The spa website is www.termebagnidilucca.it Think traditional therapeutic spa rather than luxury pampering style, usual thing is to have a steam in one of the natural steam caves followed by a massage.

Bagni di Lucca is a small, historic spa town that was very big in the C.18th/19th, lots of famous poets, musicians and royalty used to take the waters so it has a 'faded elegance' of that era, including the first casino in Europe, which has been restored as the tourist information office. The area is very scenic, the town follows a river valley surrounded by chestnut tree clad mountains and traditional stone hill villages. For more on the town and some pictures see www.villarosalena.com 'about the area' section.

For Barga try the barganews website.

Thank you for your help.

Do you also know much of Florence to give me any suggestions.

bay66

I only know Florence as an occasional daytripper, but if you post on the Florence forum Anon, the local expert, is incredibly knowledgeable and also if you browse your way through previous posts on there you'll find loads of useful stuff, the Florence forum is very active. The most useful point to note is to get a train from the nearest station to where you're staying, don't have the hassle of a car, parking, fines for being in the wrong area etc.

Thank you cs68.

Do you know much about Sienna or Pienza? I heard that Sienna is the sister city of Florence?

Thanks,

bay66

I love Siena and would suggest a whole day there, the cohesiveness of the colour and medieval architecture makes it very appealing, the unique shell shaped piazza is lovely and the frescoes in the Palazzo Pubblico are special I think as they are secular, whereas most are religious in nature.

Pienza is smal, will only need a couple of hours, but worth visiting in conjunction with other small towns around the Val d'Orcia, especially if you're a foodie.

But whether either is very suitable as day trips for you depends on the location of your villa. If you're based much north of Lucca you may find that day trips to Southern Tuscany are too far, all depends on what you want from your trip and how much time you are happy to spend in the car, a personal choice of course. Do you have an exact location for your villa? If you know the nearest town/village try viamichelin for an idea of average journey times.

According to the guide the villa is about 20 miles north of the town. Have you heard of Villa Aquilla?

From what our trip planner has said we would be doing most of our sightseeing in Tuscany with Pisa and Florence being two areas. Have you heard of any limestone or cave type sights? I heard that you could arrange tours into them.

Thank you for your help.

bay66

Not heard of it I'm afraid.

For show caves try 'the cave of the wind' which is north of Lucca in the Apuane Alps www.grottadelvento.com click on GB Union Jack flag for English version.

Thanks for the website. I have a question though. The prices are listed only in euro. What does it mean by "Intero" and then 7,50 euro?

Thanks, bay66

The intero price is the normal full price adult rate as opposed to a reduced rate eg: for a child. It is only in euro of course because this is the only currency you can pay in. If you want to know a dollar equivalent use a currency converter like xe.com

I know the owners of Villa Aquilea and have visited the villa. The grounds are lovely, and the infinity pool is a treat, with its view to the south and Lucca (on a clear day). The house is spacioous and cool and the owners will go out of their way to ensure a pleasurable stay. By the way, it is far less than 20 miles from lucca -- more like 20 minutes by car.