Experience in Sligo, Ireland by Manuel

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

It's a small city (around 25, 000 people live there), but, as it's the capital of the county, it has everything you need (cinemas, all kinds of shops, train and bus stations, etc. ). It's more like a big town, the majority of the houses are low down, like other towns in Ireland, it has a river running through the city, quite a lot of countryside and is surrounded by small towns. It's also really near to the sea and is one of the best places in Europe for surfing, so there are quite a lot of schools or even courses for people on Erasmus.

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What is the student lifestyle like in Sligo?

For it being a small city and having a university of a certain kind, there are a large number of students there all through the year, although the majority of the weekends, they go back to their towns. So yes, on the weekdays there is something going on every day, so you can go to the numerous bars and clubs all throughout the town.

How much does it cost to live in Sligo?

Personally, I paid €50 a week plus bills for a flat in town. I would always recommend looking for a shared flat (they cost between €50 and €70 a week), since the student residences are far from the city centre and are more expensive (about €400 a month if I remember correctly) and if you go on nights out or you have heavy shopping, people usually take taxis. The university is 15 mintues walk away from the city centre, close to the residences, although there are buses that take you right to the door for lazier people.

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Was it difficult to find accommodation in Sligo? Can you give any advice?

If you want to live in a residence, you should reserve it as soon as they give you a place, although I wouldn't recommend it as they're more expensive and further away from the town. There are 3 or 4 of them, some have flats or bedrooms and others are like little houses where you'd live with 5-6 people.

I was lucky in finding a flat the first day that I looked through other Erasmus, but through a couple of web pages searching for rental flats, advertisements in the local newspaper and visits to the various existing agencies, I visited 4 or 5 others on that same day.

What was the food like there? What are some of your favourite dishes?

There's not much in the way of food, but you have to enjoy the infinite amount of brands and types of beer, there are quite a lot more apart from Guinness. I recommend you try Beamish and Smithwicks.

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What places would you recommend visiting in Sligo?

There's a very beautiful abbey in ruins in the town of Sligo, you can visit it for a good price if you're a student (you can even visit if you haven't changed your money yet), there are lots of churches, too, but the best thing is the town's charm in general. On the outskirts, there are two wooden areas around a lake. You can go on a lot of bus trips, like to the church and cemetery where the poet Yeats (Nobel laureate in literature) at the foot of Benbulben. It's an impressive mountain and I would really recommend you go up it on a clear day (although those are rare, they do sometimes happen). There are two beach areas, where you can surf as well as just chilling out there for the day, etc. The best thing to do is to rent a car and lose yourself in the roads and towns that surround Sligo, even in Northern Ireland, which is pretty nearby, as well as the cliffs of Donegal, which, despite not being as touristy as the ones at Moher, are higher.

And to eat in Sligo? What are some of your favourite places to go?

Irish food is nothing special, although there are a few bars in town (mainly on O'Conell's Street, the street with the most atmosphere) where they serve some good dishes, the ones that we know here cost around €8-10 and they're pretty good.

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Where would you recommend for a night out in Sligo?

There's something for everyone there. Foleys is a great bar for a drink and to watch sports games. There are also bars, around the river and on O'Conell's Street, where they have live music and for going on a night out, they have a few clubs there. Although, the normal bars close at 1 am and the clubs don't stay open past 3/4 am.