Details

• Portugal
• MAMark-21
• Graduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months

1. Preparation

Before applying to a university, I would recommend not only reading all the available reports, but also visiting the university's website and looking at the courses on offer, as you will be spending some time there. Since I come from Europe, I didn't have to prepare anything special. In hindsight, however, I would take out private health insurance, as you spend several months abroad and this guarantees better and, above all, reliable care.

2. Accommodation

I found my apartment on Spotahome, which I found reliable. They also offer you a guarantee for the caution fee, if you send in pictures within the first 24 hours of arrival. As I went with a friend to Lisbon we began to search in March and found two rooms in the same shared apartment in April. If you want to share an apartment with a person you know, I would suggest to start searching early. If you just search for a single room, I think you could also start looking a bit later. My apartment was located in Aflama, which was nice but the way to the university was really long (with the traffic around 50 minutes) and the public transportation, with an exception of the metro, is not reliable. So I would suggest to look for apartments in Santos or Principe Real, which are close to the university and offer a lot of nice bars, restaurants and cafes.

3. Academic life at host university

I was surprised of the university and the campus as I didn't expect it to be this nice/ new. The Area is really good and there are tons of cafes and bars around, which makes it easy to combine the university with other activities. The train station is also not far and you could go to the beach before or after uni. I also found the English of most professor really good, as most of them reached before in the UK. Nevertheless, the level was lower than at WU and almost every course covered topics that I had already heard about in my bachelor's or master's degree

5. Every day life in the host country

Everyone under 24 has the possibility to get the free transportation card in Lisbon, which is connected to the tax identification number (NIF). I would suggest to make an appointment at a local office to get the NIF as early as possible. Afterwards, you can apply for the free transportation card at every bigger metro station. I found Lisbon to be very safe and never felt uncomfortable, but it is a city with many tourists and pickpocketing does occur, so be careful in crowded areas and when going out. If you like the ocean, I would try out surfing as it is a great option to meet new people and do something new. Other than that, there are a lot of gyms, padel spots, football fields as well as other sport studios offering pilates or cycling (comparable to Vienna). As Lisbon is in my opinion a student city, there are tons of people waiting to meet new friends and it is really easy to get to know someone. There are also many WhatsApp groups and options to go on trips (longer and shorter) with other exchange students.

6. Testimonial

Overall, I really enjoyed my time in Lisbon. I had the opportunity to meet new friends and make lots of new memories with them. The weather is also a big plus. It feels like summer until mid-October, and during the other months you can expect sunshine at least every other day. Portugal is a very beautiful country overall, which is easy to explore while studying in Lisbon.