Where to live for 6 months?

joebloggs

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Hey there,

I'm from the UK. I'd like to try living in another European city for 6 months, see a bit of the continent.

I have a budget of around €5K per month. No worries about the job, I work freelance from home, so can do it anywhere. Don't care about the economy or social benefits or taxes or anything like that - I'm self-sufficient and already pay 50%+ in the UK, all said and done.

I'm looking for...

  • Somewhere relatively safe... I want to be able to walk the streets in the day and not feel like I'm going to be knifed at any point.
  • Somewhere good for a 27 year old couple. I'm with my girlfriend and we want to feel there's some life to the place. That doesn't mean nightclubs (I'm not into that scene), but somewhere with a bit of a vibe.
  • Somewhere with good language schools. If I'm in a foreign country, I'd like to at least attempt learning the language with part-time studies.
  • Somewhere with excellent food choices. I'm a real foodie. That also means good, organic options, too, and varied supermarkets, as well as good places to eat.
  • Somewhere I don't feel utterly poor. €5K has to afford EVERYTHING- food, a decent place to live (furnished- don't want to faff about buying stuff only to stay there 6 months), bills, food, days out... for 2 people.
  • Somewhere that actually feels enjoyable. Don't want to live on a farm in the middle of nowhere, or completely isolated. A city would be nice.

FYI, I lived in Paris for 3 months and enjoyed it, but I'm thinking of trying somewhere new.

I've lived in London for a while so please avoid that suggestion.

Right now, I'm considering Dublin, Rome, Prague or somewhere in Switzerland. I have limited travel experience with each (a day or two here and there, didn't really take a whole lot in) so maybe you can suggest somewhere else?

Where would you go?

Thanks! -JB
 
I would think a town in northeastern France might be attractive for you.
 
Well, you could come here, the cost of living is high in Strasbourg, but you seem to think Paris is fine and we are cheaper here. We have several language schools here for foreigners. We are right next to Switzerland so to take a trip there during breaks is rather convenient.
 
There are hundreds of options. With 5,000 € per month you will be comfortable almost anywhere outside the UK, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Paris.

If food and sightseeing are important for you, I would recommend a city in central or northern Italy (e.g. Florence, Rome, Siena, Verona are all great options, also for language schools), south-west Germany (Heidelberg, Freiburg, Tübingen, Stuttgart are all outstanding). In France, safety might be an issue in bigger cities, especially if you rely on public transport or go to night clubs. If I had to live for a few months in a french city I would choose Strasbourg, Nancy, Dijon, Nice or Toulouse. There are countless smaller cities that are very beautiful to visit (Caen, Colmar, Carcasonne, Saint-Malo, Annecy), but you might get bored staying there for 6 months.

Brussels is also a great place, but it takes time to discover and enjoy properly (6 months might be too short). If you do choose Brussels, make sure to choose a decent neighbourhood to live, as there are huge gaps between well-off and destitute immigrant quarters, with very little in between.
 
My city, Zaragoza, 700.000 inhab. (NE Spain)

With 5000 euro you'll live like a Maharaja, is one the saffest cities in Spain, you have a good cultural and nightlife scene, people is around the streets in winter, summer..., you'll can learn spanish -several academies and a brittish college- and there's only 300 kms from Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia; 270 from San Sebastian, 180 from Pamplona, one hour and thirty minutes from the Pyrennes (if you like skiing), 3.30 hours from Pau (southern France)...

Public transport works good and we have airport and AVE (high speed train)

Contras:

The wind, strong and cold in winter. The summer, hot as hell. Others would put also the accent...
 

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