Villa San Donato B&B

Sixteen rooms inside a restored Lucchese villa on Via Silvio Pieri, Villa San Donato sits just outside the city's intact Renaissance walls — close enough to walk through Porta San Donato in under five minutes.

The property rates 9.5 from over 1,500 reviews, a score that places it consistently above most rated hotels in the historic centre. Breakfasts draw on local Garfagnana honey and farro products; the terrace faces a private garden rather than the street.

Lucca's compressed historic core means San Michele in Foro and the oval Piazza dell'Anfiteatro are both reachable on foot in twelve minutes. The direct train to Florence Santa Maria Novella runs every hour and takes eighty minutes.