Puccini Cycle Path

Discovering the places where the great composer Giacomo Puccini was born and lived, with the soundtrack of his music as background.

The Puccini Cycle and Pedestrian Path is an itinerary in space but also in time, in memory of Giacomo Puccini, through his places.

The route starts from the heart of Lucca and then climbs up the Renaissance Walls of the city. From the Birthplace, now home to the Puccini Museum, to the Higher Institute of Musical Studies, to the Teatro del Giglio. After leaving the walls you immediately come into contact with the Serchio River and its River Park; the charm of the river bank marries splendidly with the romances of the great maestro and pedaling while listening to Boheme, Tosca or Butterfly, just to name a few, helps us better understand the place where we are but also the emotions that inspired these works that have become famous throughout the world.

The Puccini cycle and pedestrian path ends near the Le Pompe di Massaciuccoli reclamation centre, which precedes the arrival at the Lipu Oasis. The uniqueness of the scenery and the over 300 species of birds that live in this natural reserve in every season, take your breath away for the beauty of the place. A true harmonious meeting point between environment, animals and men; a perfect ecosystem in which migratory species find their ideal habitat, such as ducks, grebes, cormorants, black terns, gulls, terns and ospreys.

The itinerary returns to Lucca by retracing the route. Alternatively, you can go as far as Torre del Lago to visit Villa Puccini, in whose rooms you can savour the atmosphere of this unique place where the Maestro, in the silence of nature, found inspiration for his immortal melodies. From here, along the pine forest, you can reach the Viareggio station to return using the bike+train intermodality.

Since 2023, the Cycle Route has become melodic and has used special signage to have permanent musical accompaniment; thanks to Spotify, you can choose to pedal with the Cycle Route playlist or listen to the Maestro's symphonies at selected and marked points. At the bike points along the route, podcasts will also be available in the same way, which tell the natural aspects of the territory or the story of Puccini's life, including the history and letters in which it is clear how passionate he was about bicycles and a cyclist himself.

Photo by Roberto Giomi for the Municipality of Lucca