Experience in Maastricht, Netherlands

What is it like to live in Maastricht? Would you recommend it?

Maastricht is not a very big city, you will be able to see the most important places within just a couple of hours and after a few days they will have become very familiar. It is perhaps, not a city I would choose to live in, but this depends on individual preference. If you like the typical European city style of living you will probably like it, but if you are used cities with nearby beaches then you may not like it so much.

Source

What is the student life like in Maastricht?

The student life is really good because there are people from all over the world. This is probably the most favourable aspect of the city (and Erasmus life in general).

How much does it cost to live in Maastricht?

It’s expensive. If you are thinking of coming to Maastricht and don’t have sufficient funds, it would be better for you to start saving now. Saying that, it is really important that you get all the help you can with grants etc. to help fund your Erasmus, the more you can get from grants the better. To give you a rough idea, I paid 390 euros for a ‘cheap’ flat quite far from the centre, along with living costs (which included food, going out, clothes, trips etc. ) you are going to need at least 800 euros a month. I get that it's a Dutch city and everything but it seemed a bit excessive to me. In fact, I have friends studying in Alicante and for rent and living costs they only need around 300 euros a month.

Did it cost you anything to find accommodation in Maastricht? Can you give any advice?

It doesn’t cost much but I would recommend you to get something sorted in advance because if not all the good offers will go. There is a special page, Maastricht Housing, that with a payment of 35 euros (damn Dutch charging for everything) will look for a flat or residency for you that best suits your needs. There are also Facebook groups where people rent out their houses and they do a lot of good offers, but in the majority of cases they ask you to go and see the flat before renting it, even if you’re not in the country yet.

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

Awful. I prefer Spanish food. All they eat is fried foods and ready meals, and if you want to eat out at any restaurant the prices on the menu range between 15-20 euros. The solution that I found in the end was to buy things at the supermarket and attempt to make Spanish dishes at home.

Where would you recommend visiting in Maastricht?

Maastricht is a beautiful city, full of churches and old monuments that are really worth seeing. There are also parks and the river, all of that area is worth visiting too. In general, it’s a beautiful city.

What are your favourite places to eat in Maastricht?

As I commented above, the restaurants are excessively expensive for an Erasmus student to go to. But there’s always McDonald’s or Burger King hahaha, so it’s better to eat at home.

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

That’s a very easy question to answer, Café clinic and Ala, which are the two pub-disco type places, you will always find there’s a good atmosphere there. I would recommend going there sufficiently drunk as not to waste money inside because again the prices are quite high. One morning I regretfully woke up to see my empty wallet…

Any advice you want to give future Maastricht students?

I could give various pieces of advice, but I am still half way through my Erasmus. Firstly, you need to be sure that you want to go to Maastricht as your first choice, the city isn’t bad, but the University for example, is very demanding compared to places in Italy or France and I have a feeling it’s a lot stricter here than in Spain. A lot of Erasmus students just want to party and study very little, you'll have to work every day here. Secondly, everybody has a good level of English here, so, if you can speak it well you’ll have no issues, but if like me you have a low level of English you’re not going to understand anything, at least for a while anyway. In my case my University didn’t ask for any level of English to come here, so I chose Maastricht to learn English, it's hard work but I think I’ll get the hang of it haha. Overall, Maastricht is a good place to do your Erasmus, but keep in mind what I’ve said. You’re not going to regret being here, unlike some of my friends who regretted their choices.

Source