Things you can enjoy in France before you’re 26

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Studying in France sounds appealing for money, but little did you know that studying there while young and under 26 years old will be much more fun. There are many free things that only apply to the young. Our contributor, Dytha, shares the list and her experience.

You just finished high school and aiming to score your bachelor degree in Europe. You’ve thought about France, a country very well known not only for its food, fashion but also for its culture. Studying in France gives you the privilege to at least 3 months of holiday each year, exposure to international melting pot and many more. However, little did people know, being a student up to 25 years old can lead you to more benefits. Here goes the list:

Free public museums

As a student abroad, one of the things we could do on the weekend or even weekdays when we don’t have classes is to go to the museums. Museums can be really enriching, getting us inspired and definitely a nice place to spend time with friends. Believe it or not, France is a home with more than 1,200 museums and 300 of them are located in Paris. Being less than 26 years old allows you to enter freely the public museum, even though will not give you access to all of museums available, you still have quite a selection. If you wish to visit other museums not in the list, you can visit them on the first Sunday of each month.

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University restaurant & special price for students

As a student, you will have access to Restaurant Universitaire ‘university restaurant’ where with 3.30 euros you can buy a French-standard-meal, means it goes with an appetizer, main meal and a dessert, even the bread included. These restaurants are only available for students and actually don’t require you to be less than 26 years old to benefit this well balanced-meal.

Not only university restaurants, a lot of French restaurants in general and even bars have a good student deal or discount. It’s normally slightly a bit expensive compared to university restaurant but it’s still a good selection. These bars & restaurants are usually located not far from universities and dorms.

Spend less for transport
If you live in big cities like Paris or Rennes (a student city in Bretagne, 2 hours from Paris with train), you can have a really nice deal for the public transportation card. The price varies around 20-40 euros per month, and depending on which city you live, you can even get reimbursed. With this card you have access to the busses, metros and trams in & around the city.

So what about going outside of town? Well the benefits of being young students in France didn’t stop there. The national train network, SNCF gives the opportunity to a subscription (around 70 euros per month) that allows you to take unlimited train inside France. Let’s say Monday you want to go to Lyon, and then Nice on Tuesday, and go back to Paris on Wednesday? Totally faisable and will cost you nothing.

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Unsplash – free image

Binge watching
Watching series or doing film marathon may not be good for your health. But as a student, there are times when you have nothing to do or just simply need to refresh your mind before you get back to school or to reward yourself after a challenging presentation and exam. Another thing you can profit is going to the cinema. Once you show your student card or your residence permit that shows you’re below 26 years old, you can pay only 5 euros per movie. It’s a really good deal as the price for an adult can reach 13 euros. Not only a single movie, you can have the possibility to subscribe to a program when you can watch unlimited movies every month! Best part is, you can even invite 1 person with you so you can join up with a friend to pay the subscription together.

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Unsplash – free image

No excuse for sports
In most universities, students can have access to what they called Service Universitaire des Activités Physiques et Sportives (the University Department of Physical and Sport activities – the SUAPS). This allows you to do over sixty sports for a single payment at the start of the year.

You can also go to the public swimming pools that propose reduced rates for students. You just need to show your student card and you can go swimming as long as you want for around 3 euros. Another thing you can do is to jog or to run around the city. Running is obviously the most economical way to do sport. If you don’t like running alone, you can join one of the running groups that you can find on social media to run together. You will be able to meet new people, practice your French and discover the city in a different way.

Apprenticeship program
Another great thing that you can also do before you reach 26 is the apprenticeship. Like explained in one of my previous article, apprenticeship programs allow you to have a better, real working experience. You will have missions and certain responsibilities that your manager will give and direct you to your objectives. Not to mention that it will be a very strong point on your CV, especially once you finish your studies as internships required less engagements and usually shorter in terms of duration. Read more about apprenticeship, here.

So does it helps you make up your mind to continue your study in France? Let us know by sharing and commenting the article.

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