Venice, located on 117 small islands only connected by numerous bridges, is known for its unique setting
Venice, the capital of the North-Eastern Italian province Veneto cannot be compared with any other Italian town. An endless number of boats and Vaporettos (public waterbusses) constantly travel the waterways and canals of the (almost) car-free city. The colourful beauties of carnival, the renaissance buildings and the Art & Architecture Biennale attract millions of tourists every year. But as a student you can also explore the narrow streets far from the touristic attractions. As part of this master program Venice offers an envirnomental track. If you want to knwo what you need to know for a mobility semester in Venice, read the Q&A below.
Which specialization tracks exist? And how is the workload and grading system?
Ca’Foscari is a big university with 21.000 students. The university has 8 departments and 6 campuses spread out over the city of Venice (on the island) and Mestre (on the mainland). All the courses I took were taught at the scientific campus in Mestre. I thought it was a nice and spacious campus with plenty of green space. For the courses I took the classrooms were comfortable but rather small (±30 people). As a result, the university felt small and personal to me.
Most courses can easily be found via the ‘’Course search’’. The information is up to date. However, course scheduling might change. Unfortunately, the course search doesn’t give the option to select the instruction languages right away. you have to click on “Search for courses taught in English” on the Course search page. This can be found when clicking on the course. Within my departments (Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics), the offer of English courses is rather scarce. Tip: If you go to a course in the Ca’Foscari course guide, there is an option to copy the class schedule to your google or apple calendar.
As an Erasmus student, you can however choose courses from other faculties as well – there are some interesting Environmental-focused courses f.e. on the faculty of Humanities.
What should I prepare before the stay?
I am very pleased with the administrative system regarding Erasmus in Venice: Our contact person (Ms. Daipre) was super friendly, helpful and approachable. I could always count on a quick response with simple instructions.
The online student system is mostly in Italian and setting the language is not possible for many pages. However, it is possible to get by with google translate as the system is not super complicated.
At Ca‘Foscari the course subscription was a bit different than what I am used to. At the online system incoming students have to register for a whole curriculum in advance. Hence, more courses than you intend to take. Next to this, it is necessary to go to the first class and tell the professor you want to join the class. Therefore, it is important to check the ‘Piano di Studio’ a month into the Erasmus to see if all your course subscriptions are correct in the system. When in doubt, email the professor and your contact person (Ms. Daipre). To receive all the important notes and news about the course, including course materials, you have to also subscribe to the course on the Unive Moodle page. Sometimes you need a key (which can be requested by the professor), but usually the inscription is free.
How do I find housing?
When I applied for the Erasmus, the housing office of Ca ’Foscari contacted me and gave me the opportunity to subscribe. From that point onwards, the office sent me offers three times a week and it was easy to find a room to my preferences. It is also possible to subscribe to one of the Venice housing groups on Facebook. Here, you will find more (and often cheaper) options. If you would like to live on the island of Venice this last option is preferred.
I rented a room at Via Piave in Mestre at a 5-minute walking distance from the station. The apartment was beautiful with a new kitchen and a new bathroom. It consisted of one single room and two double rooms (5 girls). The single room was €430 and the double rooms were €330 each, which is a relatively high rent for Mestre. It is supposedly not the best neighborhood (I sometimes felt uncomfortable outside at night), but I nevertheless enjoyed living there as everything was close.
If you want to add another experience – I lived near Via Bissuola, which is a very pretty and safe neighborhood with a lot of cafés and shopping options, close to the Mestre Centro. My pretty room in an apartment with a nice kitchen and big living room and a balcony, was 360€ tutto incluso :)
How do I get around in the city?
For me the best way how to get around Mestre was to get a bike – the public transpirt here is functioning, but the bus lines from my place to the Uni were the circular ones that went through the whole Mestre before I got to school and it took around 30 mins, compared with 15 mins on the bike. It’s therefore my favourite way how to get around on the mainland. When it comes to going to Venice, there are several buses and trams going all the time (every 5-10 mins) from the mainland to the island. It took me 15 mins by tram from my place to get to Piazzale Roma.
How do I meet people when I arrive?
There is a very active ESN team organizing events and trips for international students. Meeting people is also easy just by going to Campo Santa Margherita on a weekend night and talking to people. It’s usually full of students, who are up to finding new friends :)
How are the living expenses?
