Discover the best housing options, read reviews from those who've already done this exchange, and connect with peers from universities worldwide!
Discover the best housing options, read reviews from those who've already done this exchange, and connect with peers from universities worldwide!
Lucy
From: University of Manchester
To: Université de Toulouse - Jean Jaurès
2025 • Full year
Travel from Toulouse is quite easy, I could fly home to the UK fairly easily but it was expensive, and often I had to take a connecting flight. In terms of…..
What kind of place was it?
Student Residence
How much was the rent per month?
268,06
Where was it located?
In Amidonniers, near the Ponts Jumeaux bus stop
How can someone find this place?
Via Crous - I had to apply via my host university
Would you recommend it?
Yes - although I’d say you get what you pay for. I had a 9m2 studio, it was fairly dated and not very clean when I moved in. However once I’d moved in I had no issues, it’s about 20 minutes on the bus into the town centre, but the commute to university is around one hour from door to door. There’s shops a 10 minutes walk away, and Place Saint Pierre is around a 20 minute walk, with lots of bars.
What are some top bars, clubs, or events you recommend?
Place Saint Pierre is a good place - lots of bars and cheap places to eat, cafes etc. It’s also on the banks of the river, and when the weather was nice lots of people sit on the steps to the river with their drinks and play music. Clubs - le Purple, Limelight, Downtown Factory, Cafe Oz - in September a lot of places have student deals/nights on, so good to look out for them. The ESN group or AEGEE group run lots of events and socials, often at low cost or free.
Which classes do you recommend… or not?
University in France is very different to my experience in the UK. I didn’t find the classes to be very interactive, mostly due to the amount of students - there’s not much chance for detailed discussions. For my subject specifically, history, the aim of modules was to memorise information rather than critically analyse it/form your own opinions. Exams were written essays and multiple choice quizzes. I did enjoy my classes - for example Initiation à l’histoire contemporaine and l’histoire économique et sociale de XXe siècle.
Do you have some tips?
Registration was very easy - if you follow the instructions sent by email it’s straightforward. If there’s any issues there was a help desk open for Erasmus students, and you had to go once to verify your arrival, where they gave you a map and had time for any questions. The campus isn’t too big, so it was easy to find rooms. There’s a canteen (although queues were often quite long), a smaller cafeteria plus food trucks and vending machines.
Best trips to do?
Travel from Toulouse is quite easy, I could fly home to the UK fairly easily but it was expensive, and often I had to take a connecting flight. In terms of trips to take, I would recommend Collioure, a beach town which was 3 hours on the train. Closer places include Carcassonne and Albi, which are great for day trips. I even took the coach to Barcelona for the weekend, which was around 5 hours each way. It’s worth adding that on the first weekend of each month, you can train tickets anywhere in the region for 1 euro. Even when not in these weekends, travel is fairly cheap. Ski resorts are around a 3 hour drive.
What do you absolutely need to know to live your best life in Toulouse?
You can get a Pastel transport card, a student tarif was around 150 euros for the whole year, and you can use it on buses, trams, metro. You can sign up at one of the Tisseo agencies or online. The city is fairly small, especially on the metro you can get pretty much anywhere in 15 minutes.
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Lucy
From: University of Manchester
To: Université de Toulouse - Jean Jaurès
2025 • Full year
I had a 9m2 ‘studio’, and it was very cheap at 268 euros a month. However you get what you paid for - the decor was outdated, many maintenance issues such as a…..
What kind of place was it?
Airbnb
How much was the rent per month?
268 euros
Where was it located?
Ponts Jumeaux, around 20 minutes from the centre of town, and 40 minutes from my university
How can someone find this place?
It is a CROUS residence, so the CROUS website/application through your host university.
Would you recommend it?
I had a 9m2 ‘studio’, and it was very cheap at 268 euros a month. However you get what you paid for - the decor was outdated, many maintenance issues such as a friend I knew having a leaking bathroom, my extract fan broke. There was poor ventilation in the bathrooms. Certain buildings in the complex had bug problems and so had to be fumigated multiple times. However it was perfectly functional and I would stay there again, especially given the financial benefits. There’s a 24/7 reception, parking for students, you can get letters (but not parcels!) delivered there, a laundry service (although there was only 6 machines and 2 dryers for nearly 1000 students).
What are some top bars, clubs, or events you recommend?
Best clubs include Cafe Oz, Limelight, Downtown Factory. Melting Pot Pub (Sundays) and The Classroom (Thursdays) have weekly pub quizzes, and are chilled British-themed pubs. Nice bars are in Saint-Cyprien. Place Saint Pierre is also a good place to get a drink; especially in the nice weather people with sit on the steps near the water with their own drinks
Which classes do you recommend… or not?
Coming from the UK uni system i found the French system quite different. It’s a lot less interactive - for my courses at least, ‘seminars’ were mainly repetition of a lecture/very little talking from the students. I took histoire economique et sociale du XXe siècle which was very interesting, also initiation à l’histoire contemporaine. UT2J has an online platform where professors upload lecture slides and other resources which is very helpful.
Do you have some tips?
The campus is quite big, but far out from the centre. It was very easy to sign up and make my student card, and there is an international student office for any concerns/queries. I would say there’s not much of a uni social life compared to the UK - for example no students union building, few societies.
Best trips to do?
Toulouse is a little far away from other cities, but nevertheless lots of opportunities. Collioure is a lovely beach town 3hrs on the train, Carcassone is 1 hour away. Me and my friends took a 5 hour coach to Barcelona, and also San Sebastián. Paris is a 4.5hr train, i would recommend all these destinations. Also great opportunities for hiking with the Pyrenees being so close by.
What do you absolutely need to know to live your best life in Toulouse?
I loved the city life! You can buy a Tisseo ‘carte pastel’ (i paid around 160 euros on a student tarif, for the whole year) which coverts travel on buses, metros, etc. There are two metro lines and if you live near a stop you can get pretty much everywhere, and very quickly. Main supermarkets are carrefour, Intermarché, Auchan - id recommend Auchan for being the cheapest.
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