Scotland and its fairy landscapes

Scotland and its fairy landscapes

GLASGOW

What you need to know:

- It's really easy to travel around Scotland and it's worth it !

- If you are a Harry Potter lover, Scotland is the place to go, because lot of movie's scenes were filmed in these beautiful landscapes.

- Be careful about the apartment scam which are, unfortunately, still used in Glasgow.

- In order to meet people, you can use Facebook's group such as 'Les français à Glasgow' or universities' Facebook Groups.

- For fall and winter seasons, the weather is pretty cold, windy and rainy, so do not forget your sweaters and rain coats !

Photo by Bjorn Snelders on Unsplash

As you may know (or not), Scotland is a part of the United Kingdom and is located in northern England. Scotland is well known for its landscapes, natural parks, lakes, …. The country is full of myths and stories, each one more incredible than the other. The main cities in Scotland are Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee. There are of course plenty other cities and villages which worth the visit. In my opinion, it is one of the best place to travel in Europe !

Photo by Jack Anstey on Unsplash

GLASGOW

Glasgow is the biggest city in Scotland (by number of inhabitants) and the third most populous city in United Kingdom. The city is located in the middle west of Scotland and Edinburgh is just at one hour by car.

Glasgow is mainly a student city, there are 4 main universities well known such as University of Glasgow, one of the oldest universities in Scotland, the university has some Harry Potter vibes which is really cool; University of Strathclyde, it’s a huge university in Glasgow’s downtown; Glasgow Caledonian University, it is the merger between The Queen’s College and Glasgow Polytechnic school; and City of Glasgow College, huge university in Glasgow’s downtown. It's the perfect city for college students to do trips in Europe.

HOW TO FIND A PLACE IN GLASGOW ?

There are many ways to find a place in Glasgow, here is my recommendations:

• Student’s residence

I didn’t have lot of problems to find a place to live for my short stay (4months) in Glasgow. As an exchange student, the university provides me an accommodation (a share flat) which was simple and right on the campus. This solution was good for a semester stay but I don’t think I would choose this solution if it was for a longer stay. But anyway, there are plenty of student’s accommodations all around Glasgow and most of them are located near the universities. Most of the student’s accommodations rent room in an apartment but it can be sometimes small studios, the price range can start from 100£ and can easily reach 170£, depends on how the room is.

You can find here a list of student’s accommodations around Glasgow.

• Airbnb

For a short stay, Airbnb can be a solution, but it is also a bit more expensive that the Student’s accommodations because there are some additional fees you have to think about. It is pretty easy to find an apartment through Airbnb, and it is secure so there are less scam propositions. To choose a good apartment, you should read the comments given. A friend of mine found his room on Airbnb, he used to pay around 650€/months (around 580£) for a sharing flat, and it took him around 2 weeks to found something good.

• Flat sharing App/Website

An easy way to find a room is to look at the flat sharing application, there are several types of flat sharing app or websites such as Nestpick.

• Facebook groups

Facebook groups are really useful, especially when you’re abroad, it can help you to find lot of things, such as a room or a share flat. It is also used to meet new people, you can go check the Facebook groups 'Les français à Glasgow" for example.

Key information: 

- In every website you might look to find an apartment, prices will be given for a week.

- Unfortunately, apartment scam existed in Glasgow, to fight against that and not fall in this trap you need to be careful: the first thing which should help you to identify if it’s a scam or not is if your interlocutors is asking you to pay the deposit BEFORE you arrived to see the accommodation. You always must visit first the apartment before paying anything.

HOW TO MOVE AROUND GLASGOW ?

Transportation in Glasgow is really easy and well used. There is a huge bus station near the train station, which is really useful to get to other cities in Scotland. The prices are cheaper, and the buses are well equipped. There are plenty of buses which going all around the city.

Futhermore, there are 3 train stations in Glasgow, there are all located downtown, so it’s really easy to travel all around Scotland.

You can find all the places I mentionned in this map:

There is also a subway but compare to other cities it’s just one line which move around in circle. However, it closed early in the evening (around 8pm) and the city is kind of small so you can walk around from one place to another. Personally, I prefer to walk around the city because there are plenty of parks and it’s really lovely, but sometimes buses or subway are better.

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