Booking your journey

All participants must make their own travel and accommodation arrangements.

In order to purchase the most convenient fare, we highly recommend you book your journey in advance.

Getting a Certificate of Attendance

To earn the Certificate of Attendance, participants are required to write a PhD research proposal (2 to 3 pages) on their research interest, based on what they have learned during the SPS Summer Academy. The PhD proposal will be due one week after the end of the SPS Summer Academy (submission deadline: September 14). Only after receiving the research proposal will the Department issue the Certificate of Attendance.

Getting reimbursed

Those participants who are selected for financial support can have their travel and accommodation costs reimbursed. This reimbursement cannot exceed the threshold set for the given type of financial support.

To get reimbursed, the selected participants must have earned the Certificate of Attendance, and must present the supporting documents.

Please note that for administrative purposes every reimbursement claim must be accompanied by the supporting documents: original receipts, boarding passes and proofs of payment. The reimbursement will be processed only when the Certificate of Attendance can be issued (i.e., after the submission of the participant’s PhD research proposal).

!!! REMEMBER TO KEEP ALL YOUR RECEIPTS, BOARDING PASSES AND PROOFS OF PAYMENT !!!

Plane

If you want to reach Florence by plane, you can do so by flying to one of the three airports conveniently located in or near Florence. Those are

1. Florence Airport, Peretola (10 Km),
2. Pisa International Airport (84 Km), and
3. Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport (107 Km).

To reach Florence city from either airport:

• Florence Airport, Peretola: The easiest way to reach Florence from Florence’s Airport is to take the tram (~24 minutes travel time). You can find information related to the tram on the airport’s website.
• Pisa International Airport: There are two ways to reach Florence from Pisa’s airport. The first way involves going by train. For this, you just have to take the “Pisa Mover” from the airport to Pisa Central Station, and then, from there, take a train to Florence (~1h 3 minutes travel time). A second way is to go to Florence directly from Pisa’s airport by bus. For this, you can take the bus (~1h 5 minutes travel time) that leads you directly from Pisa’s airport to Florence, Viale XI Agosto .
• Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport: Similarly, there are two ways to reach Florence from Bologna’s Airport. First, by train, by taking the “Macroni Express” from the airport to Bologna Central Station, and then, from there, by taking a train to Florence (~54 minutes travel time). Second, you can also take a bus that will lead you directly from the airport to Florence, Piazzale Montelungo (~1h 25 minutes travel time).

Train

The central train station in Florence is Firenze Santa Maria Novella (SMN), most trains will take you there. However, depending on where you will be staying, you should also take into consideration other stations within Florence. Once you reach the station, you can use public transport to reach your destination (see How to reach the EUI section below for more info on public transport in Florence).

If you want to have a better price, Book tickets in advance if possible as they are cheaper: https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html (there is also a Trenitalia mobile app available) & https://www.italotreno.it/en. These are the two companies that operate passenger trains in Italy (Trenitalia & Italotreno). But be careful because they are not just different ways to buy a ticket – they will put you on different trains!

Bus

If you are in Italy already, or even if you are coming from outside, make sure to take a look at the possibilities to reach Florence via bus! For this, you can look at FlixBus, Omio, or other similar companies.

Car

Finally, it is possible to reach Florence via car. In that case, beware that moving inside Florence by car is painfully slow due to heavy traffic. Finding parking is also not easy. Plus, it is really not good for the environment, therefore, seeing the other great alternatives to reach the city, we can’t but strongly disadvise coming by car.

A slightly more eco-friendly way to reach Florence by car might be through ride-sharing. For this, you can either look at BlaBlaCar. Or alternatively, when the participants will be definitely selected, we will make available a WhatsApp group through which you can get organised with the other participants that come from a similar location as you.

The SPS Summer Academy will be taking place at the Badia Fiesolana; Via dei Roccettini 9; 50014, San Domenico di Fiesole (Florence); Italy. There are different ways of getting to the Badia Fiesolana.

