Erasmus Experience in Bydgoszcz, Poland by Carlos

Why did you chose to go to Bydgoszcz, Poland?

Principally, I wanted to go a part of Europe where I would have to live my life in English, so I could practice and get better at it.

I chose a few options and Bydgoszcz was where I got assigned in the end.

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What is the student lifestyle like in Bydgoszcz?

It's quite bad for Erasmus students. Maybe the students from Bydgoszcz have another opinion, but the Erasmus students here are in our own little bubble and, since our classes were separate from the ones for the Polish students (as they're in English), there's not a lot of mingling with them on an academic level.

Would you recommend the city and the university of Bydgoszcz to other students?

In my opinion, doing your Erasmus experience in Bydgoszcz can be good if you know how to go about it in the right way. But for its character, in general, I wouldn't recommend it.

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What is the food like there?

If you make a local friend who loves Polish cuisine and knows places to eat typical Polish food and who takes you to taste all of the gastronomic variety that they say they have there (I could only try about 10% of their cuisine as I said before), you'll definitely like it.

Regarding the food I tried, I have to say that it's good. There have a wide range of soups, which are really good. They have other things cooked with cabbage and, of course, pierogi (dumplings, which can be stuffed with anything).

Was it difficult to find accommodation in Bydgoszcz?

It wasn't difficult to find accommodation in Bydgoszcz, because the university there directly assigned us all a place in a student residence.

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How much does it cost to live in Bydgoszcz?

It's pretty cheap. Like four times cheaper than Spain. So the rent there can easily cost €100 (there are, of course, more expensive places available).

Is the language easy to get to grips with? Are there language courses available at the university?

The language here is pretty difficult. In fact, it's ranked as one of the most difficult languages in the world.

The University of Bydgoszcz offered us the chance to go to Polish classes (for a reasonable price) for a four month period. I went, but I didn't actually learn much, because the teaching method was pretty crappy.

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What's the easiest or most economical way to travel to Bydgoszcz from your city?

The cheapest way to get here is flying from Sevilla to Malaga. Then take a flight from Malaga to Wroclaw and, once you're in Wroclaw, take the train to Bydgoszcz, which takes around 5/6 hours to get there.

Precisely due to the mania the trains in Poland gave me, because of their slowness and lack of bilingual information (which can cause you to get off at the wrong stop or take the wrong change), I chose to fly from Sevilla to Barcelona, then to take a bus from the Nord Station to Girona airport and to fly directly from Girona to Bydgoszcz.

Where would you recommend for a night out in Bydgoszcz?

I didn't like many places. I did really like a club called Old Grandmother, in the city centre. But my favourite place to go was a bar that played heavy rock music, called Merlin (in the city centre, too).

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Do you have any advice for students coming to Bydgoszcz in the future?

Look for other cities that are nicer, that have a better climate and more life than Bydgoszcz! If they assign you Bydgoszcz as your Erasmus destination, try and change it!