The villas and gardens of Lucca

Completed in 1522, the green theater at Villa Reale di Marlia sets the tone for centuries of garden craft in the hills just 7 km from Lucca. Here, you read styles like chapters: the sun-struck Baroque façade at Villa Torrigiani in Camigliano, the sober Tuscan lines and limonaia at Villa Grabau in San Pancrazio, the camellia heritage and water features that carried ideas between Florence, Genoa, and France. Each estate signals a family’s reach, from the Buonvisi to the Torrigiani.

From there, the day flows by design: your dedicated driver collects you at your Lucca hotel in a Mercedes and handles timings and discreet access. You explore while he drives, then sit down to a straightforward estate lunch — new-season olive oil when in time, Garfagnana farro, a glass of Vermentino — before an easy 15 minutes to Marlia, another 12 to Camigliano, and 10 more to San Pancrazio. With a private chauffeur in Lucca, the region reads differently: he waits, adjusts, secures bookings, and you’re back by around 5 pm with citrus still on the nose.