Italy was a travel hotbed this summer (literally and figuratively). It was the perfect storm of variables: Post-COVID travel crescendoing, the new season of HBO’s White Lotus airing and coupled with the rise of Tomato Girl Summer on TikTok, featuring crystal blue waters in Capri and mouthwatering plates of homemade pasta.

But the influx of tourists caused prices to sky-rocket, particularly in already popular destinations like Southern Italy and Rome, and it became nearly impossible to get a true, authentic Italian experience. Enter the city of Lucca. Located in Tuscany, Lucca has been, to this point, spared the commercialization that many other, bigger Italian cities have not.