My single room in Mestre was relatively expensive: €430. To cut the costs a little, I recommend getting the city pass if you are younger than 26: The costs are €40 in the first month and €25 each month thereafter in which you can make unlimited use of public transport and enjoy discounts to cultural events. As I left Italy after four weeks because of Covid-19, I find the other costs difficult to estimate.
The costs for groceries etc. are comparable with Austria. Cheap meat, fruit and veggies can be found on the markets. Going out is cheaper than in Austria – Venetian tradition is getting a Spritz after work, so the Aperol Spritz prizes vary around 2,5-3,5€. Vino di casa = house wine is also a cheap option – it’s a very nice light wine provided in bars and restaurants for affordable prizes (can be around 1€ for a glass). Also eating out is cheaper than in Austria, you can get a nice meal in a restaurant for about 10-15€, or a to-go pasta box for 6€ ( I recommend Bigos in Venice, very tasty).
Which cafés, bars, sports centers can you recommend?
I tried to keep my tips original (standard sightseeing you can google). I divided my tips by regions in Venice:
Cannaregio
After obligatory visit of all the touristic highlights, try to get lost in Venice and find your “personal” spots. Venice can feel a little distant and enigmatic sometimes, but it takes just a little while to find “your” favourite café or a bar, favourite place to study etc. and to start feeling more at home. Also ask the Venetians, where do they like to go once you meet some at Campo Santa Margherita. :)
Ca’Foscari is a big university with 21.000 students. The university has 8 departments and 6 campuses spread out over the city of Venice (on the island) and Mestre (on the mainland). All the courses I took were taught at the scientific campus in Mestre. I thought it was a nice and spacious campus with plenty of green space. For the courses I took the classrooms were comfortable but rather small (±30 people). As a result, the university felt small and personal to me.
Most courses can easily be found via the ‘’Course search’’. The information is up to date. However, course scheduling might change. Unfortunately, the course search doesn’t give the option to select the instruction languages right away. you have to click on “Search for courses taught in English” on the Course search page. This can be found when clicking on the course. Within my departments (Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics), the offer of English courses is rather scarce. Tip: If you go to a course in the Ca’Foscari course guide, there is an option to copy the class schedule to your google or apple calendar.
As an Erasmus student, you can however choose courses from other faculties as well – there are some interesting Environmental-focused courses f.e. on the faculty of Humanities.
What should I prepare before the stay?
I am very pleased with the administrative system regarding Erasmus in Venice: Our contact person (Ms. Daipre) was super friendly, helpful and approachable. I could always count on a quick response with simple instructions.
The online student system is mostly in Italian and setting the language is not possible for many pages. However, it is possible to get by with google translate as the system is not super complicated.
At Ca‘Foscari the course subscription was a bit different than what I am used to. At the online system incoming students have to register for a whole curriculum in advance. Hence, more courses than you intend to take. Next to this, it is necessary to go to the first class and tell the professor you want to join the class. Therefore, it is important to check the ‘Piano di Studio’ a month into the Erasmus to see if all your course subscriptions are correct in the system. When in doubt, email the professor and your contact person (Ms. Daipre). To receive all the important notes and news about the course, including course materials, you have to also subscribe to the course on the Unive Moodle page. Sometimes you need a key (which can be requested by the professor), but usually the inscription is free.
How do I find housing?
When I applied for the Erasmus, the housing office of Ca ’Foscari contacted me and gave me the opportunity to subscribe. From that point onwards, the office sent me offers three times a week and it was easy to find a room to my preferences. It is also possible to subscribe to one of the Venice housing groups on Facebook. Here, you will find more (and often cheaper) options. If you would like to live on the island of Venice this last option is preferred.
I rented a room at Via Piave in Mestre at a 5-minute walking distance from the station. The apartment was beautiful with a new kitchen and a new bathroom. It consisted of one single room and two double rooms (5 girls). The single room was €430 and the double rooms were €330 each, which is a relatively high rent for Mestre. It is supposedly not the best neighborhood (I sometimes felt uncomfortable outside at night), but I nevertheless enjoyed living there as everything was close.
If you want to add another experience – I lived near Via Bissuola, which is a very pretty and safe neighborhood with a lot of cafés and shopping options, close to the Mestre Centro. My pretty room in an apartment with a nice kitchen and big living room and a balcony, was 360€ tutto incluso :)
How do I get around in the city?
