I’ve been to Venice for Carnevale- hotel/hostel prices obviously get very steep at this time, so look into booking early and grab a place when you see a price you like. If you can, go to Venice a day or 2 before Carnevale starts so you have time to see all the sights while it’s relatively uncrowded… a TON of people show up on the first day and made getting around that much harder, so I was glad to have had time to sight see before and then just focused on partying during Carnevale.

So many places are must-visits for me. I’ll throw out Croatia, Paris, Barcelona & Madrid as starting points. However, don’t try to set off every weekend. Enjoy being in Florence. Enjoy taking time to travel around Italy seeing smaller towns, the countryside, etc. I studied abroad in Rome and our program prohibited us from leaving Italy during the program. At first I was disappointed because I wanted to see all these other countries, but in the end I was so glad the program had that restriction because I got to see so many smaller towns/places in Italy that I would have likely skipped out on to fly to London or Paris or Amsterdam (of course, places I still wanted to see!). I spend many weekends just staying in Rome and got to know the city really well, meet locals, etc. It ended up being a much more rewarding experience.

I second this advice from Dreaming.

A lot of people get so hung up with…“oh wow! I’m in a European country! I should travel as much of this continent as I can while I’m here!!”…that they overlook the country that they’re temporarily living in. Europe isn’t going anywhere, so don’t be one of those people with that “once in a lifetime” mentality.

You should definitely visit other countries from time to time, but do make an effort to see Italy [if excursions within Italy are not already included in the program]. And especially areas near Florence (although, I would wait until spring before exploring the Tuscan/Umbrian countryside or Cinque Terre).

The intention of study-abroad programs is to get to know [and become intimate with] the host country. Rather than a mere tourist, the goal is to end the program feeling like you’ve become partly Italian.

And if you make a stable group of friends in Florence, you may even be tempted to spend weekends in Florence to hang out with them. Of course, you don’t want to be the other extreme, and spend all your time in Florence and never explore beyond.

P.S. one of your non-Italian excursions could be nearby Corsica. I would save this for the warmer months, but it’s a gorgeous island.

P.S.S. when does the program end? Summer? Have you considered backpacking around Europe after the program ends? And just focusing on Italy during the program?