AMRO PORTO UNIVERSITY RESIDENCE
A modern, new student residence in Porto
Life in Porto
Porto is an incredible city for university students. Tourist-friendly, active, beautiful, bohemian, cheap…
Portuguese is one of the most spoken languages in the world, sharing lots of similarities with other Latin-based languages like Spanish, Italian French and others, which means communication will not be a problem for university students from Spain, Italy, France or South and Central America.
Portuguese people also speak English with a high degree of proficiency, making both young and old able to communicate on quite easily on an international level, making Portugal ideal for students from other countries.
The university environment of the city means there are a lot of events and parties for young people. During the day, you can discover the city’s main monuments, gardens, Port wine cellars, restaurants, and bars. In the evenings, there are many bars and clubs offering good music, with options for all tastes and ages.
Discover Porto
Torre dos Clérigos, Praça dos Aliados, Porto Cathedral, Bolhao Market, Estaçao de São Bento, Ponte Luiz I… There are many places to visit in Porto.
The city is always crowed with a lot more people visiting during the summer and weekends. However it is during the week that the city can be enjoyed to the fullest with is vibrant sounds and locals going about their own daily lives.
There are a thousand options to enjoy Porto’s nightlife, from local taverns to trendy nightclubs, to international squares and meeting points. Some places you must not miss:
· Praça dos Leões: A hub for local and Erasmus students to meet up, with a nearby garden to enjoy the splendid weather, terraces where you can spend the afternoon and restaurants with very good food at a relative low price.
· Praça Poveiros: Another very well-known square in the city, with typical restaurants and bars and very affordable prices. It is a large square where there are usually concerts and events, so do not hesitate to have a look at the city’s calendar.
· Rua de Santa Catarina: This long street is mostly commercial, although many of the side streets offer restaurants and bakeries of all kinds.
Famous for its culture, monuments, traditions and cultural heritage.
Full of green spaces and grandiose parks.
It is a bike-friendly city.
One of the big cities of southern Europe
Very close to unique natural landscapes
Tunas and Praxe: a past of pride and tradition
While walking around universities in Porto, you can’t miss the large number of young people wearing black suits, gowns, and capes. Some say they look like Hogwarts students, but the tradition is not a work of fiction (although this is what inspired J.K. Rowling to create her great work).
The students traje as it is known, is the academic outfit of the students in Portugal, however nowadays it is closely associated to the students that take part in praxe, a Portuguese tradition dating back to the founding of the country’s universities. The praxe began in Coimbra and involves traditions and customs from across the country. In practice, this takes the form of
pranks played on new university students and organizing activities aimed at encouraging a community spirit at university.
We should also mention the musical groups called Tunas, as Porto has the largest number of tunas of any city in the world. It is common to see performances in the streets, which include dancing, flag choreographies and all kinds of instruments. In the city there are also Festivals organized throughout the year, and these are sure to be interesting for people not used to this type of university ritual.
