Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL)

The uni. residence is relatively close to all the university faculties (it is within the campus grounds that house the Law, Statistics and Economics faculties). Lisbon is a walking city, so unless you study at the science faculty on the other side of the river. I suggest you avail of the accommodations at the Residencia Alfredo de Sousa for convenience's sake. You will get to not only meet Portuguese residents here, but also other exchange students (from North and South America, Australasia and Africa). Living in this dormitory was indeed a great cultural experience. There never was a dull night whenever I stayed in the dorm. The residence committee also organizes in-house parties. Security and service is extremely efficient and amiable to boot (but you must speak Portuguese or get a friend to mediate). The Wifi is VERY STRONG (note that Koreans, Taiwanese and Singaporeans will find this comment laughable :D). The residence also boasts the cheapest meal available for those on a tighter budget (2.15 Euros a meal!). As far as the peripheral establishments are concerned, there is a bus stop just outside the residence. 2 Metro/underground train stations are also within walking distance. For those who love to shop, there are 2 malls that are within walking distance: the El Corte Ingles department store, and Amoreiras Shopping Center, both of which have their respective Metro stations. Overall, I really recommend that you accept the offer of the Erasmus office to stay in this residence if you do not have the luxury of immediately finding flat-mates who eventually should share in your rent expense. Ideally, you will only do this for the initial semester. Afterwards, go hunting for flats for your 2nd semester to be more liberated. By this time, you would not have only been exposed to the daily grind of life, but would also be able to AVOID the hassles met by your peers who decided to get a flat for the first semester of ERASMUS.

The housing facilities the university organizied for the students was quite unappropriate. Most of the room were either too expensive or too small - at least for my feeling. I preferred to make concessions concerning facilities. Furthermore, our coordinator was not very helpful in finding and choosing an accomodation.

The first accomodation was terrible, for cleanless and for language problems. The second was perfect. Probably it's easier for girls to find single accomodation and almost impossible for guys, that have to find at least 2 other people for sharing a house. The university is 10 kms. far from Lisbon and not good linked, especially in the night. The best chioce is to carry your own car.

All the students had to find their accommodation independently - which wasn´t that easy, because nobody had the knowledge in the foreign language portuguese at the moment of arriving in lisbon. There were no special student-apartments on the campus or help from the university.

All my erasmus collegues lived in appartments with other erasmus students or with portugese people. An advantage of living with portugese people is the possibility of practicing the language more than living with erasmus students.

I found this apartment shared with other students through a list at my host university winters in Portugal get cold because most apartments do not have heating. Most other students also lived in apartments: I think it is a great opportunity to get an impression of the "normal" life.