Staying in Anfiteatro, Lucca: the oval piazza, San Frediano and upper Via Fillungo

Who should stay in Anfiteatro?

Couples, first-time visitors and anyone on a short break who wants the best-known square in Lucca a minute from the door. It is the most photographed part of the centre, and the bicycle-hire shops of Piazza Santa Maria are at its northern edge. Drivers have an advantage here too: two of the city's free car parks are on the north side, beyond Porta Santa Maria.

It suits less well travellers who arrive by train with heavy luggage, because this is the part of the centre furthest from the station, and those who dislike crowds: by day the piazza and Via Fillungo are the busiest places in the city. There are only two hotels.

What kind of accommodation is there in Anfiteatro?

Small-scale and domestic. Of the 87 properties, about 65 are apartments, nine are guest houses and nine are B&Bs; the two hotels are Hotel Alla Corte degli Angeli, a four-star, and Hotel La Luna, a three-star, and B&B Anfiteatro is among the best-known addresses. Typical addresses are Via San Giorgio, Via dell'Anfiteatro, Via Cesare Battisti, Via Fillungo and the lanes between them.

Half the properties lie within about 300 m of Piazza San Michele and none is more than 700 m from it. About three quarters state that they have no parking, nearly half accept pets and none lists a pool.

How do you get to Anfiteatro, and where do you park?

From the station you cross the whole centre from south to north: Piazza dell'Anfiteatro is just under 900 m from the station in a straight line, about 15 minutes on foot through Porta San Pietro and up Via Fillungo. If you come by regional bus, Piazzale Verdi is a walk of 10 to 12 minutes.

With a car, the simplest plan is to stay outside the walls and walk in through Porta Santa Maria. The tourist office lists Piazzale Don Baroni and Tagliate, both to the north, as free car parks; Palatucci, to the north-west, is paid, with listings giving €0.50 to €1 for the first hour and a daily maximum of about €8. Inside the gate, the pay-and-display spaces of Piazza Santa Maria are among the few places within the walls that non-residents can still reach by car. The lanes beyond are a camera-controlled limited traffic zone: if your accommodation can register your number plate for a daily permit, send it before you arrive and wait for the confirmation before driving in.

What is there to see on foot?

Piazza dell'Anfiteatro is free and always open. The Basilica di San Frediano is a couple of minutes away: look for the 13th-century mosaic of the Ascension on the façade, the carved 12th-century Romanesque font and the chapel that holds the body of Santa Zita, whose feast is on 27 April. The basilica is generally open from 9:00 to 18:00 Monday to Saturday and from 12:00 on Sundays and holidays.

Palazzo Pfanner, at Via degli Asili 33, is about five minutes from the piazza. The 17th-century palace has a Baroque garden with statues; in 2026 it is open from mid-March to 31 December, 10:00 to 18:00 apart from closures for private events, and the ticket for garden and residence costs €10 (€8 reduced, free under 10). The garden is also visible from the San Frediano platform on the walls.

Via Fillungo leads south to the Torre delle Ore, the 50 m clock tower with 207 wooden steps, on the edge of the San Michele area. Torre Guinigi is three or four minutes from the piazza and Piazza San Michele five or six. The main tourist office is at Palazzo Santini, Via Cesare Battisti 14. For the walls, hire shops stand in Piazza Santa Maria, and a city bike in Lucca costs about €16 to €20 a day in 2026.

Is the Anfiteatro area noisy?

By day, yes: tour groups pass through the piazza and along Via Fillungo from mid-morning to late afternoon. The evening is calmer. The restaurants in the oval serve outside in the warm months and are aimed mainly at visitors; for local cooking, guides point to the quieter side streets rather than the piazza itself. The lanes towards San Frediano and Via degli Asili are residential, with far less passing trade than Via Fillungo.

When is Anfiteatro busiest and most expensive?

The peak is Lucca Comics & Games, from 28 October to 1 November in 2026. The area is fully part of it: in the 2025 edition a sponsor's pavilion stood in Piazza dell'Anfiteatro and the Real Collegio, beside San Frediano, hosted the family programme. That year Porta Santa Maria was closed to unauthorised vehicles around the clock for the duration, so plan to arrive on foot.

The monuments see their largest numbers from July to September. On the evening of 13 September the Luminara di Santa Croce, a candle-lit procession, sets off from San Frediano towards the cathedral, so this is where the crowd gathers first.