Best Place to Study Abroad (house, neighbourhoods, luxury)

[futureincumbent]

I'm really interested in studying abroad in the Spring...and with all the places to choose, I'm having a rough time! I'm a 20 year old college sophomore, male. Although, I probably will, and if, I pick a European city, I should be able to go to most of the other famous cities shouldn't I...since they are close? My top choices are: Amsterdam, Stockholm, London, or somewhere in Australia.

Say for instance, I decide on Amsterdam...I should be able to travel to see Berlin, London, Paris, Prague, etc. since it's fairly close?

[dullnboring]

Yes you will able to. They have the trains of course which are much quicker, and cover a much broader area than Amtrak; and they also have discount airlines like RyanAir and EasyJet which can zip you to cities across the continent for phenomenally low prices, and the relative compact size of Europe means that flights generally aren't all that long. A flight from Amsterdam to London is only an hour long. A train ride to Paris from Amsterdam is four hours.

[bale002]

I have to second most of everything dullnboring says, except that I wouldn't even mention European train travel and Amtrack in the same sentence, there really is no comparison: Europe has a serious, better balanced domestic passenger transportation policy, and it is improving with high speed, coming very soon, while the US simply doesn't and it is stagnating, in parallel with the charade in Iraq.

Of the three top choices you mentioned, Amsterdam is the best because it is the most centrally located of those three, and possibly for any other number of reasons.

As a student, you can enjoy the best of Europe: stay as long as you possibly can.

Good luck!

[mysky]

"...stay as long as you possibly can..."

Amen to that!

I graduated from high school in Stavanger, Norway and then had to move back to the states with my parents.

I've been trying to get back overseas ever since.

Best of luck to you. I envy your possibilities!

[HighlandsGal]

I studied abroad in Southern Spain and I highly recommend it. The weather is a thousand times better than in Amsterdam but you still get the quality nightlife (and beaches!), plus it is cheaper. Where I was (Malaga) was a resort town, so you had all of the discount airlines available to go all over Europe for cheap!

Wherever you end up, definitely study abroad. It was the best thing I could've done when I was 21 and it significantly changed my life! Have fun!!

[Lillietta]

Say for instance, I decide on Amsterdam...I should be able to travel to see Berlin, London, Paris, Prague, etc. since it's fairly close?[/quote]

Yes, and you know that the British Pound is quite a bit stronger than the Euro so Britain will be most costly.

[internat]

There are no tuition fees in Sweden so Stockholm is a good choice in that sense. It's probably the most boring city out of the ones on your list. I would suggest Amsterdam or somewhere in Australia. London is expensive for a student who would also like to enjoy the city.

[talktobrent]

I studied abroad in London, it was a great experience but I probably wouldn't recommend it again. If you do London I would say live further out from zone 1 (central london). You will probably not meet any "normal" people in central london. Just tourists and rich coked out international students. That can be part of the fun (I went to school with 2 saudi princesses, and one student even drove a lamborghini to school), but it will grow old after a while. Nightlife can be a headache in London if you are a guy, as clubs will deny you if you aren't with girls and still might anyway if you are. If you want to do the UK I would highly recommend any other city than London. Wherever you are in the UK London is easily accessible anyway.

[internat]

London isn't really English. There are a few neighbourhoods in western London with more natives. Other than that large parts of the city feel like a foreign non-European place. On the one hand you have London, and on the other the rest of England. I think it's quite sad. You mentioned Saudi princesses. They are using Britain and I guess you could say the city of London are using them too.

"In most countries residents are taxed on their worldwide income. Residence is assessed by objective criteria: how long someone has lived in the country, for instance. But in Britain foreigners may claim residence and citizenship yet avoid paying tax on foreign income and capital gains by declaring themselves “non-domiciled”, asserting a “long-term connection” with another country."
Taxing rich foreigners | One tax to bind them | Economist.com

I hope Boris Johnson will become the next mayor of London. If you talk with people who lived in London 30 years ago they will tell you how it has changed for the worse.

"The world loves a long weekend in New York but, these days, prefers to make its home in London. New York has the nostalgia, London the future. New York defines the metropolitan, London the cosmopolitan.

And the reason for this is that foreigners in New York are, always, just that. The city treats even its long-term residents from abroad as visitors, welcomed on to the cocktail circuit, perhaps even to a share of a house in the Hamptons, but never to the power-broking tables at the Four Seasons. “New York is always American,” says Bill Roedy, the American who has spent the past 15 years in the UK running MTV world-wide. “Like Paris is French, Moscow is Russian, New York is American.”
London, on the other hand, is passport-blind. It does not have the luxury of being the de facto capital of a continental economy. So, it is international: it treats its visitors as citizens, as players."
London calling - Times Online

London is a city of strangers!

Originally Posted by talktobrent

If you want to do the UK I would highly recommend any other city than London. Wherever you are in the UK London is easily accessible anyway.

[diegosmom]

Europe is very expensive right now. Studying abroad is great....what are your interests? Art, Music, Engineering, a particular language??? That would also help your study abroad decision. College students party anyway so don't worry about the nightlife.