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Location
  • Italy
    • Florence
    • Bologna
    • Venice
    • Pompeii
    • Rome
    • Siena
    • Naples
Length
4 - 12 weeks
Program Tags
After College Arts Cultural Immersion Hands-On Learning Instructor Language Immersion Post-High School Study Abroad
Merit-based funding, General grants/scholarships, Payment plans
Health & Safety
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Program Details

Activities
City Exploring Sightseeing Wine Tasting
Timeframe
Academic Year Fall Spring Summer Winter Year Round
Housing
Apartment Host Family Hotel
Primary Language
English
Age Min.
17
Age Max
24

Pricing

Starting Price
17500
Price Details
Included in the fees: all accommodation, breakfast, tuition in small groups, all transport in Italy when concerned with teaching, all museum entrance fees, notes and reading lists.

Not included in the fees: flights, lunch and dinner, spending money, travel insurance, repatriation insurance and cancellation insurance.
What's Included
Accommodation Activities Airport Transfers Some Meals Tour Guide Transportation Wifi
What's Not Included
Airfare Some Meals Travel Insurance
Dec 13, 2024
Mar 01, 2025
Wish List
231 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

This gap year course runs two times a year, an inspiring and ambitious course from North to South of Italy. You’ll explore Venice, Castelfranco, Bologna, Rome, Florence, Siena, as well as countless gems in between, including Pompeii, Naples, and Ravenna.

The range of art, architecture, and sculpture spans from the ancient world to the present day. While studying some of the greatest masterpieces, young and passionate tutors will guide you off the beaten path to uncover Italy’s hidden wonders.
We delve into philosophy, literature, political history, economics, and much more, enriching your experience with wine tasting, opera, cooking, drawing, Italian, marble making, concerts, football..

We use our time completely to utterly imbibe Italy and all it has to offer for a full cultural experience. Teaching is onsite, in intimate seminar groups of no more than 9, with opportunities for individual tutorials and creative projects.
Discover Italy like never before!

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Video and Photos

Play Video
Gold leaf painting
San Donato's vines
Hercules Naples
Joe teaching
Pasta class
Duccio's Maestà Siena
Rowing in Venice
Private visit to Vatican Museum

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Diversity & Inclusion 💙

AHA courses are open to all. We pride ourselves with creating a safe and inclusive environment where people from all backgrounds are able to enjoy a life changing travelling experience.

At AHA we know that culture leads to confidence, so every course has two aims: to discover and explore European culture and, in equal measure, the development of young people in a space where they feel secure and integrated.

Any form of discrimation is not accepted on AHA.
AHA courses are open to all. We pride ourselves with creating a safe and inclusive environment where people from all backgrounds are able to enjoy a life changing travelling experience.

At AHA we know that culture leads to confidence, so every course has two aims: to discover and explore European culture and, in equal measure, the development of young people in a space where they feel secure and integrated.

Further Italy and Europe in general are quite progressive with regards to LGBTQIA+ policy, lifestyle and any form of discrimation is not accepted on AHA.
AHA has a track record for taking students with varying kinds and levels of disabilities on courses, and we warmly encourage applications from all people.

Since our tutor to student ratio is very small (never more than 1 tutor to 9 students), AHA provides individual support shaped to the needs of each and every student, ensuring excellent care of young people. We therefore make provisions and organise an environment where people with disabilities can safely enjoy their travelling and make the most of their experience.

Impact 🌎

Our programs are geared toward environmental education understood in relation to wider themes of history, society and culture.

During our courses we always encourage critical thinking and we take the time to explore the impact that travelling has both at an individual and organisational level. We are also committed to maximising the net positive impact while minimising the carbon footprint of every program- Nick Ross, director of AHA, plants a tree for each flight that is being purchased to attend any of our programs to offset the carbon footprint of our courses.

Program Highlights

  • Enthusiastic and friendly experts for instructors
  • Private viewings to some of Italy's most extraordinary sites like the Sistine Chapel!
  • Incredible off the beaten track visits to explore authentic Italy
  • Demonstrations and workshops in traditional crafts
  • A focus on the joy of creativity (it's in all of us!)

Program Reviews

5.00 Rating
based on 73 reviews
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  • Housing 4.6
  • Support 4.95
  • Fun 5
  • Value 5
  • Safety 4.95
  • Benefits 5
  • Support 5
  • Fun 5
  • Facilities 5
  • Safety 5
Good for History Buffs, Students, Foodies
Showing 73 - 73 of 73 reviews
Default avatar
Sam
32
Male
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Best 6 weeks of my life!

