Florence & Tuscany Cultural Stays | School Trips Abroad

Florence & Tuscany with your class

Florence is the school trip destination for Art students, but it rewards every curriculum. The city that produced Dante, Machiavelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Botticelli within a few streets of each other is not an abstraction: it is a living, walkable city where the evidence of one of human civilisation's greatest creative explosions is embedded in the stonework at every turn. Students cross the Ponte Vecchio, stand under Brunelleschi's dome, the largest masonry dome ever constructed, built without scaffolding, visit the Accademia to stand face to face with Michelangelo's David, and explore the Uffizi's extraordinary collection of Renaissance painting. Day trips into Tuscany add the hill towns of Siena and San Gimignano, the cypress-lined roads of the Chianti, and the extraordinary medieval Campo that has served as Siena's civic heart for 700 years. This is a trip that makes Art History feel inevitable rather than academic.

Florence's Duomo and Renaissance architecture on a Tuscany cultural school trip

Trip highlights

01 The Uffizi Gallery

The Uffizi Gallery, one of the world's great art museums, housing Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera, Leonardo's Annunciation, Raphael's portraits, and the most complete collection of Italian Renaissance painting in existence

02 Brunelleschi's Dome

Brunelleschi's Dome, the engineering miracle that announced the Renaissance, climbed via a narrow spiral staircase for vertiginous views across the terracotta rooftops of Florence and the Tuscan hills beyond

03 Michelangelo's David at the Accademia

Michelangelo's David at the Accademia, standing before the original in person is a genuinely different experience from any reproduction, and a moment that Art students consistently describe as transformative

Curriculum links

Art & Art History Renaissance painting and sculpture, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, the Uffizi

History the Medici, the Italian city-state, the Renaissance as a historical period

Architecture Brunelleschi's dome, Gothic and Renaissance civic buildings

Geography the Arno valley, Tuscany, Italian urban geography

Italian Language & Culture

Practical information

TransportTravel arranged to suit your school's location.

Accommodationcentrally located youth hostel or hotel in Florence, within walking distance of the Duomo and the major museums

Meals: breakfast included; group dinners at local trattorias; lunches at group's own expense or packed
Local currency is Euro (€); spending money recommended for the Mercato Centrale, gelato, and personal purchases
Florence is extremely walkable, most sites are within 20 minutes on foot from the historic centre
Pre-booking is essential for the Uffizi and the Accademia, queue times without pre-booking can be prohibitive
On the Move is the officially accredited school trips provider for the European Schools in Belgium; every trip has a dedicated project manager with 24/7 emergency support.

A day by day

Day 1

Arrival & First Evening in Florence Arrive in Florence and make your way to the accommodation. After check-in, the late afternoon is given over to a first walk through the city centre, the Duomo exterior, the Baptistery doors (the Gates of Paradise), the Piazza della Signoria with its outdoor sculpture collection, and the Ponte Vecchio at golden hour. A group dinner at a local trattoria introduces students to Florentine cuisine, ribollita, bistecca, and the city's extraordinary gelato.

Day 2

The Uffizi, the Accademia & Michelangelo A full day devoted to Florence's two unmissable museums. The morning opens at the Uffizi Gallery for a guided visit, the guide navigates the collection with curriculum focus, ensuring students understand the key works in historical context rather than simply walking past them. After lunch near the museum, the afternoon moves to the Accademia for a visit centred on Michelangelo's David and the unfinished Prisoners series, a powerful introduction to the sculptor's technique and vision. The evening is free for students to explore the Oltrarno neighbourhood, Florence's quieter south bank, with its artisan workshops and neighbourhood restaurants.

Day 3

Brunelleschi's Dome, the Medici & San Miniato The morning begins with the climb of Brunelleschi's dome, the spiral staircase between the inner and outer shells takes students through the engineering of the structure itself before emerging into the lantern for panoramic views across Tuscany. After descending, a guided walk covers the Medici story: the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, the church of San Lorenzo (where the Medici are buried beneath Michelangelo's New Sacristy), and the political geography of the city that the dynasty dominated for three centuries. After lunch, a short walk up to San Miniato al Monte, one of Florence's most beautiful Romanesque churches, perched above the city, for views and quiet reflection before a group dinner.

Day 4

Siena & San Gimignano Day Trip An early departure by coach into the Tuscan countryside for a full day in two of Tuscany's most remarkable hill towns. Siena comes first, a guided tour of the Campo (the medieval fan-shaped piazza at the heart of the city), the black-and-white striped Cathedral, and the Palazzo Pubblico with its 14th-century frescoes. After lunch in the Campo, the coach continues to San Gimignano, the "medieval Manhattan" of 14 surviving towers, built by rival noble families in the 12th and 13th centuries as symbols of power and wealth. Free time for gelato (San Gimignano's is famous) and exploration before the return to Florence.

Day 5

Final Morning & Departure A final breakfast and last exploration of the city's markets or neighbourhoods before the return journey.

✏️ This is an example timetable — we can adapt the destination, programme, duration and budget to suit your group.

Students come home with…

a direct, embodied understanding of the Renaissance as a historical and artistic phenomenon; the ability to connect specific works of art to the political and social context that produced them; and a permanent inability to look at a dome without thinking of Brunelleschi.

In pictures

Cultural Stays - your questions

History, art, civics, languages and religious studies all benefit. Bastogne suits primary P5 groups studying WWII; The Hague suits civics and international relations; Berlin, Aachen and Málaga are ideal for secondary history and arts groups.

Yes. We arrange expert local guides for museums, monuments and walking tours, in English or French as you prefer.

The Belgian Ardennes — Bastogne programme is specifically designed for P5 (ages 10–11), with content pitched carefully for that age. Other destinations in this category suit secondary groups.

Return travel, central accommodation, all entries and guided visits, supervision, insurance and your On the Move coordinator.

Cultural trip to Florence & Tuscany