Le Mura Parlanti apartment

Four apartments occupy a ground-floor conversion just inside Lucca's intact Renaissance walls, the 16th-century ramparts rising directly outside the windows rather than across a piazza.

The address on Via delle Tagliate places guests at the quieter northern arc of the circuit, away from the day-tripper concentration near Piazza Anfiteatro. The 4km tree-lined path atop the walls — open to cyclists and walkers — is reachable in under a minute on foot.

Lucca's train station, with direct links to Florence and Pisa Centrale, sits a ten-minute walk south through the Porta San Pietro gate. No car is needed once inside; the historic centre is fully pedestrianised.