Details

• Portugal
• MAEXINT-24
• Graduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 5 months

1. Preparation

The only 2 important things you need to prepare before are: 1. Select the courses you want to participate in (also have a plan B in mind) 2. Look for an accommodation. I would recommend to start searching in 4-5 months before going on exchange to find nice apartments for a good price.

2. Accommodation

I contacted the one of the other WU students that went on exchange to the receiving university before me which then gave me the contact information of their landlord in Porto. I stayed in a private shared apartment with a total of 6 people living in the apartment (all students). I stayed in the area near Trindade metro station which was great, it could not be more central and Porto as a city is generally very safe. It took me about 30 minutes to 1 hour (depending on the traffic) to get to university by bus.

3. Academic life at host university

The campus itself is not as new as on WU but still very nice. Most of the courses I took consisted of the professor talking for 2-3 hours straight and having a big exam at the end of the semester. Very old fashioned but in comparison to the workload and difficulty at WU very doable.

5. Every day life in the host country

The Porto metro is the most reliable public transport in the city. I did have to take a bus to get to university and back everyday which was less reliable but still worked well enough so there is no need to worry. Universidade Católica Portuguesa in Porto has a lot of social activities especially in the beginning of your stay that are very nice. I would highly recommend to participate in the welcome days. In general you can do everything you are used to in Vienna also in Porto. Additionally you can of course go surfing which is a nice add-on. I personally went to a gym chain called Fitness-Up which cost me about 35€ per month and was well equiped. Generally the everyday life is way more focused on being outside of your apartment than in Vienna so please go out to different cafés, bars, restaurants, etc. and you will have a great time.

6. Testimonial

I loved my time that I spent in Porto. I always thought I enjoyed being in Vienna the most but Porto really challenged that perception. The city is beautiful, the food is good (very meat-heavy though), you can find great, cheap coffee and beer everywhere and the locals are very warm and welcoming even if you don't speak Portuguese. I would still recommend you to learn at least the basics of Portuguese simply out of respect for the locals but you will also have an even better, warmer and more connected experience. University life does take up a little bit of time but don't worry you will be able to explore a lot and meet really nice people. All in all I would always go back to Porto and would do everything just like I did looking back at my exchange.