WHERE TO LIVE
Lumiar Students’ Residence
Residência do Lumiar might be the students’ first option. It’s guaranteed that you, as an Erasmus Mundus student, stay at the Residence if you want to, so that you don’t have to worry about looking for a place to live before you arrive. Here is some information about Lumiar:
@ Kinds of rooms. There are 3 options of rooms here: single ensuite (with private bathroom), single, and double, the last two with shared bathroom.
@ Price. It varies according to the kind of room you choose. Single ensuite is the most expensive one, costing around €300/month; single costs €190 and double €160 (estimated prices).
* If you want to change the room given to you, there are a few possibilities.
If you arrive early (like before the semester really starts, or the first week of the semester), possibility is people have not checked into their room, so it is easier to have your request fulfilled during this time.
If your request is denied, the subsequent possibility might come later especially towards the end of the semester when Erasmus students go home one after another.
@ Usually single rooms are allocated for mature students - unless there are too many students to be taken into consideration.
@ There are 3 floors for female, 3 for males. On each floor there are 8 rooms and 3 bathrooms (if I am not mistaken, 3 single rooms, 4 doubles, and 1 ensuite). Some rooms have balconies and some not, the sizes of rooms are different too. Certainly the rooms in Lumiar are not as spacious as Canigou in Perpignan, but even the smallest room is kind of perfect for single occupancy.
@ There is a lift in Lumiar, so no worries about luggage and all. The top floor has facilities for doing laundry, ironing, and hanging clothes. They clean the elevator, kitchen, corridors, all WC almost every weekday too.
@ Contract of room ends when semester ends. It is necessary to make a request for extension of stay. But in the first month, the ladies in-charge at the residence had already asked us to write down the prospective date of leaving the residence. It might be better to give a later date than to assume the last day of the semester rather than to face the consequences of having to move out of your room and placed in another room, or even leave the residence (and need to re-apply for a place to stay) because probably rooms will be reserved for in-coming guests/students. In case there's a need to extend your stay, the right place to make your request known is the Reitoria and avoiding conflicts of any kind with anyone in the residence might come in handy.
@ The Lumiar neighbourhood has everything you will need: supermarkets, transportation, restaurants (including a university restaurant where you can eat for €2), and even a beautiful park. The only problem with the area is the constant noise of airplanes and the fact that it is a little far from the city centre. To get there by metro, take the yellow line and get off at Quinta das Conchas.
Lumiar is clean, convenient, well kept and strives to improve. It saves time and saves money. Inconveniences are that (at least until 6 months ago) there was only one kitchen for all the tenants, i.e. 70 people, with only two fridges! Also, internet connection was quite poor, but that might have been improved. Choosing is up to you!
Students’ Flats
Finding a room in Lisbon can be as easy or as difficult as in any other European city. Fist of all it depends on your expectations; then, of course, on your luck =) It’s important to know that flats in Lisbon are often very old and that the cheapest rooms usually have no window (or as the Portuguese prefer to say: ‘com janela interior’). Also keep in mind that some areas of the city might be dangerous to walk alone at night, so when looking for a flat, try to find out whether the area is safe. Prices vary roughly between €180 and €300 depending of course on location, facilities, and… the landlords’ common-sense!
Some useful websites that can help you find the right accommodation are:
www.easystanza.pt; www.erasmusliboa.com; www.easyquarto.com.pt
You may also try:
@ Looking at the Universities and Libraries pin-walls.
@ Buying a weekly magazine, ‘Ocasião’, which is full of ads of any sort!
* If you need to buy house stuff, such as lamps, pots, or anything, there is an IKEA right outside Lisbon. To go there just take bus 48 from Marquês de Pombal in direction to Linda-a-Velha and ask for driver to tell you where to get off.
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