Jun 17, 2014

The only downside to this trip, is the walking.. Every day you're out exploring an italian city, seeing masterpieces and learning history that was only ever taught to me through a text book, And after the first couple of weeks you really start to feel it in your legs, or atleast i did. I would recomend bringing some comfortable shoes!
There's really nothing about this trip that i would have them change, everyday you're surrounded by interesting kids from all different backrounds, some interested in an art field, like me, and some just interested in spending 6 weeks in Italy exploring the beautiful country and making friends along the way.
The tutors are awsome, ALL OF THEM, and they really get you involved and interested in the day-to-day lessons. Some of my best memories from the trip, came after the lessons, when the whole group is out for dinner engaged in discussions with some of the most lively people youl meet, the fun never stops when you take this trip, if i could do it again i would sign up in a heartbeat.

(Typed from my iphone, sorry for spelling mistakes)

What would you improve about this program?
If i could change one thing, i would make the "free day" that you have in naples, changed to a day trip to Capri. The free day is a cool idea, basically you can do whatever you want for one day, do laundry, go explore, chill out in the hotel and just relax.. But what i strongly recomend doing is changing that day into a trip out to this paradise island. Its only a 20 or so min. Walk from the hotel to the harbor, and from there a 30-45 min boat ride away, and once there youl know what beauty looks like, and although pretty much everything there is expensive, i say its worth every cent. Right after you get off the boat and step onto the island, there are signs for a tour of the Grotto Azurro, a trip i missed out on, but have been told by others is like no place else in the world. Strongly recomend going, if not just making the trip to Capri part of the AHA schedual.
78 people found this review helpful.
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Questions & Answers

What is nice about the Colosseum?

Hi, thanks for stopping by! To get a feel for the experience you will have on this trip we recommend reading reviews! You can find a ton of helpful reviews and pictures at the bottom of this page to help you out: https://www.gooverseas.com/gap-year/italy/art-history-abroa….

By Go Overseas on July 24, 2018

Alumni Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with verified alumni.

Alexa Lane

Program
6-week Gap Year Course in Italy | Art History Abroad
Alexa's time with AHA motivated her to continue her study of art history, architecture, and economics at Middlebury College. She hopes to return to Europe as soon as possible to continue her studies!
Alexa poses with friends in front of a colorful backdrop

Why did you choose this program?

I chose Art History Abroad because I had never tried anything like it before. I'm a big believer of throwing yourself into the deep end and learning how to swim. So, I thought there couldn't be a better way to spend my gap semester than in a new country learning about a subject I had barely even heard of.

What did your program provider (or university) assist you with, and what did you have to organize on your own?

I did not go through a program provider or university to find AHA. I met the director, Nick, at a gap year fair at my high school during my senior year and figured out the rest on my own! The AHA team was incredibly flexible and responsive (despite the time difference), and I was able to sort everything out myself.

What is one piece of advice you'd give to someone going on your program?

One piece of advice I would give to a new student would be to ask as their tutors as many questions as they can possibly think of. All of the AHA tutors are incredibly knowledgable and they want to cater the course to your needs and interests. They also have great stories to share. All you have to do is ask!

What does an average day/week look like as a participant of this program?

I would say there isn't an average day in the sense that you are doing the same thing every day. However most days follow a similar structure. We would meet as a group at around 9 am every morning and head off to our first lesson of the day. The lessons varied in location from church, to museum, to a public square. Sometimes we would take a cooking class, a private tour of a collection or cathedral, or were taught how to make Venetian masks! Around noon we would break for lunch and meet up again around 1pm for another lecture. After that, we would be free until dinner when we would meet usually as a whole group and discuss the day! Unless we had a special event, we were free for the evening, but often I would find myself hanging out with the tutors and other group members all night.

Going into your experience abroad, what was your biggest fear, and how did you overcome it? How did your views on the issue change?

I was probably most nervous about being away from home for so long. My time with AHA was the longest I had ever been away from my friends and family and didn't know anyone else going on the program. But as soon as I met the tutors and some of the other students on the trip, I knew I was going to be completely fine. I think my views on homesickness changed because I no longer worry about being alone in the same way. Being away from home for some long allowed me to develop the confidence in myself to be able to chat with anyone or become friends with anyone.

Staff Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with program leaders.

Marie Naffah

Program
6-week Gap Year Course in Italy | Art History Abroad
Job Title
Tutor
Marie was a student on a 6 week Gap Year Course when she decided that Italy felt like a second home to her. She stayed in Florence after the course, working as an intern in the curatorial department of Palazzo Strozzi. With a love for the 17th century Baroque greats such as Bernini and Caravaggio, she went on to study Art History at The Courtauld Institute of Art before joining us. A lover of all things creative, Marie is also a musician who was awarded MTV’s Unsigned Artist of the Year in 2014. She is a firm believer in the idea of teaching Art History in an accessible, fun and interactive manner.

What is your favorite travel memory?

About Art History Abroad

Study art, architecture and European culture in Italy, France and London for a semester in the autumn, 6 weeks during the Gap Year or a 2-4 week Summer holiday course. Art History Abroad programmes are carefully structured and brilliantly taught so that art and culture come to life. We believe in a few simple truths: that art is best taught in the...

  • Go Overseas Award
  • Go Overseas Award

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