A nice day trip from Lucca, especially with kids: from Lucca take the highway towards Florence and in 20 minutes you will get to Montecatini Terme. You can also take the regular road towards Pescia, and get there in under an hour.

Montecatini Terme is of course famous for its terms, which are really impressive. We also like taking the old funicular to the charming little village of Montecatini Alto, high up on the hill, from which you can get a good view of the Arno plain.

But of course, what kids like most in Montecatini is Termeland! Termeland is a park, with inflatable slides, toy cars, trampolines, a little train... everything for little kids. It's cheap too, 5 euros to stay as long as you want in the slide area. In the summer it is open in the morning until 1pm, and then from 4pm to... midnight! Parents can have a drink while keeping an eye on their children, and if an important soccer game is going on, the PA system will broadcast the radio reports. What else could you want?