Erasmus Experience in Stuttgart, Germany by Scott

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

We stayed in Stuttgart from September to December 2019.

Did it cost you to find your accommodation in Stuttgart?

We couldn't find anywhere to stay before flying to Stuttgart. We lived in an Airbnb for 2 weeks while we continued to look around. Flats are very expensive and hard to come by.

My group of four friends eventually paid roughly £300 a month each for a tiny flat in Vaihingen. We shared bedrooms and had a VERY small toilet and kitchen. Vaihingen is the closest town to the university campus although it was still a 40 min walk to Uni and 40 mins to get into the centre of Stuttgart.

How much does it cost to live in Stuttgart?

Stuttgart has overtaken Munich as the most expensive place to live in Germany. If you have the chance to apply for student halls take it! There is a waiting list a year in advance but we only knew we were going 6 months before so this wasn't an option.

We stayed in a terrible flat a 40 min walk from the uni. We felt very isolated from other students and it definitely hurt our experience.

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

We were made to take a 6-week intensive German Language course through the Uni. This ran for 6 hours a day, 5 days a week and you were only allowed to miss 2 days before being removed from the course.

I would recommend knowing a good level of German before arriving. I knew very little and struggled in the A1 level class. Some of my friends from my home university were assigned a different class and got great teachers. I wasn't so lucky.

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

We flew to Stuttgart airport. On the way home, it was cheaper to travel to Frankfurt by train and fly from there.

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

The Auld Rouge Irish Pub was our local and has brilliant staff. It's a great sports bar and we watched the Rugby World Cup and Brittish football there.

Is there any other advice that you could give to students going to Stuttgart in the future?

Accommodation is hard to organise. Be careful not to fall for scams and if possible, apply to the University halls.

Try to have a good understanding of the German language before going. The Intensive German Course can be very hit-or-miss. Take into account the length of your exchange. We were only there for 1 semester and I felt like the 6 week language course took up too much of our time there and couldn't benefit as much from it.