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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.

If you love fish, you’ll get large portions of it here.

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.

Carrara is a quarry town, its snowy white marble the source of grandiose sculpture from ancient Rome to Michelangelo to Henry Moore. The town’s Duomo is pure Carrara marble, and marble-cutting shops and sculptors’ studios fill the streets. On the main square, look for the plaque and relief of stone-carving tools that mark the house where Michelangelo once stayed. The Museo del Marmo features the ancient Roman altar Edicola di Fantiscritti.

Expect to pay restaurant prices at this trattoria. Excellent local dishes, such as a thick zuppa pisana ribollita . Try the tiramisu sundae.

Delightfully simple restaurant serving local cuisine. Fish dominates the menu – try the seafood fettucine or salt cod cooked with onion Livorno-style.

Da Leo is crowded with locals and buzzing with conversation. Try the zuppa ai cinque cereali , a soup filled with grains and legumes.