should i study abroad in cardiff, sheffield, or leeds?
Posted by livingishardbro@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 23 comments
hello everyone, i’m an american student planning to study abroad in the uk starting next fall. those three cities are the options i have right now, and all three of them are relatively pretty different so i would love any input.
i’d like to prioritize a city that is walkable with good public transit as i won’t have a car. additionally, which of the three has the most affordable cost of living? i don’t want to be breaking my bank for rent and groceries. i would also like to be able to travel through the rest of europe, and from those three i know that cardiff is the closest to london by train. are there any specific charms each city has? mind you im from the south so not at all used to cold weather which im a bit worried about. thank you for any information provided?
Rumhampolicy@reddit
Leeds, great student city. I loved it.
oovavoooo@reddit
Leeds is the best package in my opinion. Gets you great access to wider Yorkshire and York which you’ll really appreciate as some of the best parts of the UK. Easy to get around the UK from - direct trains to Manchester, Sheffield, London, Liverpool, Newcastle, Edinburgh, and definitely the most buzzing of the three cities you list.
tmstms@reddit
Honestly, all three are great and of comparable cost.
The temperature will not be an issue for you really, our winters do not now get very cold.
Sheffield is more or less as convenient as Cardiff for getting the train to London. Leeds is pretty fast too (2 and half hours).
Sheffield is hilly, this is charming but you will be walking up and down.
Cardiff is Welsh, so you will get an additional different cultural input which is nice.
I actually live near Leeds and Mrs tmstms teaches at the uni- the students have a great time there and in the city.
Leeds is notorious for being set up for the car, not public transport, but tbh the uni is walking distance from the centre anyway, so no big deal.
All three have unis with excellent reputations. Maybe just research which is best regarded for your area of study.
All three are near beautiful countryside- maybe Sheffield is closest.
Not necessarily that helpful to you, but IMHO it is win-win-win. Whichever you choose will be an excellent experience for you.
Valuable-Wallaby-167@reddit
Not Leeds then.
Objective-Resident-7@reddit
I used to work in Leeds. You would think that it would be easy enough to get to MANCHESTER.
tmstms@reddit
Alas, I would argue that it is easier to get to Manchester from Leeds (2 train routes, and the M62) than it is to get round Leeds itself.
Cyber_religion@reddit
There's both buses and trains between the two. What's so difficult about it?
Objective-Resident-7@reddit
For the distance, it takes an age
Puzzleheaded-Ad-2982@reddit
All really good cities. I think Sheffield is the greenest, most livable city out of those three.
Cardiff and Leeds both have good nightlife, and Cardiff hosts big sporting and cultural events.
All three cities have excellent access to beautiful, rural parts of the country.
In terms of affordability, I'm not sure. I'd imagine Leeds and Sheffield being the cheapest of the three but I could be wrong.
BlitzballPlayer@reddit
Cardiff is probably the best for public transport, as well as international transport because it has an international airport and the others don't. Looking at the Cardiff Airport website, it looks like you can fly to a number of destinations in Europe and the US from there (although I'm not sure if they're direct flights). Leeds Bradford Airport flies to a number of European destinations but is smaller than Cardiff Airport.
As you mention, Cardiff is also the closest to London (we would consider Cardiff to London to be quite a big distance in the UK, but I know the American perspective on what constitutes a long distance is quite different!) Bear in mind that train travel within the UK is shockingly expensive compared to continental Europe. Coaches (intercity buses) are a lot cheaper but can take quite a long time. https://www.thetrainline.com is good for checking train fares, and https://www.nationalexpress.com/en or https://uk.megabus.com for coaches.
I think that Cardiff might also have the mildest climate of the three, although I'm not quite sure on that. They're probably fairly similar? It can definitely get cold in the UK in winter (especially from a Southern US perspective), so you'll want a good winter coat, hat, gloves, and scarf for the winter months. But, it rarely gets horrendously cold in the UK (nothing like, say, Chicago).
