The ball was rolling now and we were invested in the process. Laying down roots in Italy would mean we could be more connected with family, have a home base in Europe and it would offer us a slower pace, plus an escape from the grind of Northern Virginia. This purchase would be part of our long-term retirement plan to spend more time in Italy.
How Did We Decide on Lucca?
We have traveled all over Italy, but still weren't sure where we would want to make the big decision to buy property. Thankfully, Dario and I tend to be pretty lockstep in our decision-making processes. So, we spent time coming up with wishlist criteria to help determine where we would buy:
Within 30 minutes to the coast – We love the beach. Initially, we had thought we wanted to be somewhere along the coast, but ruled that out when we realized that we didn’t want to live in a ghost town during the low season. We also wanted someplace where Italian locals still live year-round.
Lively, but not too touristy – Our Italy travels covered a lot of territory we knew we didn’t want a big city heaving with hoards of tourists. Lucca hosts several major events annually, but, you can also live like a local here.
Central to family – Dario has Aunts, Uncles and cousins living in Bergamo, Rome, Genoa and Naples. Tuscany sits pretty centrally between all of these cities. This central location also makes it a great bouncing off point for exploring Italy and other European travels.
Walkable town without too many cars – This obviously ruled out a lot of Italian cities. In 2016, we had stayed in the Oltrarno area of Florence and we loved the neighborhood feel and the walkable nature of the area, in addition to the obvious and indisputable merits of Florence.
An active town – The historical center of Lucca (Centro Storico) is surrounded by ancient walls. These walls date back to the Renaissance period, with construction beginning in the 16th century. These formidable fortifications, featuring wide promenades atop their ramparts, were initially erected to defend the city against external threats, but were never breached and stand completely intact. The walls now serve as a park where you can run, bike, walk your dog and even take yoga classes under a canopy of trees. In the past couple of weeks alone, Lucca has hosted a half marathon as well as the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's prestigious Grand Tour races.
Easy access to airport and train – Without a car, we would need a location that was easy to navigate by bike or on foot. We also wanted easy access to the airport and trains as we wanted a jumping off point for visiting other parts of Italy and Europe. We live 15 minutes from an international airport in the US and love the ease of not having to go far to travel, especially after an eight hour flight! Lucca sits conveniently 20 minutes from the Pisa Airport or an hour to the Florence Airport.
Check, check and check
On paper, Lucca ticked all of our boxes and met all of our criteria. We would go and stay in Lucca for a bit that summer to get a feel for the town and hopefully view some properties.
Part IV can be found here.
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