Erasmus experience in Ljubljana, Slovénia

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Why did you choose to go to Ljubljana, Slovenia?

My university (Universitat de Barcelona) has agreements with a lot of universities, so I could choose between 15 different countries, more or less. Nevertheless, I chose this city because I had never heard anything about it before and I wanted to try an unknown place for me, out of the typical Erasmus destinations, with a different culture, a different weather... Apart from that, it's strategically located in Central Europe, perfect for travelling to lots of other countries.

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

Normally, the scholarship is as long as your Erasmus period. I was supposed to stay here just for one semester(5 months), but as I like Ljubljana so much I prolonged it to stay here also for the second semester.

Monthly I receive 115€ from the UE, 100€ from Spain and 200€ from Generalitat de Catalunya. I also got 300€ to pass the EILC course.

What is the student lifestyle like in Ljubljana?

Amazing! Here you can find a lot of young people from all Europe (and even some from out of Europe), with a good English level and with whom for sure you'll share lots of unforgettable moments in the dorms, in the clubs, in the city, travelling... You'll never feel alone.

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

Definitely yes! This is a city where you can often found activities, like chocolate market, wine market, Christmas market... Also SOU (student organization) prepares a lot of varied activities in the city and out of it, which are highly recommendable. Here you can go everywhere by bus without any problem. The bus system is not like in Barcelona, but it's not that bad. As student, you'll also receive a subsidy for the meals called "student coupons" and with it you can eat in almost all restaurants of the city having a discount of 2, 63€. To get your student coupons you have to registrate yourself with your Slovene number in a webpage and when you finish the application, you'll get a number. With this number and your cellphone you'll have to go to the student office and they'll activate the system in the Slovene number. Then, you'll get monthly around 20-22 coupons, so you'll be able to eat paying from 0 to 4, 5€, more or less. These menus include a soup, a salad, a main plate and a dessert. You can use this system everyday from 8 am to 8 pm but you have to leave 4 hours between each meal.

About the University, in my case, in the faculty of Social Work, I have found really good qualified teachers and a lovely coordinator. They all are open to receive your suggestion, organizing cultural and educational activities, and always ready to help you with everything you need and to make your stay more easy and pleasant.

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What is the food like?

Of course you can not eat as good as in Spain, but with the student coupons you can eat in different kind of restaurants (Mediterranean, Balkan, Mexican, Chinese, Italian... ) and quite varied.

Did it cost you to find your accommodation in Ljubljana?

Not, at all. When you do your application form for the university you can choose between different options about accommodation. My first option was student dormitories and it was the best thing I could ever do. There are two student dormitories: Rozna Dolina (where I live, and for me the most recommendable for Erasmus) and Bezigrad. In the first one, you share room with another person and the kitchen and bathroom with the rest of people of the dorms. There are two bathrooms and two kitchens per floor. It has definitely much more party and Erasmus environment, perfect to meet people. In the second one, you live like in a kind of apartment, with two rooms of two people each one and with an own kitchen and bathroom for these four people. It is, most probably, cleanest. This dorm is just in front of the faculty of economics and faculty of social sciences, less than 5 minutes walking. In both dormitories you can do the laundry for free. The prices of both dormitories is 100€/month, more or less.

How much does it cost to live in Ljubljana?

Dormitories around 100€, 5-10€ mobile phone, 20€ the green urbana card, around 150€ for the meals. Going party is so cheap, when it’s not free. In general, living here is cheap, but you’ll spend a lot of money travelling.

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

Definitely not, it’s one of the most difficult languages ever, but luckily you don’t need to know this language to live here because everyone (at least young people) speaks English. But as a good Erasmus student you should know the following sentence: “ena pivo, prosim” (one beer, please).

Anyway I assisted to a Slovene course (EILC) in September, subsidized by the EU where I learned the basic things. It’s highly recommendable, not just because of the language, but also because it’s one month (you can do it in September or in January-February, one month before starting the university courses) that you’ll be meeting new people, knowing the city, partying everyday, etc. At the end of the course you have to do an exam, and if you pass it (everyone did it successfully) you’ll get 300€. If you can not assist to these courses or you want to continue studying Slovene, there’s one organization called SOU that offers some different language courses quite cheap.

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

The best way is travelling by plane from Gerona or Barcelona to Venice and there take a Goopti, which is a kind of van that works in Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Germany, Hungary and Croatia. It picks you up in the airport and drives you to Ljubljana for around 25€.

Where would you recommend going on a night out in Ljubljana?

• Parlament Pub
• Nebotičnik Skyscraper
• Top 6
• K4
• Compañeros
• Cirkus
• Metelkova

It depends on which kind of music you prefer.

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

• Cantina Mexicana
• Evropa
• River
• Allegria
• Joe Peñas

It always depends on what you would like to eat, but with the student cupons you can choose between a lot of restaurants.

What good cultural sites are there to visit?

You can visit all Ljubljana in 2 days because it’s not so big, but in Slovenia you have a lot of other cities and places that worth to visit, like

• Bled
• Bohinj
• Skofja
• Loka
• Kranj
• Jasna lake
• Piran
• Koper
• Portoroz
• Maribor
• Celje
• Postojna
• Soča river

Abroad of Slovenia, I recommend Venice and Trieste (Italy), Rijeka and Pula (Croatia), Graz (Austria), Budapest (Hungary), Prague (Check Republic) and Sarajevo and Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina). It depends of how many money you can spend.

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Is there any other advice that you could give to future students who are going to Ljubljana?

Sure, choose Ljubljana because it's really worth coming here, even if it’s not a really known or a typical Erasmus destination. Living here is not expensive, so you can spend more money travelling, and since Slovenia is in central Europe you can go to a lot of places driving just for a few of hours. Here, if you’re student you live like a king, it’s definitely a city made for students, with a lot of party, cheap prices, friendly people who is always ready to help you… Really amazing. And here it goes my last piece of advice: Enjoy every moment of that experience because you’re just gonna live it once!