Details

• Portugal
• BaWiSo-23
• Undergraduate
• SoSe 2026
• Time spent at the partner university: 5 months

1. Preparation

To get your "Feststellungsbescheid" at WU you need to send them very detailed information for the courses you want to attend. It take me some time to find the Syllabus from Catolica. As you cannot find it online I would recommend writing them an Email explaining the situation. After that I received all the information needed. I would definitely recommend attending the welcome activities, they are very fun and a good opportunity to meet people (also from other fields of study). I traveled there by plane, one day before the welcome activities started. A lot of my friends here used the website students@home for finding a place to live, I was told that you can write them 3-4 Months in advance to find a good accommodation. I personally found my room by texting in a WhatsApp group from ELP. I would definitely recommend to get an ESN (Erasmus Student Network) or ELP (Erasmus Life Porto) card and also access to the WhatsApp group.

2. Accommodation

I got scammed on the website uniplaces, so I would not recommend this one. A lot of people here used students@home and had good experiences or texted in Facebook groups. Also WhatsApp groups I can recommend ( how I found my accommodation after I got scammed). I have a perfect Location now in the historic city center I love living there because it is very close to all the famous attractions and I really have the local Porto life. But negative is, that the building are very very old and not very good maintained. The rooms are extremely cold in the winter and hot in the summer. I would recommend living in the city because most events are going on there and also all the parties are there. But of course it is a long journey to the university especially with the unreliable busses. I would not recommend living somewhere in the north of Porto. Here are the most student homes but it is far away from the university and from the city. A lot of my friends life close to Casa the musica and I think this is a perfect location since you are fast In the city, close to the metro and with the new reliable metrobus very fast at the university.

3. Academic life at host university

Okay, from the facilities nothing beats WU. You can clearly see the southern influence and the building is very old from the outsides, but the classrooms are newly renovated and from the inside most of the university is very modern and new. The academic culture is huge here and way better than in Austria. Definitely would always choose summer semester since there are the best festivities like Queima da fitas. Good courses where: Social Economy (especially the first part of the course) and History of Economic thought(depends on the Teacher you have). From the course “New Marketing Trends” I was a little bit disappointed.

5. Every day life in the host country

Porto is a beautiful city with a lot of activities offered. personally I went surfing once a week and absolutely loved it. There are also fun run clubs you can join and the University offers a soccer team you can join. There are a lot of Erasmus events offered from the university (ILAC) but also from ELP and ESN. The Community is very big and you will find friends very quick. Public transportation is good. But the busses take time and are never on time, so be prepared to live a slower life and plan in advance if you take the bus. But on the other hand public transportation is completely free for under 24 year olds. You just have to go to the office at Trindade Metro Station and apply for a free ticket. If you are older than 24 you have to get a ticket for 40€/month.

6. Testimonial

I highly recommend doing your Erasmus Semester in Porto! I fell in love with the culture, community and city and found friends for a lifetime.