Exchange Report

I travelled to Rotterdam by flying to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and then taking a direct train to Rotterdam Central, which was very easy and convenient. Another option is to take the night train from Vienna. This can sometimes be cheaper, and makes you eligible for the Green Travel Bonus, so I would definitely recommend comparing both options before booking your trip. Before arriving, I also prepared all the documents required to register with the Municipality of Rotterdam. Registration is generally necessary if you are staying in the Netherlands for more than four months. When looking for accommodation, however, you will notice that some rooms do not allow municipal registration, so this is something worth checking before signing a rental contract. If you have the possibility to register at your address, I would definitely recommend doing so. Depending on your accommodation and personal circumstances, you may be eligible for the Dutch housing allowance (Huurtoeslag), which can significantly reduce your monthly housing costs. It is therefore worth checking your eligibility and applying as early as possible.

Finding accommodation in Rotterdam can be quite difficult, so I would strongly recommend starting your search as early as possible. I mainly used a platform called Kamernet. However, you have to pay a monthly fee of around €28 to be able to contact landlords and respond to listings. Through Kamernet, I came across Holland2Stay, which offers a large number of student accommodations across the Netherlands. I stayed in the De Eendraacht building and can highly recommend it. The location was great, as it is very central and it only took me around 15 minutes to get to university by bike. I also always felt safe in the area. I had my own studio apartment and paid around €750 per month, which is very affordable for Rotterdam. However, the building was still partly under construction during my stay, which is why the rent was lower than usual. Future prices may therefore be significantly higher. Nevertheless, I would still recommend checking Holland2Stay and De Eendraacht when looking for accommodation, as I had a very positive experience there overall.

The campus at Erasmus University Rotterdam is very nice and offers plenty of places to study. The university library and the Polak Building in particular provide a lot of study spaces, so it was usually easy to find a suitable place to work between classes. Compared to WU Vienna, I found the course selection to be quite limited. However, I had a very positive experience with the courses themselves. The professors were very engaging, and the overall quality of teaching was great. Besides the mandatory courses I had to take as part of my exchange, I chose "Marketing Strategy in the Age of AI" and "Programming Fundamentals Python".

Public transport in Rotterdam is very good and makes it easy to get around the city. However, it can also be quite expensive, so I would highly recommend renting a bike. I rented mine through Swapfiets, which was very convenient, and cycling is also one of the easiest ways to get around Rotterdam. Overall, I felt quite safe in Rotterdam. However, as in any larger city, I would not necessarily recommend walking around alone late at night, especially in less busy areas. When it comes to social and leisure activities, you definitely will not get bored. There are a lot of CEMS events every week and for sports, I used the trial phase of ClassPass several times, which allowed me to try out different workout classes and studios around the city.

I had a really great time in the Netherlands, especially because of all the amazing people I met during my exchange. So, if you are considering Rotterdam for your exchange semester, I can definitely recommend it!