Mobility specification

Country:Spain

Institution:University of Granada

City:Granada

Program:Erasmus+ for study

Activity type:Study

Academic year:2020/2021

MU faculty/department:Faculty of Arts / Department of Musicology

Study level abroad:Bachelor

🎓Hit the books! How do you rate the university experience?

Can you enroll in a course where you can learn the local language?no

Does the university offer enough courses in English?manageable

Are your credits converted?no

Was there anything in the teaching methods that surprised you?Courses at my faculty had a much larger hourly allocation for lectures with mandatory presence - each course had lessons twice a week and attendance was mandatory. At the same time, more classroom activity was expected and was necessary to successfully pass the course and affected the grade.

Does the university offer international students' programs and activities outside of lectures and seminars to help them integrate more quickly?I don't know of any, but my stay was during covid, which could have had a big impact on planning physical activities for larger groups. But apart from that, there is a student organization in Granada that organizes weekend trips to the surrounding area or other events in the city (e.g. parties), and this worked during the covid as well.

In which areas does the university offer support for students with special needs and strive to be inclusive?I haven’t noticed

💸Did you have to rob the bank?

Try to take a guess at what your monthly expenditures were:10000 CZK/month

Did you stay in dorms?no

Do you have any tips on how to find private accommodation?I searched for accommodation through FB pages (with the words habitaciones y pisos Granada in the title), Whatsapp groups (which I found out about through friends) and the Idealista page.

What about unexpected expenses? Did anything surprise you?A lot of older flats do not have gas, but gas is needed at least for cooking. This is an item that is not usually included in the rent, and it is good to know in advance that you will be asked for it later, and the amount can only be estimated (but you can ask how much it usually end up to be per person. There is also no central heating in the apartments, but the buildings also get very cold in the winter months. Some landlords offer to borrow a small electric heater, but this is not always sufficient, or you may need to get your own. At the same time, energy bills are charged every month and the amount can be significantly higher in winter, so it is good to take into account that energy is not included in the rent and that it can be a significant increase.

Do you have any tips on how to save money?In the centre of Granada, you can find very cheap second hand shops where you can find not only clothes (e.g. Mosaico Vintage in the centre has great discounts before closing time, where you can buy a piece of clothing even under 1 euro). Then you can buy very cheap small household items in Alcampo or Tiger.
Locals are used to saving money on food thanks to tapas, which are free in Granada bars with beer, wine or soft drinks per law. The portions are often quite generous and locals often don't even order a regular meal as the tapas fill them up sufficiently.

🗺 Learn the ropes in a new city

How well did you manage to communicate in English?with gestures

How does public transport work in the city?I've seen better

And what about transport outside the city?I've seen better

Where to find connections? How to buy a ticket?Trains operate on the first minute principle, so you need to buy the tickets well in advance (maybe a month in advance) especially high-speed ones due to high prices. Bus prices are better, but there could be more connections and they could cover the region better. Locals are used to using Blablacar a lot, which I did as well, but you have to count with some unreliability/unpredictability of locals - it's not uncommon for someone to cancel the whole trip or just your booking without further message or explanation. It is therefore always a good idea to have a backup plan in the form of a more expensive bus or a hostel option.
Within the city, it usually doesn't make sense to use public transport - it's not very frequent, the lines are sometimes strangely long and slow. Since the city is not large, it often works out best to walk. For trips around the area, buses work pretty well during the day.

Did you deal with any health issues during your stay?yes

How do you rate the availability of healthcare?mostly fine

🤠Help create the perfect bucket list

What is a must-see in the city?I recommend walking the whole of Albaycín with all the views (Mirador de San Miguel Alto), the streets, the gardens, the Sacromonte district with the monastery, the big flea market in the Zaidín district. Around Granada there is a lot of greenery, forests and parks where you can go for day trips. The Alhambra is definitely worth seeing at least once, but I'd recommend finding out which months are less busy with tourists, or you can visit just the gardens and parks in the free section, or just the Generalife, where tickets are cheaper. The Arab Baths are nice too - some sights are free on certain days of the week.

What are the must-visit trip destinations?Whole Andalucía is beautiful, I recommend taking advantage of the weekend trips organised by the Emycet student association, when I was in Granada, communication was via a WhatsApp group. The prices of the trips were very reasonable, usually priced the same as taking a bus on your own, but as a bonus there were transfers aranged between different cities, there was a guide and it was an opportunity to meet other students.
In addition, I would recommend a trip to Seville, Cádiz and Córdoba (preferably in May during the Patio Festival), but feel free to do that on your own so you have more time to explore these cities.
From the nearby area, I definitely recommend going on the trek to Los Cahorros de Monachil - the scenery is beautiful, the length is just right for a relaxing day hike, it's a short bus ride and definitely worth it.

Share your best experience:It's hard for me to pick one particular experience, Granada is beautiful overall, but out of the trips I enjoyed the most I would pick Cadiz, Ronda and the sit down punk concert (due to covid restrictions) in Seville.

💅A nugget of wisdom to make the life easier

Did you need to handle a visa?no

How did you get to the place?Plane
Bus

Is there anything to watch out for before the trip?I can't think of anything. I found it best value for money to fly to Malaga and take the bus from there to Granada.

Can you pay by card?in most places

What not to forget when packing?Warm clothes for the outdoors, but especially for sleeping in the winter months, as apartments tend to be very cold and often lack heating. I definitely recommend hiking boots, you'll get use for them in the area. And generally comfortable shoes, Granada is best moved around on foot.

🥳Summary

Whew, what a ride! 😮‍💨 Thanks so much for taking the time to complete our survey and for sharing your unique experience. Just one last thing. 🙏 How would you summarize your trip in one or two sentences?Granada is amazing, just make sure there are enough credits/courses available in the language you speak.