About the School
International House La Spezia was founded in 1980, by Lynden Cronin following the fundamental principles shared by all IH schools around the world – improving languages teaching in high quality learning environments.
Since then we have come a long way to develop English teaching, but we are still a family run school, now under the direction of the next generation. Our focus is still to create a welcoming environment for our students and teachers.
We have developed a very strong young learners department and exam centre. We deliver exams for both Cambridge English and LanguageCert. Over the years we have trained teachers as speaking examiners and supported them with their professional development.
The main school is in the centre of La Spezia, with a smaller satellite school in the nearby town of Sarzana. La Spezia lies at the bottom of Liguria, right on the boarder with Tuscany. It’s location makes it an ideal destination for people who are looking for a comfortable size town to live in with enough to do during their free time. It’s proximity to the medierranean gives very mild winters and hot summers. If you are looking for something cooler, Skiing resorts in Italy and France are not far away!
Life in and around La Spezia
La Spezia offers many things to a traveller or resident. You can swim, hike, go shopping, visit museums, or relax with some good food and wine – La Spezia is the right place for all these things without the hectic atmosphere of bigger towns.
The Gulf of La Spezia was named The Gulf of the Poets at the beginning of 1900 because the famous writers Byron, Shelley, and D.H. Lawrence were inspired by the landscape and decided to live here. And did you know the famous Botticelli painting “The Birth of Venus” has the Gulf of La Spezia as its background? It’s a truly beautiful place.
Studying at IH La Spezia
La Spezia is close to the airports of Pisa, Genoa and Florence, but only a two or three hour train ride from Milan Rome Turin or Bologna. La Spezia in located on the main train line which connects Southern Italy to Northern Italy and France. (Its less than 4 hours to Nice.)
La Spezia is very contained, you can walk practically everywhere. The buses run every 10 minutes in all directions. If you are arriving by car there are two big free car parks at the two opposites ends of town with a shuttle bus service.
There are four supermarkets near the school and a very big open market where you can buy fresh produce.
La Spezia is strategically located in the area of the Cinque Terre and on the boarder to Tuscany. Although during the courses you might have to work on assignments during the weekend, on your free time you can jump on the train and go swimming under just 10 minutes away or visit great cities like Pisa or Florence.
La Spezia can be very busy from May to September so we advise booking your accommodation well ahead. We will help you finding suitable accommodation, but the best way to book a flat is through booking.com our Airbnb. Expect to pay between €400 to €550 per month.
