Details

• Portugal
• MAWiRe-21
• Graduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 5 months

1. Preparation

The application process was fairly easy, try to write a honest application letter emphasizing on why you want to go there. The most important preparation for Lisbon is finding a suitable place to live. Student accommodation is either scarce or very expensive. Most people rent a room in shared apartments, which can also be quite expensive and you never know what you gonna get. I highly recommend talking to people that have lived there before and start searching early.

2. Accommodation

As stated above, start early. The classic platforms are spotahome and AirBnB. If you can manage the language barrier, Idealista is also an option. Besides that multiple FB groups exist, that can be quite useful! I would recommend to monitor all these options. I lived in a shared apartment in the Graça Area, where every room has its own bathroom but six rooms share a kitchen. I can highly recommend the Area, but most Areas in Lisbon are pleasant and safe. For good connection to the university, living close to the metro system is useful. What I wish I'd known beforehand was how expensive it can get. The living situation in my apartment wasn't very pleasant and I still paid the same as I did for my room in Vienna where I live only with one roommate and we share kitchen, common area and bathroom.

3. Academic life at host university

The intensive courses are very useful and interesting! Most classes I took were intensive courses. Organization is not as clearly structured and foreseeable as I was used to from WU. Often classes get cancelled last minute, rooms get changed or information on classes is published very late. This can be annoying. Besides that the Campus facilities are nice, especially in summer, campus live is vibrant and people are very friendly and helpful. There are many Erasmus students and it is quite the "bubble" - as an Erasmus student you'll most likely interact a lot with another Erasmus students and only peripherally come in contact with locals. Most professors are friendly and easily approachable as well as helpful if I had any questions, regardless whether they were organizational or content related.

5. Every day life in the host country

Public transport works quite well, sometimes there are strikes + Uber/Bolt is very cheap compared to Vienna. Safety situation is pretty good, comparable to Vienna - I had no safety issues during my time there. There are a lot of sports clubs and possibilities to try all kinds of things, I went surfing a couple of times near Lisbon, but there are also a lot of running clubs, Paddle and Tennis courts, coffeeshops with bookstores attached and all kind of things like that. It is a city where one lives.

6. Testimonial

Lisbon is a vibrant, cosmopolitan place with a lot of young energy powering this ancient city. Living there as a student gave me the space and countless opportunities to immerse myself in its many facets. Trying out surfing at the shores of the Atlantic coast, exploring the rich Portuguese culture and its 'Saudade' carrying Fado music, and indulging in all the exquisites of not only Portuguese cuisine but also the diverse international food scene found in Lisbon made this exchange an experience for life.