Erasmus Experience in San Sebastian, Spain by Barbora

Why did you choose to go to San Sebastian, Spain?

I chose Spain because I love the culture and language and the mentality of people here. I chose San Sebastian because it offers everything what I wanted, beach, waves, delicious food and party places. The second reason was that it was one of the options where the subjects were taught in English.

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

For me is one semester, 5 months. We recieved 400 each month and we normaly spent about 700. But we found really cheap accommodation and also traveled quite a lot.

What is the student lifestyle like in San Sebastian?

Every Thursday at least go to the pintxopote, during the warm weather season go surfing - of course. Everyone have to try it here in San Sebastian. During the week we also had private parties at our apartments and then went to the city center.

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

I would recommend both, the city is just beautiful and you would find here everything what you can think about.

What is the food like?

One word would say everything - Pintxo, the best small portion of food ever and don't forget about churros. I love them, so sweet... and with chocolate... mmmm.

Did it cost you to find your accommodation in San Sebastian?

We tried to find it before from our country, we used websites but without success. School also offers a service so you don't have to worry about it, and the flats are everytime comfortable. We found it here, two days before we had to leave the school college. It was a hard and stressful week. It's not so easy to find it here, but we found the cheapest one. Close to school but quite far from the city centre for 250 - with spendings.

How much does it cost to live in San Sebastian?

It depends what you want to do here. Accommodation is normaly 300 - 450 euro per person, food and parties or traveling. So it can be about 700 - 900 per month.

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

The local language is Basque, and is really hard to learn it. But you can also use Spanish - local people don't speak English a lot so is better to choose the Spanish class at school (intensive before semester or normal during semester)

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

Definitely car, but you need at least for persons to make it cheaper. In another case just flight, because it's the only way to get here. And it's quite expensive. So if you are 4 people it is a perfect way to get here. You would also use it to travel around Basque country. It is cheaper.

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

There is a lot of bars, Ezpala with free drink every night for Erasmus, big disco Bataplan, Friends, but it depends on your style. Or you can just buy wine or beer and spend some time with friends on the beach.

And for eating? Can you recommend some good restaurants in San Sebastian?

It's impossible to choose one. Every place with pintxo is special. We also like the 100 Montaditos - there is a special price for mini delicious baguettes on Monday - just 0. 50 euros per each.

What good cultural sites are there to visit?

Monte Igueldo, La Perla Talaso Sport, International Film Festival if possible - we saw Hugh Jackman, Aquarium, Museo San Telmo, there are also beautiful churches, definitely Parte Vieja - the old part of the city where the best bars are located.

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

Don't think that you dont have to study here. We did a lot of school group projects but were beneficial for us and still we had a lot of time for surfing and eating pinxto, shopping and travelling.