For housing costs, https://www.rightmove.co.uk is a good website for checking out prices in different cities (be sure to filter by 'To rent'). You could try filtering by e.g. one-bedroom flats, or flat shares (living with other people) in each city and see which best suits your budget. I think that Cardiff is the most expensive of the three. The North of England tends to be more affordable (rural Wales is also quite affordable, but Cardiff not so much. That said, Cardiff is nowhere near as expensive as London).
Of course, you'll find cheaper rents outside of the city centres. Just do some research on specific neighbourhoods to check which are safe, have good reputations, etc. I'd say UK cities are pretty safe on the whole but some neighbourhoods can be rougher than others.
Hope that helps!
Ationsoles@reddit
Cardiff airport is shite. Everybody living here ends up using Bristol airport much more. You can get there in about an hour to an hour and a half on National Express.
Our public transport is shite as well, although I’m not sure if it’s worse than Leeds and Sheffield.
It pisses down all the time in Cardiff. I think it’s tied for the wettest city in the UK with Manchester.
EvilTaffyapple@reddit
How does Leeds not have an international airport? We have Leeds Bradford.
BlitzballPlayer@reddit
I made a mistake and contradicted myself in my original post by saying the others don't and then going on to describe Leeds Bradford, so I've corrected that!
shellturtlestein@reddit
Leeds is a lot of fun as so many students / student activities
fiddly_foodle_bird@reddit
Of those I would choose Cardiff as 1st choice, then Sheffield an then Leeds. But none of them are "bad" choices, really.
Alwayslearnin41@reddit
My son is in Sheffield and he loves it. His best friend lives in Leeds and it's just not as great. I'd choose Sheffield over Leeds.
FabulousEnglishman@reddit
I had a fantastic time when I lived and studied in Cardiff a few years ago.
Living costs are below the national average and you have a lot of different activities available to you in the city centre. Depending on what you're into you'll find something. I personally spent my time exploring the many craft beer pubs and in Fuel nightclub because I'm a metalhead. However there are traditional nightclubs, LGBT clubs, Welsh language clubs etc. Outside of bars and clubs St David's Shopping Centre is good for shopping as is Cardiff Bay. If you like sports there are numerous stadiums and parks for games
I never needed a car while in Cardiff because of the extensive bus networks. There are also plenty of train stations in the city, including Cardiff Queen Street and Cardiff Central that are in the centre. For travelling out of the city you can get to London in less than 2 hours. You can also get to Bristol in less than an hour and Bath in just over an hour which are great places to visit.
For international travel you have Bristol and Cardiff airport nearby with a bus service from the train station directly to the airport. I don't think either of these airports fly to the US however. Heathrow might be your best bet and that's over 2 hours by train.
All in all Cardiff is a great place to study and live. A lot of my friends from university stayed or relocated back to Cardiff after graduation. I'm not one of those people but if the opportunity came up I'd strongly consider going back to Cardiff.
prustage@reddit
I have lived on the outskirts of all three and was born near Leeds. However, I would go for Cardiff. It is an interesting town, attractive in its own way and has a fascinating history - it even has a castle. It is near the coast and has a good waterside arts development. There is also a fast(ish) train into London. It is also surrounded by great natural landscape and you are not far from some of the best coastal scenery in the UK. It is probably a tad warmer than Leeds or Sheffield but not by much.
The people in Leeds and Sheffield are probably a little bit more open and freindly than those in Cardiff but we are splitting hairs here and I am sure you will be made welcome.
Cyber_religion@reddit
I don't know much about cardiff. but leeds > sheffield imho. Leeds is not that expensive and there's still a fair amount of nightlife/cultural events.
Roxy_Boxer@reddit
I would choose Sheffield over Leeds every time. Cheaper, friendly, easy to get around and has the most green spaces.
My niece loved her semester exchange in Sheffield so much she is coming back in January.
I don’t know Cardiff well enough to compare.
Have a great time when you get here.
Roxy_Boxer@reddit
Forgot to add, niece came across from Oz
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