Erasmus Experience in Copenhagen, Denmark by Gonnie
Why did you choose to go to Copenhagen, Denmark?
Good university (KU).
Nice people and they speak English.
It is a big city, but not too big so you can really make it feels like home.
'Hygge'
How long is the scholarship? How much money do you receive to help you with living costs?
4 months, total €1000
What is the student lifestyle like in Copenhagen?
Classes are not mandatory and quite relaxed. However, you'll definitely learn something! There are a lot of residences where you live with hundreds of students so you live close to your friends and meet a lot of other exchange students or danish students.
Copenhagen is quite expensive, but as a student you'll receive discounts on most of the cultural things to do.
The nightlife is fun (a lot of pubs, cocktailbars, nightclubs: whatever you want! )
Would you recommend the city and the University of Copenhagen to other students?
YES!
What is the food like?
The food can be expensive, but you'll never be dissapointed.
Did it cost you to find your accommodation in Copenhagen?
I found my room through the housingfoundation. I live in Basecamp: a residence where 400 hundred other students live. It is expensive (€900) but the location is excellent and all my friends live there.
How much does it cost to live in Copenhagen?
Especially housing can be expensive if you want to live in or near the city center. Overall, groceries, going out for dinner, party, etc. are probably more expensive than you're used too. However, as said before: you'll never get disappointed and you'll always get good food, big portions and big beers.
Is the language easy to get to grips with? Are there language courses available at the University?
Danish is a difficult language but everyone speaks English! If you want to learn danish, the university of Copenhagen offers danish language courses.
What's the easiest or most economical way to travel to Copenhagen from your city?
I'm from the Netherlands and I came by plane, but the car is also an option!
Where would you recommend to go on a night out in Copenhagen?
LA Tequila Bar
Bakken
Jolene
Arch
Minibar
And for eating? Can you recommend some good restaurants in Copenhagen?
Scurryhub
Pizza Leo
Cantina
Restaurants from Madklubben (really good prices and good food)
Sticks and sushi
Papiroen
What good cultural sites are there to visit?
Nyhavn
Christiansborg Palace
Amalienborg Palace
Rosenborg Castle
National Museum
Lousiana Museum
Is there any other advice that you could give to students going to Copenhagen in the future?
If you are in doubt, for example because of the costs, my advice is to just do it, it will definitely be worth it! It is an amazing city, which after only a few weeks already felt like home!
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Comments (5 comments)
Nazlı Damla DEMİR 6 years ago
Hi Gonnie! I really enjoyed reading about your experience. I am a management student from Turkey who is trying to figure out where to go for Erasmus. I have some questions for you. How much money did you spend throughout your stay, how long did you stay there? and were the classes challenging, did you have any problems with them? thanks in advance...
Gonnie Smelting 6 years ago
Hi! I spent 4 months in Copenhagen. I'm not sure of the exact amount of money I've spent but my rent was €900 each month, which is expensive (you can get a cheaper room) but I lived in the city centre with all my friends in the same residence, so in my opinion it was worth it. There are also option for a residence further from the city center or shared apartments etc.
I bought a secondhand bike for 500DKK (€80), it was a cheap bike, most of my friends paid a lot more (1000-1500DKK) for their bike. I would recommend to buy a bike, since it is a really bike-friendly city and public transport is quite expensive (in comparison to the Netherlands where I can travel for free since I am a student haha) but with the 'resjekort' you'll 50% discount.
The prices in the supermarkets are okay, most of the 'healthy' stuff are cheaper then unhealthy things, because the people are really into a 'green lifestyle', so if you cook for yourself the overall costs will be quite okay. Going out for dinner will be more expensive, especially with alcohol (because alcohol in restaurants is expensive, almost €10 for a glass of wine and €7 for a beer). In the bars a beer is €5 (0.4L) and a cocktail is €10-14 (depending on the places you go ofcourse, these prices are studentbars). Norrebro is a multiculti area with a lot of cheaper places to eat and hang out.
You can do great shopping in Copenhagen, Scandinavian brands are amazing but expensive haha....
Cultural things like museums or palaces will often offer a discount to students, so you won't pay to much money visiting things like that and some of these things are free on specific days of the week.
Overall, it is a quite expensive city (but in comparison to the other Scandinavian countries the prices are okay), but you will always get good products and good food for what you pay, so it's worth spending the money ;)
Gonnie Smelting 6 years ago
As regards to the classes, I didn't find them very challenging but I come from a University where the level is quite high as in, we need to do a lot of readings, preparing question, cases, presentation, etc. before class and that was not the case here. The teaching style was very relaxed with not too many reading materials and hard questions or discussion in class.
Nazlı Damla DEMİR 6 years ago
wow Gonnie! thank you so much for answering this fast. this was very helpful. best regards from turkey :))))
Alessa Decker 6 years ago
Hey!
I will be an exchange student in the upcoming fall semester and planning on living in BaseCamp.
How did you like living there and which room did you choose?
Thank you!