You can fly from Milan or Rome into Florence Amerigo Vespucci Airport. From there, it is easy to get into the city using public transportation or the "Fly by Bus" shuttle service. Since it is only five kilometers from the airport to the city, even a taxi ride will not break your budget. Or do as the Italians do and take the high-speed Eurostar train from Milan (2 hours and a half journey) or Rome (1 hour and a half). You will be whizzed past the Tuscan countryside and into the heart of Renaissance Florence. You can also land at Pisa Airport: a swanky single-class train will whisk you to Florence in precisely an hour, every hour. 

You are expected to arrive in Florence on the day before your course starts, between 8 am and 10 pm. Please do not forget to inform us about the approximate time of your arrival.  

At 9 o’clock am. If you think you can be late please let us know. Accademia del Giglio is located just a few steps from Palazzo Vecchio, on the corner between via Ghibellina and via del Proconsolo, just in front of the Bargello National Museum (for further details please refer to our map on our links page).

• If you are not a beginner or if you apply for an Art course you can start every Monday.

• If you are a beginner or if you apply for a Culture (Art History, Literature, Cinema) course please refer to our school calendar.

• If you wish to take private tuition you can start whenever you like, at the time it suits you.

Each non-beginner student is encouraged to take a short test before starting a course so that his/her language needs can be ascertained, and it can be ensured that he/she is placed in a group of a similar level of ability and knowledge. 

A pen, a pencil, an exercise book and a dictionary.

On the first day of your course.

Upon your arrival directly to your landlady/landlord.

No, all the bedding will be provided by your landlady/landlord.

On the day after the course has finished.

Yes, you can, provided you give your landlady/landlord a 15 day warning.

Yes, but you are kindly requested not to waste electricity, which is very expensive in Italy. Turn off lights when you are not in a room and do not forget to turn them off when you are out.

Yes, but only for sheets. If you are living in a family and have the use of a washing machine you will have to pay an extra charge (about 5,00 €) for the extra expense. If your apartment is not equipped with a washing machine you can go to a laundry shop and have your washing done at a reasonable price (5,00 - 7,00 €).

Our students are generally aged between 22 and 25, but we often happen to have younger or elder students attending our classes.

Our students come from:  

• Europe 29%

• North America 20 %

• Japan 19 %

• Latin America 16 %

• Other 16 %

Yes, you can visit our students' page and read their comments.

• If you are a citizen of the European Union, or if you carry a passport of one of the countries which are members or partners of the European Union you are not required to apply for any visa to come to Italy. 

• On the contrary if you are an oversea student or if your country is not a member or a partner of the European Union you are kindly requested to contact the nearest Italian Embassy or Consulate in your country and apply for a visa. In order to obtain a visa you will need our letter of acceptance attesting you will be taking classes during your stay in Italy. Please do not forget that we are entitled to mail you our letter of acceptance only after completing all our admission procedures. Please make sure your visa will be delivered to you before leaving your country. If you have problems in obtaining your visa (in some countries it may take up to 5 weeks to obtain it), advise us AT LEAST 8 days before your course starts. Those students who advise us too late may have their course cancelled and they will be allowed no refund.

If you are a non European student and you wish to apply for a permit of stay in Italy, this is what you have to do. Within 8 days after your arrival date you are requested to go to a post office and ask for a permit of stay kit, envelope with yellow stripe: for non-EU citizens. Please note: applications can be submitted only to some authorized post offices, so in order to know which is the nearest office entitled to accept your application, go to poste.it, look for “office search” and select the item “permesso di soggiorno”.

Now, you have your kit, where you will find the application form. Fill it out accurately and then prepare the following documentation:
- photocopies of your entire passport;
- letter of acceptance issued by your school or university in Italy;
- copy of your health insurance;
- one 14,25 € revenue stamp (marca da bollo);
- copy your visa issued by the Italian embassy in your country;
- copy of receipt of payment of 27.50 € for issue of the residence permit on electronic medium.

