Bristol or Edinburgh?

Lollipop95

I posted this in the UK forum a couple of days ago but it hasn't got any replies and doesn't seem very active.

I'm a 2nd year college student from Galway and I am required to undertake a 6 month placement (June to December) as part of the course. I definitely want to do it in the UK and I am looking at two possible options in either Bristol or Edinburgh and while both seem equally good, I'm wondering which city would be better in terms of:

- which is better for festivals/events? (I'm an event management and PR student).
- price (which would be cheaper?)
- being easy to get around
- safety (from what I gather both are quite safe and I know every area will have their bad bits but I'd like to get opinions all the same)

_ student population
_ nightlife
_ taxi service

Being a student myself, I would like if possibe to share with other students and I wouldn't like to live on my own so any tips for house sharing would be greatly appreciated.

I'd love to hear people's opinions/advice on either city (or both if you've been to each!) Thanks

Miss Informed

Hi there,

I'm sorry to say I can't offer detailed answers to your questions, but given that this thread isn't seeing any replies I thought I'd post. Perhaps the reason you're not getting a huge response is that it's such a difficult question.

I visited both of these cities last year (I'm also a Galway -based student, so lots of similarities!) for weekend breaks, so have had no more than a very brief glimpse of them. In that time, however, it was clear that both cities are vibrant, youth friendly, culturally rich places. Having looked through all seven of the main points you asked, I think that both cities score highly on all grounds (eg safety, easy to get around, events etc.), and I didn't notice a significant price difference in either city. Having said that, my experience is seriously limited.

If at all possible, I think the best thing you could do is find a way to visit each city yourself before making the decision. If you could manage a weekend in each that would be really helpful. If not, you could simply base your decision on which city is offering you a stronger placement. They're both really excellent so I don't think that picking either one over the other will be a mistake. There is no 'better' option, in my opinion.

I'm not too sure about the cost of living difference though, or the accomodation options in these places. Maybe it'd be worth your while to start a thread on that specifically. I think that you'll get more answers from specific questions here, because honestly, it's so hard to say which of the two options is better!

schemingbohemia

Edinburgh is festival central throughout the whole summer, I'm surprised you didn't know this. This could make accommodation more expensive though if you're over in June you might be ahead of the curve.
You could probably volunteer or get some paid work for the festivals so I would think for your career that Edinburgh would be better.
Have only really passed through Bristol but Edinburgh just has a lot more going on. Bristol would have better weather, also cheaper for weekends in London and access for Cornwall during the summer which would be nice.