Universidad de León (UL)

Get private accomodation as soon as possible (you can easily save 600 Euros per semester just by doing so). You can easily walk to the city centre, if you're not able to do so (for any possible reason, get a taxi, they are quite cheap).

The fact that I only had a couple of hours of Spanish a weeks made that I had some knowledge of the language but never had to use it on a daily basis. The first couple of weeks were hard as I didn't have any confidence in speaking spanish. Felt a bit ashamed to speak and feared that people would (excuse the expression)"take the piss of me". But after a while I realised that spaniards are quite proud that you're making an effort to learn their language and will always try to help when you can't find a word, use a wrong conjugation, and listen to what ou have to say. Just try, you're not gonna be deceived. I learned an awfull lo just by being with them, listening to them and being humble enough to accept corrections as they are only trying to help and do it because they want you to improve.

Try to travel as much as you can. Leon is quite central to most cities like Madrid (4 1/2 hours), Oviedo, (Gijon and Santander for the beach). Medical services are painfully slow, so if you are likely to be ill, make sure you have private insurance.

Barrio humedo (quarter of town where most of the tapas bars are) within barrion humedo, the plaza mayor, with a selection of bars, cafes, pubs and dance clubs. Insider info: The Don Quijote (otherwise known as he bucket bar because they serve "cachis" (small plastic buckets) of spirits and mix quite cheap for the quantity of alcohol you get. Usually the place where we start going out. After two of them, and within any budget, you continue to one of the dancings in the city centre like the SOHO club, or club XL. Lively music for every taste and good atmosphere to get the night really started. Because o new legislation, all the clubs shut at 5am whereby they used to be open until 8-9am. The big discos are: OH!LEÓN (close to the supermarket Carrefour outside the city centre and the newly opened PACHA. It would be pointless though giving you a list of all the pubs as there are so many of them. Also don't bother leaving the house before 11pm as people are still eating at that time (it's Spain afterall).

The accomodation is just across the road from the university. Pretty close to shops. About 15 min walk from the city centre. The reason why I stayed at the residence was first because it was close to Uni (I'm a lazy bugger) and for the atmosphere in the residence. There is always someone around you, you're never alone, you just have to open our door. But you still have your own space. The mix of european students is such that you end up learning a different language than you are supposed to. I was sharing a flat with a spaniard and a dane, spent most of my time with italians and english speaking people from all over the world. To make the best of your stay, I advise to ask to share a flat with one or more spaniards. It just forces you to think in spanish and you'll learn an awfull lot more about everyday expressions, improve your confidence of speech, well trust me.. On the other hand, as mentionned before, the cost of staying at the residence is the double of what you would pay for shared accomodation in a private flat. So my other advice is to stay at the halls for a month, if you like it stay, otherwise look for a flat. The student union (junta de estudiantes) have got a department that will help you looking for flats (they usually have a list of flats and students that are looking for flatmates (both spaniards and foreign students))