When all the above-mentioned items are ready, you can take them to the post office, where you will be requested to pay 30,00 € and you will be given a registered letter receipt (mod.22A), which contains your user ID and your password (in case you wish to track down your application on line).
Finally, after a few weeks you should receive a letter, which will invite you to call to the Immigration Office. On this occasion you will be requested to produce 4 passport-size photos.

As for the health insurance we normally recommend INA ASSITALIA: this is a rather unexpensive insurance, and all Italian embassies accept it. Cost: six months 49 €, one year 98 €. You can buy it at any post office through a “bollettino postale” (a sort of postal payment form). Here is the data you should use to fill out the “bollettino”: C/C postale n. 7127003, payment to (intestato a) INA Assitalia Agenzia Generale di Roma “conto 20" via del Tritone 18 , 00187 Roma. Please do not forget to specify on the form the name of the city you will be living during your stay in Italy and the reason of your payment, that is “polizza sanitaria stranieri”.

Capodanno (New Year's Day): January 1st 
Befana (Epiphany): January 6th 
Pasqua (Easter): on a sunday in March or April 
Pasquetta (Monday Easter): the first Monday after Easter 
Liberazione (Liberation Day): April 25th 
Festa del Lavoro (Labour Day): May 1st 
Festa della Repubblica: June 2nd
San Giovanni (Feast of the patron saint of Florence): June 24th - Only in Florence - 
Ferragosto (Feast of the Assumption): August 15th 
Ognissanti (All Saints' Day): November 1st 
Festa della Madonna Immacolata (Feast of the Immaculate Conception): December 8th 
Natale (Christmas Day): December 25th 
Santo Stefano (St. Stephen's Day): December 26th 
On the above-mentioned days the school will be closed.

Electricity in Italy is 220 volts AC at 50 Cycles per second. In order to use small appliances, such as  laptop computers, hairdryers, and so on, you will need an adapter. Adapters ("adattatore" in italian) are available in most of the electronics store in the centre of Florence. Alarm clocks, cd players and stereos will not work properly even on converters since they use the 60 Cycle American/Canadian standard.

A charge of 10%-15% is usually already included in the restaurants bill, but if you like the service you can leave a 5-10% extra tip to the waiter. 
Tip hotel staff according to the standard of hotel.

You can use public phones around Florence, which use phone cards and/or coins. All these phones can be used for both local and long distance phone calls. Magnetic phone cards (scheda telefonica) are sold at many bars and tobacconist shops. Ask for the best one to call your country.

Foreign students are unfortunately not entitled to open a bank account in Italy, they can only open a "libretto al portatore", which is a sort of a savings book where you can put your money, but you cannot have the use of an ATM or of a credit card.

There is a very good school in Florence called Art Studio Fuji: it's a professional school and Art Workshop offering various programs at all levels.

Yes, it's possible to find an evening part-time job in a bar or a restaurant or you can look for some job opportunities in magazines such as "La Pulce" and "Secondamano".

Yes, AdG is a WiFi area! It means that if you have your notebook it's possible to connect to internet whit our DSL, for free of charges!

1. Advise us about the time of your arrival in Florence.

2. Make sure your flight or train reservation has been confirmed for the dates you agreed on with us.

3. If you are not a student carrying a European Union passport and if you are going to stay over in Italy over 90 days make sure your student visa will be delivered to you before your departing.

4. If you have applied for our pick-up service please do not forget to keep with you the emergency phone numbers we will provide you with.

5. Please do plan your arrival at your home residence in Florence between 8.00 am and 10 pm.

6. Make sure your health insurance is liable to cover medical treatments abroad. Please note, if you are a student from a European Union country you do not need a health insurance. They only have to apply for the E111 document at the national health service in their countries

For more information, news, etc. we suggest you to visit our blog: www.adgblog.it.