For me the best way how to get around Mestre was to get a bike – the public transpirt here is functioning, but the bus lines from my place to the Uni were the circular ones that went through the whole Mestre before I got to school and it took around 30 mins, compared with 15 mins on the bike. It’s therefore my favourite way how to get around on the mainland. When it comes to going to Venice, there are several buses and trams going all the time (every 5-10 mins) from the mainland to the island. It took me 15 mins by tram from my place to get to Piazzale Roma.
How do I meet people when I arrive?
There is a very active ESN team organizing events and trips for international students. Meeting people is also easy just by going to Campo Santa Margherita on a weekend night and talking to people. It’s usually full of students, who are up to finding new friends :)
How are the living expenses?
My single room in Mestre was relatively expensive: €430. To cut the costs a little, I recommend getting the city pass if you are younger than 26: The costs are €40 in the first month and €25 each month thereafter in which you can make unlimited use of public transport and enjoy discounts to cultural events. As I left Italy after four weeks because of Covid-19, I find the other costs difficult to estimate.
The costs for groceries etc. are comparable with Austria. Cheap meat, fruit and veggies can be found on the markets. Going out is cheaper than in Austria – Venetian tradition is getting a Spritz after work, so the Aperol Spritz prizes vary around 2,5-3,5€. Vino di casa = house wine is also a cheap option – it’s a very nice light wine provided in bars and restaurants for affordable prizes (can be around 1€ for a glass). Also eating out is cheaper than in Austria, you can get a nice meal in a restaurant for about 10-15€, or a to-go pasta box for 6€ ( I recommend Bigos in Venice, very tasty).
Which cafés, bars, sports centers can you recommend?
I tried to keep my tips original (standard sightseeing you can google). I divided my tips by regions in Venice:
Cannaregio
- Cannaregio has a lot of bars and small restaurants. I suggest Fondamenta Misericordia for drinks and nightlife.
- Hostel Combo is the perfect place for your guests to stay.
- The opening of the carnival is in Cannaregio, make sure you are there on time to get a good spot!
- Go to ‘’Morion’’ on Friday nights for good pizza, life music and dancing.
- Don’t miss book shopping in Libreria Acqua Alta. Very cozy and legendary book store with new, as well as vintage books. In the back they have an old gondola, in which you can sit or take a picture to get the real Venetian feeling :D
- Vintageria Venezia is a cool vintage store
- On Campo San Polo there is a Vin Brule stand and ice-skating ring in winter.
- One of my favorite places to go out for dinner is on ‘’Campo San Giacomo dell'Orio’’. This is a quiet square in a cute area which is perfect to take your parents once they come for a visit or to go on a date.
- I adore walking around Dorsoduro, it is definitely one of the most beautiful and idyllic areas of Venice. I would definitely recommend walking Zattere at night all the way to Santa Maria della Salute.
- Go to Giudecca with the Redentore festival. Again, make sure you get there on time to get a good spot!
- Lido is the island that closes off the Venezia lagoon and the Adriatic Sea. It has a beach which is definitely worth a visit! Another beach you could visit is Sottomarina, which is 55 minutes by bus from Mestre.
- Very touristic.
- Via Garibaldi is a great place for drinks and dinner. Here you will also find a lot of Venetians.
- Interspar at Via Torino is a big supermarket where you will definitely find all you need.
- Go to Hostel Anda for pub crawls and Erasmus parties.
- From the Scientific campus you can easily walk to Forte Marghera. There is a new bridge between forte Marghera and the scientific campus which is not on google maps yet. This means you can go to Forte Marghera and study at the waterside or go to the bars within 5 minutes.
- The Parco San Giuliano in Mestre is my favourite running spot. Beautiful park with amazing views on Venice on one side and Dolomites on the other side during bright days!
- Mestre Centro is full of nice little cafés to go to. I recommend checking out a big food and clothes market there on Friday morning and than going to one of those cafés for a macchiato freddo and a brioche. :)
- Brunch Republic in Mestre has (according to me) the best brunches in the whole Italy :D
After obligatory visit of all the touristic highlights, try to get lost in Venice and find your “personal” spots. Venice can feel a little distant and enigmatic sometimes, but it takes just a little while to find “your” favourite café or a bar, favourite place to study etc. and to start feeling more at home. Also ask the Venetians, where do they like to go once you meet some at Campo Santa Margherita. :)
(C) 4 photos Katerina Kührová