Located in the Lombardy Region, only 30 kilometers south of Milan, the city of Pavia offers a lively, genuine, cooperative, and safe environment with a high quality of life. Pavia is the capital of the fertile Province of Pavia, which is known for a variety of agricultural products - including wine, rice, cereals, and dairy products - and is situated at the heart of Italy’s manufacturing district.
Founded in Roman times, from 568 to 774 Pavia became the capital of the Lombard Kingdom, and its fascination remains intact with the centre’s maze of narrow streets, ancient churches, and elegant buildings, all bordered by the Ticino River.
Countless events, festivals, exhibitions, concerts, meeting places and sports competitions combine to offer students a unique University experience.
In addition to enjoying the advantages and services of nearby Milan, Pavia is close and well connected to the Swiss border and many of the major tourist attractions of Northern Italy including the Ligurian coast, Lakes of Como and Garda, the Alps mountain range.
The most common housing option is sharing a flat with other students. From your first year of university studies, you will have the opportunity to apply for a scholarship or on-campus accommodation.
Below you can find some links and contacts that may help you to find a suitable accommodation.
Privately managed residences
Residences associated to the University of Pavia, but privately administered. The admission is managed independently by each residences:
- UNIVERSITY RESIDENCES:
- Camplus (apartments)
- Campus Residence (apartments)
- Collegio Maria Ausiliatrice (female)
- Collegio “Senatore” (female)
- PRIVATE RESIDENCES:
Moreover, here are some suggestions for private and temporary accommodation.
There are different ways to look for a private flat to rent:
REAL ESTATE AGENTS FOR STUDENTS :
- Centro Assistenza Studenti: Corso Garibaldi, 61/a – 27100 – Pavia (Pv) Tel.39.338.7880080
- HG Immobiliare : Via Bernardino da Feltre 37/A 27100 – Pavia (PV) Tel.+39-0382 1753541
- Look at the students notices on the notice boards located both in the University central compound (Strada Nuova, 65) and in each Department’s buildings.
USEFUL WEBSITES:
- Check websites such as Bakeka, Cercacasa, Subito.it, Idealista.it, Immobiliare.it, StanzaSemplice.com.
- Search “Pavia Affitti” on Facebook and Instagram and you will find many groups where people advertise rooms.
- HousingAnywhere
Costs for renting a room in a private flat
Rooms can be single or double and usually cost from € 250 to € 450 per month, depending also on the area. Pavia Historic centre is usually more expensive.
Pay attention to the voice “spese” (meaning additional costs such as light, gas, heating), in particular when there are “spese condominiali” (meaning additional costs for the maintenance of the building), that can be very expensive (up to € 100 per month).
When to look for accommodation in a private flat
The best time is before September, since from September on it can be very tough to find a nice flat in terms of quality/price.
Where to look for accommodation in a private flat
Other than looking for an apartment/room in the city centre, you can widen your research for accommodation to Pavia’s hinterland. Here below you can find a list of smaller cities and towns well connected to Pavia via bus or train.
TEMPORARY ACCOMMODATION
While searching for more convenient housing, the students may find accommodation on a temporary basis in:
Hostels
Rooms to rent
B&Bs
Hotels
You are best to plan a budget to include accommodation, food, books, clothes, entertainment, travel and bills like electricity and gas. Considering accommodation, food, telephone, local travel and leisure costs, students should consider a monthly budget of 600/1000 euros depending on the location.
The costs are approximate and should be used as a guide only. To have an idea of the costs in Pavia, here you are some average prices of common goods:
Accommodation: € 300 – € 600 per month
According to the area, the kind of room (single or double) the cost may vary.
- A single / double room in a private flat is about 300 – 450 per month
- A studio flat is about 600 – 700 per month
Food: € 150 – € 200 per month
The approximate prices of some basic items are listed below (in euros):
- Milk: 2.00 / Litre
- Bread: 5.00 / Kilo
- Butter: 2.60 / 250 gr.
- Beef: 10.00 / 19.00 / Kilo.
- Chicken: 8.00 / 12.00 /Kilo.
- Rice: 1.70 / 2.50 / Kilo.
- Pasta: 0.80 / 1.30 /Kilo.
- Mineral water: 0.50 / 0.80 /Litre
- Photocopies: € 0.05
- Social life – € 100 per month
- 1 coffee in a café € 1.20
- 1 newspaper € 1.50
- Cinema: € 9.00
Eating out: € 20 – 25
- Pizza: € 5-10
- Fast food menu: € 5.50
- Happy hour: € 8-10
- Club and bar: € 10-20
- Concert: € 40-50
- Private gym: € 50-60 /month
- Universities’ structure gym: € 15-20 /month
- 1 pint of beer (birra) at the pub € 5.00
Travel costs – € 25 per month
- 1 bus ticket € 1.30
- 1 single ticket train to Milan € 4.10
- Taxi: € 20-25 cab fare
Mobile Phones: € 15 – 30 per month
BY URBAN BUS
Pavia’s local bus company is called Autoguidovie Pavia. You can buy urban tickets (1,50€) at the newsstand/tobacco shop, on board (with an extra charge), or directly on the app “Autoguidovie”, which is available in several languages. On the app you can plan your journey and check the bus schedule for each stop.
Unipv and Autoguidovie offer all students UNIPASS E UNDER26xUNIPASS, urban bus passes for the whole academic year. It’s an annual subscription at a special price for university students. In order to obtain your pass, follow the Unipass Instructions attached below.
CAR SHARING
E-vai is the car sharing service provided by the Lombardy Region. At a price of 6€ per hour users can borrow an eco-friendly car to move and park for free in the whole Region (even in restricted areas of the city centre).
BY EXTRA-URBAN BUS
Autoguidovie buses also connect Pavia to Milan (every 30 minutes) and to the main towns of the Province of Pavia (Pavia area, Lomellina area, Oltrepò area).
In addition MarinoBus service connects Pavia to almost any part of Italy and to some cities in France.
Bus station: Viale Trieste 23, Pavia
BY TRAIN
From Pavia’s train station you can reach any medium-big city in Italy. Trains to Milan run every 20 minutes.
Train station: Piazzale della Stazione, Pavia
BY FLIXBUS
Unipv and FlixBus offer all students a 10% discount, which is valid once a month on national and international rides. First of all you have to email richiesta.password@flixbus.it from your University email address (subject “Password request, University of Pavia/home University”; include your name and University in the email body). Then you will receive a personal password in order to request your discount code to be used on FlixBus website or on the app.
The nearest FlixBus stops are located in Milan.
Please note that if you regularly have to travel to Milan you can buy a bus/train/metro or all-inclusive monthly pass at a special price for students.