn is for eating. Chestnuts come down from the Garfagnana as flour for necci and castagnaccio, porcini appear on menus, and the olive harvest gets underway, with peppery new oil, the olio nuovo, poured over toasted bread. Read about joining in on our olive harvest guide, and plan your meals with what to eat in Lucca.
One date to know: Lucca Comics & Games, one of the largest comics and gaming festivals in the world, takes over the entire walled city for five days around All Saints’ Day on November 1. It is a joyful spectacle for fans. If you are coming for the villas and the countryside, plan your days in town around it, since hotels fill up and normal parking is suspended.
Winter: December to February
Winter is quiet and mild by New York standards, though you will want a coat in the evenings. Puccini was born in Lucca on December 22, and the city marks the weeks between the anniversary of his death on November 29 and his birthday with a winter season of concerts. The nightly Puccini concerts in the church of San Giovanni continue on a reduced schedule. Many of the garden villas rest for the winter, so this is the season for the city itself: museums, long lunches and empty piazzas.
All year round
- Antiques market. On the third weekend of most months, dealers fill the streets and squares around the cathedral with furniture, silver, prints and curiosities. Go early on Saturday for the best finds.
- Puccini concerts. Short recitals of arias in the church of San Giovanni, every evening from spring to autumn.
Plan your dates with us
The best villas around Lucca book up a year ahead for June and September. Tell us your dates and your group, and we will tell you what is happening while you are there. Start planning with a Doorways advisor, or browse our villas in and around Lucca.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best month to visit Lucca?
May, June and September offer warm days, open gardens and comfortable evenings. July and August are hot but bring the Puccini Festival and the Lucca Summer Festival.
When is Lucca Comics & Games?
Lucca Comics & Games runs for five days each year around All Saints' Day on November 1. The whole walled city joins in, hotels fill up and normal parking is suspended, so plan your days in town around it.
When is the Luminara di Santa Croce?
The Luminara takes place on the evening of September 13 each year, when the old town is lit by thousands of candles for a procession honoring the Volto Santo.
