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Since 1846 this has been the Lucca café of choice for musical and literary luminaries. The interiors are of the period, and the food and pastries are rather fine.

Treat yourself – or a (very good) friend – to a present from this 1870 shop, selling classy Italian kitchenware ranging from contemporary porcelain to Alessi gadgets.

Look out over the Arno River and imbibe with the ghosts of Pisa’s intellectual élite at one of Italy’s oldest literary cafés – it opened in 1794.

Set in a pretty medieval town above Montecatini Terme, this has been a popular café since 1878. Allow sufficient time to sample the dozens of cocktails and exotic fruit gelati .

This atmospheric antique jewellers, set under frescoed vaults dating from 1800, also sells silver and watches.

Lucca’s best wine shop is guaranteed to raise the hairs on your neck, with its hundreds of bottles crowded into small cellar rooms.

Try Fappani’s delicious home-made sweets with your morning coffee, preferably on the terrace of this café set in the heart of the seaside promenade’s shopping district.

This is another good shop for presents: you’ll pay decent prices for highly decorated Renaissance-style ceramics from Montelupo and Deruta.

For 70 years La Capannina – part cocktail bar/restaurant and part night spot – has been serving the best beachside refreshments around.

Rossi has been in the same family for four generations. They sell elegant pieces from the top names in Italian jewellery design, while their Viale Marconi boutique carries fashionable gold and silver adornments for the younger set.