Hi All,

I will be studying on exchange for 4 months, beginning January 2015, and I will likely stay in Europe for a little while longer upon the end of the exchange to enjoy the continent during the early summer months. Yes, I know 2015 is a long way from now, but I need to select my host country by the end of this year.

I will be looking to travel all over the continent (both in Western and Eastern Europe) during my exchange and after it ends, and I have two questions that I was hoping someone may be able to help:

1) Which city would you recommend for a study exchange that has easy (and cheap) access to inter-Europe travel options, other than Paris (very familiar with Paris; would prefer a new experience)? I am fluent (read, write, spoken) in English, French and Spanish)

*Please note that the options offered by my school that I would consider include: France, Spain, Belgium, Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands*

2) Budget. How much would a trip like this (let's say 4 months + 2 months of travelling after the exchange) cost, realistically, not including living expenses for the exchange itself? I don't mind sleeping on someone's floor when I travel (although couch-surfing and hostel website suggestions would be appreciated), and I'm very cost-aware - but I do enjoy the occasional splurge.

Thank you to all those who got to the bottom of this post! I look forward to reading your replies, and I appreciate all of your help!!

Will your student exchange program allow you to stay on in Europe after the four months? From what little I have read, students on at least some of these programs may only stay in Schengen until the end of the program, and then must leave.

Hi nukesafe,
I will need to get a student visa and I was told by the organizing office that it is valid for 180 calendar days.

Great! Sorry, I was misinformed. I'm sure you will have a wonderful time. In answer to your question, the Netherlands would be my pick, but then I am not objective, having lived there long ago and still have friends there.

Can you get more specific about your options beyond the list of countries? Any particular cities?

Thanks Nukesafe! Could you please share why you chose to live in the Netherlands instead of another country, and what you liked most about it?

Jean, countries include:

France: Paris, Lyon, Nice, Toulouse, Marseille, Rouen
Spain: Madrid, Barcelona
Germany: Munich, Frankfurt, Münster
UK: Hatfield, Glasgow, Cambridge, Dublin
Netherlands: Amsterdam, Utrecht

My apologies for not being clearer. Also, Belgium should NOT be on the original list.

Thank you!

No, I don't mind sharing why I love the Netherlands and its people. Firstly, almost everyone speaks English and, since I am not really fluent in any other language, that made things easier for me.

Secondly, the Dutch are, in my experience, extremely friendly, helpful, and outgoing, as well as accepting of other cultures. In my case, I arrived in Amsterdam alone on my boat after coming through the canals from the Med. Practice wife had jumped ship with the kids, and I was feeling really low -- as well as almost flat broke. Within a week I had close friends, some of whom are friends 35 years later. A bit later I sailed the boat over to the UK to see the kids. Moored in the Thames at Gravesend for six weeks and made zero friends. Things were tough in both Britain and Holland at the time, but the Brits only wanted to bitch, while the Dutch got on with life with a laugh, a hug, and open hearts.

That said, I also found happy outgoing people and close friends in Spain, France, Greece, Cyprus, and Lebanon, even with the language barriers --- which you won't have.

I envy your upcoming adventure, in whatever place you choose to have it.

To comment on the UK (Dublin is in Ireland NOT the UK - people will get quite cranky about this!) if you are wanting to travel during your stay look at how far each is from airports.

My daughter chose Dublin for her study abroad program and as much as she liked it, anytime she wanted to go to the Continent (which she often did), she had to fly. That takes a big chunk out of your budget. So, for that reason, I'd probably recommend you choose a program on the Continent (thus eliminating the UK and Ireland).

Assuming all the programs are of equal quality and you are, as stated, choosing a country for traveling purposes, I would go with Germany or the Netherlands since they are more centrally located than France or Spain. As much as I love Germany (and I lived there for about 5 years), you will encounter a lot of situations where you need to know German. However, as Nukesafe says, everyone in the Netherlands speaks English.

I don't think it matters that much where your exchange is in the goal of then traveling for several months after it, but it would during it -- in terms of being easy to visit other countries. Becuase I love Barcelona (and Spain, in general), and at the end of the exchange, you could easily get a cheap flight on Easyjet or some airline to some other European city, to start some travels, if that's what you wanted. But while you are in Barcelona, you can't that easily travel on the weekend to much of anywhere but Spain and France.

But this is just logistics, you know where those places are on a map, you can see for yourself which ones are closer to other countries. Obviously, Glasgow and Dublin are not, either.

I'll admit I don't understand the goal of a study exchange where you can go to so many different places. I would think there would only be a couple choices of programs that are something special and of important to your major (or if for a language, obviously, you'd go where the language is native). So this doesn't sound like an exchange program for languages, just for no real reason, just to go somewhere? Well, if there really is no difference in what you are studying in any of these places itself, or something about the country relevant to your study (eg, architecture or history), I also think the Netherlands makes the most sense in terms of language and being easy to get to other places while you are there in that study location (or Germany). But if in the UK, you could travel to Ireland and around the UK a lot, of course (and you can get to Paris easily enough by Eurostar, but you've been there, so that doesn't sound like it would be worth the money on the weekend).

Thank you all for your responses. To answer Christina, yes it is more of a "just to go" experience than anything else. We are lucky because our provincial government subsidizes a huge portion of the exchange so everyone takes advantage of this bursary...

This is an answer to one of your minor questions, but I suggest looking into couchsurfing.org for arranging couchsurfing opportunities. My son traveled around the continent for free for about six months total by using this site (and staying with friends a couple times). It was especially nice in Scandinavia, where it's really expensive!

Since you want to travel during your exchange I'd chose Barcelona. Barcelona airport is home to several low-cost airlines (EasyJet, Vueling, Ryanair). Ditto for Girona airport which is very accessible from Barcelona.

Artsnletters: I've never couch-surfed before. The obvious questions are: is it safe? Will people steal my belongings?

Pvoyageuse: thank you for the suggestion. I've heard similar things about Barcelona!

I'ld certainly choose something in Barcelona. Great city and Spanish weather in the winter is really to be preferred over that of the "nordic" countries. Than travel to the other countries early in the summer.