Details

• Portugal
• MAWiRe-21
• Graduate
• SoSe 2026
• Time spent at the partner university: 5 months

1. Preparation

- Look for available rooms on: housing anywhere, student room flat (I booked my room there), flats for friends, in the WhatsApp group of Erasmus life porto for rooms. - Look at the different courses offered in the master and already try to see for which courses they could be credited at your home uni. - Book flights

2. Accommodation

I looked for rooms on different platforms (just type in student rooms in porto) and ultimately decided to take a rooms at the website "student room flats" (it was the barrow lima building and the "architecture apartment") and I was very happy with my choice. It was a shared apartment with 4 other exchange students and it was very newly renovated so we didnt have problems with mold or anything like that and it was very fun to live with other people, especially other exchange students. The area was bonfire which I really liked, cute cafes and bars and its not that touristy but the street our apartment was on wasn't the best but I didnt feel unsafe. It was very close to the city centre by metro or by foot (15 mins). Close to the apartment was another house from student room flat (Camillo house) which I would also recommend if you like to live with more people (around 15 people) it was always very fun and we went there for parties - you have a bigger community there and I would also have liked to live there but be aware that the house is old and in the winter you can have problems with leakages and mold (however all the students that lived there said it was worth if because of the community). The location was not close to the university as the university is in foz which is around 45 - 50 mins aways but I would not recommend living near the university as it is far away from the city and basically all the exchange students live in the city. I didnt mind the commute to foz and in the summer you can spend the day there and go surfing in mathosinos. So areas that I would recommend to live in: Bonfim (where I lived), Cedofeita, Baixa - as these are all central areas also try to be close to a metro station because buses are not reliable! What is new since march 2026 is the metro bus from casa da music which goes to the university and therefore is very practical (you just take the metro until casa da musica and then the metros - but the metro bus is not yet on google maps). There aren't as many supermarkets in every area as in Austria so look if you find an apartment close-ish to one, also look if you are relatively close to a metro station!

3. Academic life at host university

The Campus in Foz is very nice, you have an outside area were you can take breaks and I really like the little cafe where you could get sandwiches, pastries and coffee etc. (I didnt like the food at the cafeteria that much but we never went there really). The students are all very nice and helpful and teachers as well. The courses are very different to WU. They are mostly only for a week but then almost every day of one week for around 3 hours and a lot don't have a written exam but an essay or a presentation. If they do have an exam it is also often an open book exam. The classes are much smaller than at WU (around 20 people per class). I recommend: Law and life, islamic legal theory, law of the sea, comparative human rights.

5. Every day life in the host country

Metros work very well, however buses are not reliable especially during rush hour there is always a lot of traffic. I felt safe in Porto but of course there are certain areas you should not go alone at night. There were a lot of social activities especially through the Erasmus organizations elp and esn so make sure to join them on instagram because they organize parties and they are fun especially at the beginning of the Erasmus. There are also a lot of day trips that you can make (ex.: Aveira, Nazare) and surf trips (ex. Ericeira, Peniche) or bigger trips (Algarve, Marokko, Madeira). I would not recommend to do a bigger trip with the organizations (like Marroko) because I did not hear good things, but I didnt try it myself! However I really liked to just do the bigger trips with the friends I made in my Erasmus (like 5 to 10 people depending on the type of trip). Regarding sport, I LOVED surfing so I really recommend to start asap when you are in porto to really improve. If you are an exchange student you only pay between 10 to 15 EUR per surf lesson (2 hours lesson and wetsuit, board etc) at flower power surf school and surf training school, but maybe there are also other schools. It was really fun!!

6. Testimonial

My exchange in porto was such a fun time! I met amazing people from all around the world and we shared some of the best memories, going on trips around Portugal, surfing and partying! The university was very nice as well and the courses were really interesting, especially because the courses are courses you would not usually go for at your home university!