Timisoara.

Timisoara is Romania's third city (about 320,000 people), the 1989 revolution's birthplace, with an entirely pedestrian, leafy centre split by the Bega river, whose banks are the real student living room for running, sunbathing, beach-volley and bars. Several reports rate it prettier and calmer than Bucarest, and the dorm room here is the cheapest in the whole corpus.

• Timisoara sits right on the Serbia and Hungary border: Budapest is 19 euros away by Flixbus, Belgrade about 3 hours by minibus.
• Everything is walkable: the university sits 15 to 20 minutes from the dorms, and the centre is another 10 to 15 minutes further.
• Dorm rooms run 40 to 60 euros a month, easily the cheapest student housing anywhere in this corpus.

Student life runs through the aleea studentilor, the pedestrian student complex south of the centre: dorms, cheap restaurants, a gym, the canteen and 24-hour Profi minimarkets. The mix is genuinely international (Romanian, French, Turkish, Greek, Portuguese, Spanish, Quebecois), and UPT runs free trips to Hunedoara castle and local museums. Nights end early: restaurants shut by 9pm, clubs by 2am.

• Join the Studcasa Timisoara group early, it is where dorm assignments, buddy contacts and events get shared first.
• Get added to your faculty WhatsApp groups on day one, that is how Romanian buddies and event info actually circulate.
• Expect a strong French contingent, notably through the veterinary school's French-language track, with galas drawing 200-plus French students.

A dorm room runs 40 to 60 euros a month (255 lei in 2025, quoted as 60 euros in 2026), plus a one-off 20 euros for internet and laundry and a refundable 120-euro deposit. A student meal on the aleea studentilor costs about 5 euros, a shaorma 4 to 7.50 euros, a beer 1.40 to 1.80 euros, and a bus or tram ticket just 0.50 euros. Renting an apartment starts around 200 to 250 euros a month.

• Budget close to 60 euros a month for a dorm room in 2026, prices have crept up every year since 2022.
• Uber or Bolt costs under 2 euros per person split three ways, cheaper and more reliable than local taxis.
• Pay the caution (about 120 euros) in cash, the rent itself goes through a card app.

Housing is refreshingly simple: tick yes on the UPT registration form's housing box and the university assigns you a dorm room (room 11C comes up often), confirmed by email with your address. Rooms are doubles with two beds, a fridge and shared bathrooms, plus a shared kitchen and two washer-dryers per floor of about 60 students. Sheets are provided, dishes are not.

• Just tick the housing box on your UPT application, no separate hunting needed, the university assigns your dorm.
• A new Erasmus-only residence is under construction for around 2026, worth double-checking before you commit to older descriptions.
• Cash covers the deposit, but rent itself goes through a card app; sheets are provided, dishes are not.

Timisoara is small enough to skip transport passes: the university sits 15 to 20 minutes from the dorms on foot, the centre another 10 to 15 minutes. A bus or tram ticket costs 0.50 euros, Uber is cheap, and taxis without a Romanian speaker are best avoided (detours are common). Trains are slow, Cluj under 8 euros in 6 hours, Bucarest 11 to 12 hours, so pick night couchettes.

• Skip transport cards altogether, everything worth reaching is within a 45-minute walk.
• Fly via Timisoara's own Wizz Air airport, or connect through Cluj if prices are better.
• For Belgrade, book the GEA Tours minibus (about 50 euros, door to door) rather than renting a car.

UPT covers 10 faculties on one campus, and unlike Bucarest you commit to a single faculty. The real risk is landing courses taught only in Romanian, reported in mechanics and electrical engineering, with individual arrangements and take-home work instead of classes. English is reliably guaranteed only in computer science, electronics and civil engineering. Grading, though, is famously forgiving.

• Double-check the actual teaching language of your faculty before you leave, the course catalogue is not reliable on this.
• Get added to your professors' WhatsApp groups from day one, that is how course changes and assignments get communicated.

As an EU country, Romania asks nothing of EU or EEA passport holders beyond the paperwork every exchange student already carries. There is no visa process, no residence permit and no border check to worry about.

• European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) plus a complementary travel insurance policy required by most schools, from around 20 to 50 euros a month.
• Register your stay on France Diplomatie's Ariane platform before leaving.
• Romania is in the EU but not the eurozone: bring a fee free card like Revolut and use ING or Banca Transilvania ATMs for the best exchange rates.
• Grab a local Vodafone or Telekom SIM once you land, from 5 to 7 euros for close to unlimited data, and skip the airport kiosks.

Try sarmale with polenta and papanasi for dessert, a full meal with drink and dessert can run about 8 euros. The university canteen costs 2 to 4 euros, Auchan at Iulius Town is unbeatable for groceries, Profi covers 24-hour top-ups, and Lidl is the cheapest option. Tap water is not drinkable, so budget for bottled water everywhere, including a paid glass at restaurants.

• Bring your own bag, groceries are sold individually here, not in multi-packs like at home.
• Stock up on bottled water, tap water is undrinkable and restaurants charge for a glass of it.
• Expect a lot of pork and chicken on menus, beef is comparatively rare.

The pedestrian old town (Unirii and Victoriei squares, the Orthodox cathedral) is pure Austro-Hungarian charm, source of the little Vienna nickname. South of it, the student complex along aleea studentilor sits between campus and the Bega. The riverbanks are the city's relaxation spot, and Iulius Town, the mall with Auchan and a cinema, is a 40-minute walk northeast.

• Live in or near the student complex, it puts dorms, food, sport and nightlife within a five-minute walk.
• The Bega riverbanks are the go-to spot for running, sunbathing and casual drinks with other exchange students.
• Watch your step around older buildings downtown, some are genuinely decaying and only get renovated after collapsing.

Budapest is the number one weekend trip: 19 euros by Flixbus, hostels from around 13 euros a night. Belgrade takes about 3 hours by the GEA Tours minibus (50 euros, door to door, watch your roaming outside the EU). Within Romania, Cluj-Napoca is under 8 euros by train, with the Turda salt mines nearby, and Brasov opens up the Carpathians. Renting a car with friends runs about 50 euros each.

• Book Budapest early in the semester, it is the trip almost every exchange student does at least once.
• Cross into Serbia by minibus, not a rental car, return hassles with rental companies are a recurring complaint.
• Pair Cluj-Napoca with the Turda salt mines, an easy and cheap add-on to the same train trip.

The single biggest trap is course language: check what your faculty actually teaches in, not just the catalogue, since mechanics and electrical engineering students have both landed semesters mostly in Romanian. Locals speak less English than in Bucarest, so expect real immersion. Pack layers for wild swings, minus 20 in winter, 35 in summer, and a swimsuit for the Bega.

• Verify your course language before you commit, do not trust the Erasmus catalogue alone.
• Watch your drink on nights out, one reported incident led to advice to always go out in groups.
• Bring a padded jacket and a swimsuit, the climate swings from minus 20 in winter to 35 in summer.