Move to Krems or commute?

Take a look at our list of pros and cons, think about the arguments in your own time and then decide what’s the right choice for you.

Moving to Krems – the pros

The total student experience

If you live in the town where your university is, you definitely have the chance to enjoy every aspect of student life. Everything’s nearby, and there’s an international student community on your doorstep. Krems is a great place to live! The world-famous old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, while the uni campus is home to an attractive mix of historic and modern buildings. 

With so many students choosing to live in Krems, there’s always plenty going on in the shops, cafes and bars. You can enjoy all of this to your heart’s content if you have a room or an apartment – and that means there’s no need to commute home every evening either!

If the great outdoors is more your thing, Krems is the perfect place to be – it’s the gateway to the Wachau valley, and located right next to the River Danube. No matter whether you’re into hiking, running, rowing, rugby, football in the park or Pilates in the vineyards – there’s virtually no end of options for sports lovers.

A great place to live – halls of residence, shared apartments...

Krems is a true university town. This means there’s also a wide range of accommodation available, from student dorms to flat shares and student apartments. Provided you make arrangements soon enough, you should be able to find a suitable place to live in Krems. 

The town has three student residences: Kolping Campus Krems, ÖJAB-Europazentrum Krems and STUWO Krems. We recommend registering for a place as soon as possible if you want a place at one of these facilities – ideally before you’re accepted onto your chosen degree programme. Remember: there’s still no obligation to actually take a room even if you register beforehand.

A town where everything’s close to home

If you live in Krems, you won’t need to worry about a long commute. It’s easy to get to the campus and the town centre on foot or by bike. So you can be pretty sure that you won’t need a car. The Stadtbus network is another great way to get around town. There are also bus connections to take you into the countryside around Krems, or alternatively you can sign up for the BUDDY car sharing service.

The train station is just outside the town centre – the journey to Vienna takes about an hour, meaning that Krems is also a great starting point if you want to explore the Austrian capital.

Commuting – the pros

The cheaper option

If you’re able to stay with family, friends or relatives, commuting means you don’t have to spend money on renting a room or a flat. In most cases it works out cheaper, even when you take into account the costs for train tickets or a car.

Moving involves lots of expenses (some of them hidden) – besides the rent, you need to bear in mind energy and insurance bills, as well as the cost of furnishing your room or apartment. On top of that, Krems isn’t exactly the cheapest place to live, and rents can be very high. But as a commuter, you won’t have any of these costs.

More flexibility

Moving apartment takes a lot of time and effort. Commuting gives you added flexibility – it’s also part of finding out whether you’ve chosen the right degree programme.

A semester abroad or internship is part of the curriculum on many degrees, which means you probably won’t be living in Krems at these times anyway. If you have a student apartment or a room in a shared flat, it would be standing empty – so you’ll probably want to find somebody to take over your rent for a while. 

Easy to reach on public transport

The best way to commute from Vienna is by train from the Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof station – on weekdays, trains usually leave every half hour. Krems also has connections to destinations in St Pölten and the Mostviertel and Weinviertel regions.

Commuting and living in Krems – the best of both worlds

So as you can see, there are lots of arguments in favour of commuting. But don’t forget that moving to Krems also has its advantages. Or you could think about combining the two. For example, you could find a place to live in Krems after you’ve completed your semester abroad. Alternatively, you can give up your room or apartment in the final year of your degree programme, move back home and write your thesis there. You have plenty of options – it just depends what’s important to you at any given moment.

And one more tip: the Krems Student Pinboard is a great place to find people for car sharing, commuting together or finding a shared apartment.

Would you like to talk to someone from the university in person? Our Prospective Student Advisory Service will be happy to help.