Details

• Belgium
• BaWiSo-23
• Undergraduate
• SoSe 2026
• Time spent at the partner university: 5 months
• Contact: Login to see contact information

1. Preparation

I think the most important thing for me was that I didn't leave all the packing and preparations for the last few days. In fact, I was mostly prepared in advance, but I was still completely stressed the last few days before departure, so really, prepare in advance as much as possible. Concerning traveling to Antwerp, I considered going by train, but from my hometown in Slovenia, I would need more than a day to get to Antwerp and the trip would cost too much. In the end, the best option for me proved to be traveling with my family in our car because I had too much luggage to be able to go by train or airplane. So, if you're traveling without company, you will definitely not be able to take everything you may want. The drive took us about 12 hours.

2. Accommodation

I mainly searched for my accommodation on Kotweb, the university's website where most private residences are listed. There are also options offered by the university itself, as well as groups on social media where it is possible to find accommodation. My residence was among the cheapest options, meaning there are definitely prettier and better options, but for the money I paid, it mostly did its job as it was supposed to. It was located in the southern part of Antwerp (area code 2018), and it took me about 25 minutes to get to the campus by public transport. I liked the neighborhood because it was safe, but there are better locations in terms of proximity to the campus and the center of the city. Also, start looking for accommodation at least a few months in advance, because residences where you get value for money are always filled very quickly.

3. Academic life at host university

The university offers an open and friendly atmosphere for studying, with students being strongly encouraged to contribute to the lessons by participating in discussions and preparing presentations. In general, I would say that the university in Antwerp is a little bit stricter than the WU, but if you have the discipline (which, I am aware, can be very hard to find on an exchange) to study for the exams the same way you do at the WU, then you are sure to pass all exams. Studying places can be found in the library on campus, as well as in many study cafes around the campus. But, places in the library are limited, which is why you usually have to reserve a seat in order to be able to study in the library. Course recommendation: I would say to do the “I-week on sustainability”, because it is, first, three easy ECTS, and second, a very interactive course that does not only teach that businesses should become more sustainable, but also how some businesses already practice sustainability and achieve much better results with it.

5. Every day life in the host country

Public transport: In Belgium (especially Flanders), bikes are life, meaning most people use those as a way of transport in cities (in Antwerp, consider getting a subscription for bike sharing named Velo). Therefore, public transport (buses and trams) is not so popular and not very well organized. Buses and trams are very often late, or they don’t wait for the scheduled time to depart, which sometimes leads to a gap of 20-25 min between two trams (in the middle of the day). So, overall, do not rely on public transport and do not expect it to be as good as it is in Vienna. Also, the center of Antwerp is small, meaning it doesn’t take long to walk from one point to the other. Safety: Most parts of Antwerp give a safe enough feeling, especially the southern part of it (that part is known as the better and wealthier part of the city). I would still say to be more cautious than in Vienna, though. On the other hand, the northern part of Antwerp is said to be the “bad” part and is apparently not very safe to walk around at night. I personally never went to the northern part of the city, because I lived in the south and didn’t have much to do in the north. Generally, I would say that there are more people with off-vibes in Antwerp than in Vienna, but they mostly don’t bother anyone. But, if you’re a woman, be prepared for the possibility of catcalling. :/ Leisure: Most of the activities I did in Antwerp involved hanging out with other international students, because the ESN group always organized events, such as parties and picknicks, which helped us to mix and get to know each other. I didn't meet many Belgian people, because they are in general kind of hard to get to know, as they are very closed off and private (but also, there was a kind of a bubble of all of us international students, meaning our group and the Belgians did not mix so often). For sport, the university (or rather, one of the student organizations at the university) offers a program in which you pay a small amount at the beginning of the semester and can then take part in all the offered sports activities for free for the entire semester.

6. Testimonial

My exchange semester was the most incredible experience, made even better by meeting and making lifetime connections with my exact type of people, who love to travel, are open-minded, non-judgmental and open to trying new things. During this semester, we really all had the “student life we were promised before uni”, meaning hanging out with friends in the university’s courtyard during study breaks, cooking with people from my building, getting random drinks with friends on random weekday nights and not caring when we were going to sleep, but also getting to know a different academic setting and culture and seeing how universities in other countries are organized. One of the highlights were definitely trips around Belgium and its neighboring countries with newly made friends from all over the world, as well as showing my favorite parts of Belgium to my friends from home who visited me.