Experience in Osijek, Croatia by Bojan

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

I would recommend it to everyone. Osijek is very peaceful city with population of 120, 000 people (20, 000 students! ) suitable for young, middle-aged, old... really everyone.

What is the student lifestyle like in Osijek?

As I said in previous answer, there is 20, 000 students in Osijek out of 120, 000 people living there so you can meet lot of students. There are still not many foreign student but if you're reading this you can easily change that. There are few student restaurants, new student Campus, lots of caffe bars, places to visit (although city is really relatively small).

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How much does it cost to live in Osijek?

It is hard to say because it depends where are you coming from and what is for you 'expensive' and 'cheap'. But let's say that prices are lower than most EU countries (especially bigger ones). We eat a lot of bread and you can find it for cca. 0, 7 EUR, milk and beer for the same price, traditional food in restaurants for 4-6 EUR, etc.

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

I'm not sure about student dorms because people don't have much money so dorms are usually full of student and they are hard to get. They cost from 40-70 EUR. But there is always some flat you can find and rent for cca. 150 EUR (maybe even less if you live with someone else, e. g. 250 EUR for two people, which means 125/per person).

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

I have no favourite dishes because food is really good as far as I'm concerned. You have to try traditional food (I won't say it's just Croatian traditional food but from this region - Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia - ćevapi, kulen, sarma, čobanac, fiš, etc. ). Also, people say pizza in Croatia is fantastic because we put a lot of stuff on our pizzas, so it's not 'food for poor' like it was when they 'invented' it. To sum up, you won't stay hungry no matter what you like or not!

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What places would you recommend visiting in Osijek?

It's hard one to answer but to single out some - Tvrđa ('old town' of Osijek), Footbridge on river Drava, The co-cathedral (The Church of St Peter and St Paul) and the main square, Red Fico (War memorial), Museum of Archeology, European Avenue Street (beautiful buildings built in The Vienna Secession style) and I would warmly recommend visiting places near Osijek (Baranja, etc. ).

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Is it good to eat out in Osijek? Can you tell us your favourite spots?

There are few restaurants where you can eat good but people do not go to restaurants very often (only in 'special occasions') because, let's say, 90% of people cook their food home and young people mostly have no money to eat in restaurants very often. We mostly eat in student restaurants, but as I said you can find nice restaurants (5-10) and eat good.

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

Nightlife is good, especially if you are coming for few months because there are not many places to go out but they are interesting. So if you live here then you can get bored because there are like 10 places to go out. They are all placed in Tvrđa and it's usually crowded. Students mostly go out on Thursday but Friday and Saturday are also days when people go out.

What advice would you give future students heading to Osijek?

Walk as much as you can because city is really nice. If you're coming on summer prepare yourself for temperatures from 30-40 degrees and if you're coming during winter prepare yourself for 0 to -20!

Fun fact about Osijek and places around Osijek - 4 capital cities are all at distance of cca. 250 kilometers - Budapest (Hungary), Beograd (Serbia), Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovinia) and Zagreb (Croatia) so you can visit all of them quite cheap (you can find tickets from 20-50 EUR for every one of them). If you have further questions feel free to contact me.