Walk

• It is possible to walk to the EUI from some parts of Florence in a reasonable time, even though it will be easier for people staying in Le Cure and Campo di Marte area. Take a look at Google Maps to see how feasible this option is for you!

Bike

Another way to move around Florence is by bike. For this, you have two options:

• Rent a bike in some store that provides this service: there are quite a few around the centre of Florence, and you might be able to negotiate a price to keep the bike for the week.
• You can also rent a bike directly in the street with the Ridemovi app. However, the app doesn’t allow you to park the bike all the way at the Badia Fiesolana, so you will have to drop it off before, at the limit of the parking area, and walk for around 10 minutes to reach the EUI.
  
  We strongly advise you to use a helmet, lights, and reflective clothing as biking in Florence might be more intense than what you are used to.There is plenty of space to park your bikes (not the Ridemovi ones) at the EUI!

Bus & Tram

You can reach Badia Fiesolana by bus. For this, you will have to take Line 7 towards Fiesole, and stop at ‘San Domenico 01’. Beware that the buses are often late, so it is recommended to take one or two buses before your desired arrival time.

Bus tickets may be purchased digitally by sending a text message with “Firenze” as text to 488.01.05 (only Italian numbers!) or by using the TABNET APP (recommended option with a foreign telephone number).
The Atbus app will allow you to buy 10 tickets at once at a slightly cheaper price than a single ticket (you should choose an option “Urbano Capoluogo” for travelling within Florence and its suburbs).

Travellers can still purchase tickets from official ticket offices, machines and authorised retailers (coffee shops, called “bar” here, tobacco retailers, kiosks: anyone with the “Autolinee Toscane” stickers on their shop window) and from the bus ticket booth within the SMN train station.

Florence also has some tram lines! Yet, not all of the city is covered by tram lines at this stage, and you cannot reach the EUI by tram. The same tickets as for Autolinee Toscane also work on the tram. You can also buy tram tickets at the ticket machines available at all tram stops.

Taxi

• There are two main Taxi companies available in Florence: +39 055 4390 and +39 055 4242. You can find out more about taking a taxi in Florence on the Visit Florence website.
• There are also two Italian taxi apps available: appTaxi and Taxi move.

You have various possibilities to find accommodation in Florence. The most important thing is that whatever option you choose, you try to book as early as possible! This will ensure that a) you have more places to choose from, b) you pay less.

Aggregator websites

You can use one of the various aggregator websites to find the right accommodation for your specific needs and circumstances. For example, Booking or Google Travel. Pro tip: after you have found a place that you would like to book through Booking, you can go to the official website of the stay, as there you might find cheaper prices.

B&Bs:

In Italy, a very common way of finding stays is in Bed & Breakfasts (B&Bs). These are often private persons that make their place or one of their properties available, and generally also provide breakfast. It is an in-between hotels and Airbnbs. Some hosts are truly lovely people that will also help you with any questions you might have and that can give awesome advice. You can find B&B’s, for example, through Booking or through Google Travel.

Hostels:

Hostels are a great way of exploring a city and meeting new people. You can find a wide range of them through Booking and Google Travel. In relation to this option, please be aware that we will make a WhatsApp group available to the participants that have been definitively selected. This can allow you to book, for example, a big room in a hostel together.

EUI Newcomers 2.0 Facebook Group:

Some EUI researchers sub-let their rooms in the summer. If you are lucky, you might be able to find someone subletting precisely in that week! Note that the group is private and you need to send a request to be able to join.

Meals

Lunch will be provided at the canteen of the EUI free of charge for the 5 days of the events.

Dinner will be provided free of charge on the last day of the event.

All other meals are left to the discretion of the participants.

Weather

It is usually quite warm at the beginning of September in Florence! So make sure that you bring adequate clothing. There might be the possibility of rain, so a light rain jacket or an umbrella can also come in handy.