Lucca Italian school

Lucca is not really a small, non-touristy village, but it would be a good base for you.

Check out Todi as well, there is at least one language school there, and the city is smaller, more off the beaten track.

I have no personal experience with language schools, but some are much better than others.

Zoe thanks for info; I'll check out Todi

Madrelingua in Bologna is good. Bologna is bigger than Lucca but less touristy in my opinion. No one speaks english to me since I don't go to the more touristy type places. Mostly locals in Bologna. I have studied for 4 weeks in Bologna and have returned to study again. I am in nearby Vignola for 5 months of the year and visit Bologna often and can say that there really aren't a lot of tourists at least in Oct, Nov or Jan- beginning of June.

I've done a couple of 2-week stints at European language schools and really enjoyed both experiences. If I were taking a longer course, I'd definitely want to be somewhere with lots of local attractions and good transportation connections to a bunch of destinations convenient for weekend trips. If you're willing to pay for a hotel room elsewhere on Friday and/or Saturday night, you'd be able to travel farther afield, of course. From the transportation standpoint, it would be hard to beat Bologna. It is a large city, but the historic district is wonderful, and the city isn't particularly foreign-tourist-oriented.

If you plan to rent a car for the duration of your stay, a school in a small town could be workable.

I'm sure you've already figured this out, but for others contemplating language classes: I've found that morning classes are a lot more convenient than afternoon classes for squeezing in local sightseeing. If your afternoon class runs 1 to 3 PM or 1 to 4 PM, you have to eat lunch before hand, and that leaves you with not much more than a couple of 2-hour blocks of free time during the hours when museums and other local attractions are open. A morning class will leave the entire afternoon free, and you'll even be able to hop on a train or bus to a nearby town.

Thank you for the Bologna info. My original thoughts were that it was too big for a retired woman traveling alone. I'll be rethinking that.

Bologna would be great, wonderful daytrips within easy reach (Ravenna, Ferrara, Parma, Modena...).

I am a firm supporter of the Lucca Italian School and Lucca. As a retired woman traveling solo, I find Lucca to be very manageable.

Lucca is a charming town with good train and bus connections to other locations. It is not a village. While it is now on the tourist radar and you will see groups following guide signs it is nowhere overwhelming except during the yearly Comics and Games. I have been coming yearly since 2007.

Regarding LIS, I have been attending the school since its beginning. I've found the atmosphere there supportive and welcoming. Group classes are held in the morning with activities held most afternoons. There are private lesson options too and they are mostly in the afternoons.

The Lucchese will let you practice your Italian with great patience. There are still many shopkeepers who do not speak English.

I spent two weeks at Lucca Italian School this year. The instruction was wonderful and my classmates were from all over the world so our common language was Italian! The school administrators are very attentive, the school offers optional cultural activities several times a week, and the setting itself is beautiful. Many of the people in my class were returning for the fourth or fifth time, and one woman was there for a six-month stint.

Lucca is a very liveable city, with several good places to shop for groceries, great restaurants, well-being located for getting to Florence and from there elsewhere in Italy.

I highly recommend Lucca Italian School and hope to return there as well for a longer period!

lucca is a great place to go school Lis is fantisc the staff is very patient the clases are in the am they have activtives planed everday if you want go ie. opera cooking classes olive pressing marble quary drawing nature walks to many plus they only speak Italian on all.the outing and there are so many small shops rest
that only speak Italian you you will have !!! very safe for single women to walk around at night 11/12 many free concerts because of Puccini music school only 1 hour train to Florence to rome 3 hr to beach 20min. lucca is a great place because you do not need car mountains are real close get ther there by trains lots of small hill town. bike are main mode of transportation not uncomin to see 80 year-old riding bikes allover lucca

I have been attending Lucca Italian School every year for the past five years. I usually take classes for 3-4 weeks. The very best part of being at LIS is the teaching. The instruction is tailored to your own individual level. This is enriched by afternoon cultural experiences within and outside the beautiful city of Lucca. The medieval wall circling the city is fantastic for exercise on foot or bicycle. Lucca is easy to reach from Florence or Pisa airports. I highly recommend LIS. Cinque stelle!

Lucca is top
LIS it top

Thank you all for your informative comments. I appreciate your taking time to reply to my questions. I'm feeling less anxious about making a trip to Lucca by myself. You have sold me on LIS; I will be contacting them to register.
Sincerely, Vicki

I'm glad to hear that you will head to Lucca Italian School (LIS). I don't think you will find a better place to study Italian, or a better town to stay in while you do.
I've traveled to Lucca 1 - 2 times every year for the last 6 years, each time spending between 2 and 5 weeks at LIS. The staff members at LIS are exceptional - they are fantastic teachers and very supportive of students learning.
It is an immersion program so all teaching is done in Italian. Students come from all over the world and often Italian is the only common language for all students which encourages everyone to stick to Italian rather than lapse into their own language in class. Lucca as a town is very friendly - I find that in shops and restaurants if I say I'm there to learn Italian they are more than willing to speak only Italian with me. Yes, there are tourists. But it is not completely overrun like some larger towns.
In addition, Lucca has great train connections, is safe (even for solo female travelers), is less expensive than the larger cities, and has good apartment options. The other students in the classes add to learning and provide lots of social contacts. LIS also offers afternoon cultural events which greatly enhance the joy of learning Italian in Italy.

Dear Vicki and to anyone looking for a language school in Italy,

Having just returned from five weeks in Lucca, I can highly recommend Lucca Italian School. This is the second time I have attended this school, and I am not surprised to see how much it has grown in the last four years.

The school is within the walls in a beautiful historic building. The class size is kept small and students are grouped by ability, so there is plenty of opportunity for conversation. The teachers are wonderful and manage to teach new concepts while keeping the lessons fresh and relevant to the students.

Beyond the morning classes, the school offers a variety of activities from which to choose. There are afternoon courses which include cooking, art, music or just walking and discovering the surrounding areas. All are fun, and while other schools in Italy just send you on excursions with private companies, these afternoon programs are done with your fellow students and led by LIS teachers. A great chance to make new friends from all over the world. An especially wonderful treat for those of us who like to travel alone.

The school can help you arrange housing, but Lucca also has an abundance of apartment rentals of all sizes to accommodate any size group. I was just there with five cousins, and we were able to find wonderful apartments that fit our needs.

I think the greatest testament to the school is the fact that so many of the students were people who had been to the school before, and all of us talked about how we would be returning in the future. There cannot be higher praise.

As for Lucca, it is not a small village, but the center part of the town with its five hundred year old wall gives one the feeling that this is a small town. Lucca is the perfect place to spend an extended amount of time because it is large enough to offer a variety of things to do and places to go, without the chaos of a large city like Florence of Rome. It is very safe even for a woman traveling on her own.
There are large events that take place there like the Rolling Stones concert this last September and the annual Comics and Games Festival in October, and there are also smaller events throughout the year.

The train station is a two minute walk from the walls, and it is very easy to travel to all parts of Italy from Lucca. There are also dozens of small day trips (or half-day trips) that can easily be made via bus or train. Or you can find the real local side of Italy on a two minute walk outside the walls.

I have recommended LIS to more than a dozen friends, and everyone of them has enjoyed the school and the location. If you go, I think you will too. By the way, my cousins and I are planning our return for this fall, maybe I will see you there.

Ciao for now!

Marlene