Erasmus experience in Groningen, Netherlands

Why did you choose to go to Groningen, Netherlands?

The choice was made because of the University of Groningen's excellent reputation and their high demanding programs.

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How long is the scholarship? How much money do you receive to help you with living costs?

The scholarship I got was for a period of 6 months. The total amount is around 1260 Euros.

What is the student lifestyle like in Groningen?

Groningen is well known for its student life. It's a major student city in the Netherlands and everything turns around the students and the University. Every year, around 40 000 students live in Groningen. Has a very busy night life, from Monday till Sunday you can find bars and clubs open until late evening.

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Would you recommend the city and the University of Groningen to other students?

Yes.

What is the food like?

The local food is not very good! But you can easily find international food restaurants for a quite affordable price.

How did you find your accommodation?

You can go to the site housingoffice.nl and register for accommodation. The Housing Office manages student houses around Groningen and this is the best way of getting accommodation in Groningen. In alternative, you can find in the internet ads for house sharing and rent a room with other students in a private house in the city.

What are the accommodation prices like? What are prices like for other things in general?

You pay around 300 Euros/month for a room in a student house, average. In terms of private housing, it can go to 500 Euros/ month. All depends on if you want to share a room with other student or not! Everything is quite expensive, although there are supermarkets and stores with very cheap prices, like HEMA or Aldi and Lidl.

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

There are some courses available for people that want to learn Dutch. Everybody speaks English, even the courses are in English.

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

From Lisbon, you should get a flight to Amsterdam by a regular airline. If you are in Faro or Oporto, you can fly to Bremen, in Germany by Ryanair and catch the bus to Groningen (one hour journey). If you're getting off in Schiphol, Amsterdam, you can get the train to Groningen. It's around 2 hours travel.

Where would you recommend to go on a night out in Groningen?

I recommend:

• Great Piano's Bar
• Pacific Bar
• Rumba
• Shooters
• Casteel
• Het Feest
• The Three Sisters Bar

There are other good bars and clubs in Groningen.

And for eating? Can you recommend some good restaurants in Groningen?

Nhi Hao, if you like Asian food. There's also the Pancake boat, where you can eat pancakes in a boat in the canal.

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What good cultural sites are there to visit?

You have local museums and monuments. You can easily travel around Groningen by train that gives you the opportunity of exploring other cities in the Netherlands (and also in the nearby countries).

Is there any other advice that you could give to students going to Groningen in the future?

Enjoy the experience and study hard!