Study Abroad in Florence: A Guide for American Students
Updated: Oct 25
Updated October 2026
Florence has hosted American students for generations, with world-class art on the walk to class and Tuscany on the doorstep. In my experience, the students who prepare well have the best semesters.
This guide covers visas, housing, getting around, staying safe and weekend trips.
Visa basics
90 days or less: U.S. citizens do not need a visa for short study stays.
More than 90 days: you need a long-stay (type D) study visa from the Italian consulate that covers your permanent U.S. address. Apply well before departure. Your program will send an acceptance letter, and consulates usually ask for proof of funds, proof of housing and a set of supporting documents.
After you arrive: long-stay students must apply for a permesso di soggiorno, the residence permit, within 8 days. Most programs walk you through it.
Requirements change, so always follow your consulate's current list.
Housing
Most programs offer shared apartments, homestays or student residences. Homestays are the fastest way to learn Italian and Florentine habits. Apartments give more freedom. Expect older buildings, stairs, small kitchens and limited heating hours. For more on apartments versus hotels for visiting family, read my guide to choosing a hotel or an apartment in Florence.
Getting around
You will walk almost everywhere. The tram links the station to the airport and suburbs, and buses cover the hills. Regional trains make weekend trips easy. My practical tips for travelers in Florence cover the basics.
Money and phones
Use a card with no foreign transaction fees and keep some cash for small shops.
Use bank ATMs, not standalone ones, to avoid poor currency conversion.
Get an Italian SIM or eSIM. It makes local calls and apps much easier.
Staying healthy and safe
Florence is generally safe, but watch for pickpockets on buses, at the station and in crowded piazzas. Keep your phone off café tables. Walk home in groups at night and know the emergency number, 112.
To stay active, see my guide to gyms, running routes and healthy food in Florence.
Social life
Join a language exchange, take a cooking class and say yes to invitations. Florence nightlife is lively but different from home. Read my Florence nightlife guide before your first Friday night.
Weekend trips
Siena, Lucca, Pisa and the Cinque Terre are all reachable by train. Rome, Bologna and Venice are easy on the high-speed lines. Plan big trips early in the semester, before exams.
Where students live
Many schools are near San Lorenzo, Santa Croce and the station. When family visits, point them to where to stay near San Lorenzo.
Your first week in Florence
The first week sets the tone for the whole semester. When I talk with students who loved their time here, they usually did the same few things early. They walked the city end to end before classes got busy.
They found their local bar, the one where the barista knows their order by day three. And they learned the rhythm of Florentine days: shops close for a long lunch in some neighborhoods, dinner starts at eight and Sunday is slow.
Here is the checklist I would give my own kids:
Walk from your apartment to your school, the station and the nearest pharmacy so you know the routes before you need them.
Buy a reusable water bottle. The public fountains, the fontanelli, are all over the city.
Download the Autolinee Toscane app for buses and the tram, and the Trenitalia and Italo apps for trains.
Find the nearest supermarket and the nearest market. Sant'Ambrogio is my favorite for real Florentine shopping.
Register with the U.S. State Department's STEP program so the consulate in Florence can reach you in an emergency.
Learning the language fast
You will hear English everywhere in the center, which is both a comfort and a trap. The students who come home speaking Italian are the ones who push past it. Order at the bar in Italian, even badly.
Say buongiorno when you walk into a shop. Ask your landlord or homestay family to correct you. A conversation exchange, where you trade an hour of English for an hour of Italian with a Florentine student, is the single best tool I know.
Food on a student schedule
Learning to shop like a Florentine is half the fun. Buy bread from a forno, vegetables at the market and pecorino from the counter at the supermarket.
Lunch at a trattoria is often the best value meal of the day, and a schiacciata sandwich from a bakery will carry you through an afternoon of classes. My guides to the best sandwich shops in Florence and Florence's artisan bakeries are written with exactly this in mind.
Respecting the city you live in
Florence has about 360,000 residents and millions of visitors a year, and locals notice how students behave. Keep the noise down on the street after midnight, because the medieval lanes carry sound straight up to the bedrooms.
Do not sit and eat on church steps. Separate your rubbish the way your building asks you to. A little respect goes a long way, and it is the reason Florentines still open their homes and classrooms to American students.
When family comes to visit
Parents usually arrive midway through the semester, often for a long weekend. That is the moment to show off. Take them up to Piazzale Michelangelo at sunset, book a table at your favorite trattoria and walk them through the neighborhood you now call home.
For their stay, a hotel within ten minutes' walk of your apartment makes the visit far easier. My Florence hotels by neighborhood page is a good place to start, and families who want space for a week in the countryside can look at private villas through Exclusive Villa Collection.
Weekend rhythm that works
The best semesters I have seen balance travel and staying put. Plan a big trip once a month, and spend the other weekends in Florence.
Some of the city's best moments happen on a Saturday morning when you have nowhere to be: the Sant'Ambrogio market at nine, a walk up to San Miniato al Monte, an afternoon in the Boboli Gardens. Free first Sundays at the state museums are crowded, but as a resident you can go back again and again on quieter days.
Coming home
The last weeks fly by. Make a list of the places you never got to, from the Bardini Garden to a sunrise walk across the Ponte Vecchio, and do them. Then plan to come back. Florence has a way of calling you home.
Making Italian friends
Most students end up spending the semester with other Americans, and that is a shame. The easiest ways I know to meet Florentines are language exchanges, where you trade an hour of English for an hour of Italian, volunteering with a local association, joining a gym or a running club, and becoming a regular at one bar or café.
Italians take a little longer to open up, but once they do, you will be invited to Sunday lunch with the whole family. Say yes.
Studying well in Florence
Libraries are your best friends. The Biblioteca delle Oblate near the Duomo has long tables, free Wi-Fi and a café terrace with a view of the dome. The university libraries are open to visiting students with a card from your program. For quiet afternoons, my list of coffee shops with Wi-Fi has places where nobody will hurry you.
FAQ
Do I need to speak Italian?
Not to get by, but a few classes make everything better, from markets to friendships.
Can I work while studying?
Study visas have limits on work. Check with your program and the consulate before taking any job.
What should I pack?
Comfortable walking shoes, layers for cold stone buildings in winter and an adapter for Italian plugs.
Which neighborhood is best for students in Florence?
Santa Croce, Sant'Ambrogio and San Lorenzo are close to most schools and full of everyday shops. The Oltrarno is quieter and very local.
How do I get around Florence as a student?
On foot for almost everything. Use the tram and buses for the airport and outer neighborhoods, and regional trains for weekend trips.
About the author
I'm Jason GaNung, and I write every guide on Florence Life. I have spent extensive time in Florence over many trips, and I have stayed in many of the hotels and villas I cover, so my picks come from my own stays, not press releases. More about me.
Read next
Plan my stay
Family coming to visit your student in Florence? Plan my Florence stay
Comments