Finding a place of your own
Some prefer their own flats instead of living in accommodation with many people around. The peace and quietness are nice things to have and both are things that I enjoyed in Finland. I lived on my own since I was 19-year-old so I’m used to it. A dorm would basically never be an option for me as I´m not comfortable with living like that. I think that feeling comfortable is one of the main things that transforms a place to stay into a home. I was thinking about renting a flat of my own but ended up going to Casulo because the offered apartment satisfied me, was cheap enough and right in the centre of the city.
Getting a place of your own also takes a bit of an effort as you´re foreign and have no idea how do you get one. This is a thing that I wasn´t too familiar either in Leiria. In Finland I just added an advert about myself into a website and I was contacted by people who rented flats. I went to residential presentations and picked up the one most suitable for me. Every landlord were more than happy to rent it for me as I am a calm nature and used to work regularly so I´m (I guess) easy to trust.
Back on-topic now. In this section I can only give you some useful websites and tips. I try to make this as comprehensive as possible and list the best agencies available. The rest is up to you and to those who will help you searching the place of your own.
Agencies in Leiria:
- Novilei: http://www.novilei.pt/engb/properties
- RentHouse: http://renthouse.com.pt/
- Áreas de Luz: http://en.areasdeluz.com/
- Era Leiria: http://www.era.pt/leiria
- Arcadas Liz Lda: http://www.arcadasdoliz.com/engb/
- ACI: http://www.aci.pt/
- Casa Sapo: http://casa.sapo.pt/EN/To-rent/Apartments/Leiria/
- Re/Max: http://www.remax.pt/Default.aspx?Lang=en-US
Most of these agencies have their webpages in English which strongly suggests that you are also able to contact them in English. The links to the websites include basic information such as locations of the agencies, contacting info and also pictures of the flats they have available.
Social media is of course one place where you should do some looking around. There are groups available where people rent for example rooms and apartments. You can also place your own advert and ask for advice.
https://www.facebook.com/esnleiria
ESN Leiria is one of the pages to look at. It’s a new Facebook-page and open up for everyone. Another possibility is to look for the Erasmus groups in Facebook.
My recommendation
It’s Monday and the week number seven has just started for me and at this point I feel that I am able to give you a recommendation in this issue. What I would recommend is that you rent either a flat or a room. Like I said: I ended up staying at the Casulo and for me it was a mistake because I like to sleep during my nights.
First of all the pricing is better when you either rent a room or an apartment. For me one month in Casulo costs over 300 euros including the electricity and I think that I could be able to get a cut of 100 euros per month by renting a flat. Even more if I rented just a room.
Secondly the place is full of young students that like to party. Don’t get me wrong: house parties are often nice events but they create lot of noise and in these kind of places there are also those who like to sleep during the nights. For example I’m waking up at seven every morning so the time I need to sleep is the time when the parties often take place. Cannot sleep 2-3 hours per night forever you know. I found a solution from Youtube: at the evening I put on one of these relaxing playlists which last a few hours. The first experience was success: best night sleep I’ve had during my stay in Portugal.
Third thing is the privacy. You are constantly under the eye of the staff. Even though they are nice people it’s still a mental thing for me to be under someone’s eye. This is a hard thing to explain but maybe you get my point.
