Study Abroad - Salamanca, Granada or Valencia?

Hi,

I will be studying abroad in Spain for a semester and I can't choose between Salamanca, Granada or Valencia, as they all have pros and cons.

I know they all have a large international student community, which is important to me because I think it will help me make friends. I really liked the idea of Granada because it looks beautiful and is said to have a great nightlife, but I know the Spanish in Andalusia is one of the hardest accents, and I'm scared I will be making things harder for myself going somewhere where communication is even more difficult. This is why Salamanca is appealing to me, because I know their Spanish is one of the easiest to understand, which will help with making friends, but I'm worried it is too small, and isn't as great in terms of social aspects. Then there is Valencia, which is the near the beach, and being one of the biggest cities in Spain will mean I'm less likely to run out of things to do.

I would really appreciate any insight or advice on this.

The only one of those cities I have any real experience with is Granada and it’s indeed stunning. La Alhambra is a masterpiece and the views of the whole city from the neighbourhood of Albaicín are to die for, to name just a few pros. Granada also has the curious tradition that in so many places you get free tapas with your drinks and these tapas are famous for being huge and often almost like full meals, so you can go out for drinks and essentially have dinner without paying for it. However, it’s true as you say that the accent there isn’t the easiest to understand for non-native speakers and that’s not a trivial worry. Because if you live there as a student you will probably have to speak quite a lot to cashiers in supermarkets and shopkeepers and the like, who often have relatively strong regional accents.
So based on your requirements I would personally consider the top choice as Valencia where the accent is relatively mild and you won’t run out of things to do. And it won’t get as blisteringly hot in the summer as Granada!

Hi,

I will be studying abroad in Spain for a semester and I can't choose between Salamanca, Granada or Valencia, as they all have pros and cons.

I know they all have a large international student community, which is important to me because I think it will help me make friends. I really liked the idea of Granada because it looks beautiful and is said to have a great nightlife, but I know the Spanish in Andalusia is one of the hardest accents, and I'm scared I will be making things harder for myself going somewhere where communication is even more difficult. This is why Salamanca is appealing to me, because I know their Spanish is one of the easiest to understand, which will help with making friends, but I'm worried it is too small, and isn't as great in terms of social aspects. Then there is Valencia, which is the near the beach, and being one of the biggest cities in Spain will mean I'm less likely to run out of things to do.

I would really appreciate any insight or advice on this. Thanks!