Experience in Karlsruhe, Germany by Marina

What is it like to live in Karlsruhe? Would you recommend it? What is the city like?

Karlsruhe is a medium large city with approx. 300, 000 inhabitants. You can find a lot of parks within the city where you can bike, walk or just relax. The "Schloss Karlsruhe" is the central point of the city from where you can get easily to almost everything. Karlsruhe has a nice shopping street, but also a large shopping center. Public transport is also available. You can get easily by "S-Bahn" (tram) to the location you want to. They run almost every 5 to 10 minutes. The only disadvantage about Karlsruhe is the big construction in and around the city. They build an underground railway which is expected to be finished in 2020 or 2021.

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What is the student lifestyle like in Karlsruhe?

There are living a lot of students in Karlsruhe, approx. 30, 000. Therefore, there live a lot of young people in Karlsruhe. There exist student organizations as well as student clubs and bars. The two biggest universities are the KIT - Karlruhe Institute for Technology and the Hska - University of Applied Sciences Karlsruhe. Both have a large campus and offer sport activities or other things.

How much does it cost to live in Karlsruhe?

A room in Karlsruhe is expensive (in my opinion). A room in a shared flat costs between 300 and 450 Euros. If you manage it to get a room in a dorm (which is really popular among students and therefore mostly full) it´s ways cheaper, approx. 190 - 260 Euros.

Is it difficult to find accommodation in Karlsruhe? Is there any advice you can give?

Sometimes it's hard to find a room, because there is limited space for a lot of students. Especially for foreign students it's harder to find an accommodation as they can't visit the room in advance. In Germany it is usual that you visit a room and wait then several weeks for a response.

As a foreign student I would suggest to apply for a room in a dorm. Normally, there is an amount of rooms that is reserved for foreign students. Also, I would check Facebook groups of the different universities. Another popular website to find a room in a shared flat is http://www.wg-gesucht.de.

What is the food like? What are your favourite dishes?

You can get almost every food in Karlsruhe: Asian, Mexican, African, Italian, German food etc.

My favourite restaurant is "The Oxford Cafe". It´s a student cafe where you can get good food for a good price. It´s not that luxurious but it has it´s own charme.

What places would you recommend visiting in Karlsruhe?

If you are in Karlsruhe you cannot not visit the castle and the park which belongs to the castle. It´s in the middle of the city and on sunny days most students hang out there playing volleyball, football, slack line, frisbee or they just relax.

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Also, there are a lot of museums in Karlsruhe. The ZKM is also worth a visit.

Is the nightlife good in Karlsruhe? Where is good to go?

There are several clubs in Karlsruhe, most of them in the centre and near by each other. My favourite clubs are Monkeyz where mostly top charts are played, AppClub or Agostea. There are more clubs in Karlsruhe but even I haven't been in every single club.

What advice would you give future students heading to Karlsruhe?

Karlsruhe is a nice city with good universities and a lot of possibilities to have fun. Just enjoy it.