So you are considering going abroad, and there are a lot of things that you are going to want to do during this once in a lifetime opportunity. Whether you are skydiving above the Swiss Alps or combing through an endless bazaar in Morocco, you will always want to have a nice place that you can go home to at night. Here are a few tips on what to expect when going abroad and looking for sweet places to live:

1. Consider that things are different in Europe and in student accommodations in general. In most cases, students tend to have at least one bedroom that is shared between two or more people.

2. Cost: This all depends on the city you are going to be calling “home” for a while, but keep in mind that all cities and countries have completely different real estate markets. For example, Paris and London are going to be much higher than Madrid. In some cases, in cities like Rome, the area where everyone wants to live in the heart of Trastevere is much more expensive than an apartment that is only 10 minutes away in Prati (very similar case in Prague). This brings us to our next point.

3. Location: Cities in Europe tend to be smaller and easier to manage in terms of transportation. A lot of cities have convenient metro options that can get you from one side of a city to another in a matter of minutes. Choose a location that is relatively close to school, but also close enough to areas of the city that you know you want to explore.

4. Expectations: As we mentioned, living in an apartment in a foreign country is totally different than anything you’re used to back home. While there is a great sense of independence and freedom that comes with it, you should also be aware that things such as blazing WIFI speeds and hot water 24 hours a day are just simply less available (especially in countries such as Spain, France, and Italy). While Americans like to blast their hot water for 15 minutes, Europeans tend to be more conscientious.

5. Living with friends: Our advice is definitely to try and live with at least one friend, but if you are able to find other people to live with, than you should most certainly explore that option. Studying abroad is about expanding your horizons and living with new people is a big part of what will give you new friends that last a lifetime.

If you are looking for housing abroad, let Study Abroad Apartments do the work for you.  Study Abroad Apartments offers the best apartments in the most popular cities.  They provide apartments in prime locations that are safe, clean, and convenient.  Because they have multiple apartments in most of their buildings it makes it easy for large groups of friends to live in the same building.

Study Abroad Apartments knows what students are looking for.  Co-founders Brett Newman and Ryan Blum started this company after experiencing the pit falls of finding an apartment in an unknown city on their own while studying abroad.  They realized there was a great need for a reliable student accommodation platform that would take away the surprises that could ruin what is supposed to be one of the best experiences of a young person’s life.

Study Abroad Apartments currently offers accommodations in Barcelona, Florence, Rome, Prague, London, Berlin, New York, Madrid, Seville, and Granada.  Brett and Ryan are experts on each of these cities and are great resources who will give you their honest advice to make sure you are happy with your accommodations.

It’s even easier now to find your dream apartment with their newly redesigned website.  The website allows you to quickly search available apartments based on your city and number of roommates.  There are many apartments available in each city so you can look through the pictures, lists of included amenities, and location and pick which works best for you.

Could you see yourself living in one of these fantastic apartments? Check out studyabroadapartments.com to see what else they have available for you. Use promo code VOY to receive 5% off of your booking fee!