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Just to let people know, a VIE is a kind of internship contract. And I agree with you, it doesn't pay much.

Sailyne, I warn you, Swindon is really not the best place in England. I know, I had a business based there for 8 - 9 years! The Old Town is ok - lots of nice pubs there, and the people tend to be nicer, but if you can, live in one of the villages outside Swindon. There are some really nice places within 20 minutes drive of the town which are a pleasure to live in. But Swindon town itself..............No, not for me.
I don't know what rents are in Swindon or surrounding areas I'm afraid - I had my own house in Latton - about 20 minutes drive away. It was expensive to buy - which means that I had to borrow a lot of money from the bank! So I would guess rents are quite high. You would probably be looking at £50 minimum a week for a grotty room in a not-nice part of Swindon town, rising to a lot more in the villages around. That's a guesstimate, but probably not far out.
Good luck!

Thanks you very much for your answer.

I'm not afraid about the price of the flat because the company will pay my rent. I'm more afraid about the atmosphere and what I can do except than pub in Swindon. I'm used to live in Paris, and I think that living in Swindon after Paris can be difficult.

I also have an offer for Frankfurt in Germany. And Frankfurt vs Swindon... Swindon is not my favorite. But I should think about that.

Does somebody have any answer?!!!!

If you have Frankfurt as an alternative, then go there! Swindon is really not nice. It was useful for me, because there is a lot of business there, and I was able to make some money, but it is not a nice place. I would never choose to live there again. Swindon is known as "the asshole of England...."
Frankfurt is good. I have some friends from Darmschtadt just outside Frankfurt, and I always enjoy going there.

I was pretty sure of that. Than just one or two details and I think I will choose Frankfurt!

Thanks a lot for your return about this town!

absolutely go to Frankfurt. I live and work in Swindon for a short contract and this place is lively as a graveyard. Everybody wears the same, act the same, completely insane. If you really have to work here, you can choose some other places to live such as Oxford or Bristol and commute by train. Ciao. Pierre

vernetto wrote:

I live and work in Swindon for a short contract and this place is lively as a graveyard. Everybody wears the same, act the same, completely insane.

Your right, Swindon is a little "bland" but its not bad as you mentioned it! If it is as you say, then flats to rent there are really cheap as you can see, at least thats one good thing about Swindon!!!

Hello, my info is probably a bit late... but for others who may need the same info, i'll try to tell you what Swindon is like from my point of view.

I rent a 1 bed appartment in the city centre, the interior is 6 years old (so fairly modern) and it costs £480 per month.  Including Internet, phone, power, council tax, food, i think you could be looking at £700ish per month. Obviously renting a room would be cheaper again... probably plenty of info on the internet for that.

In terms of the people and town, i've found people are far less stressed than in London and the pace of life is much slower. If you live fairly close to town, you have pretty much everything at your doorstep. The train and bus stations are literally a few minutes walk from the town centre. London Paddington is 1 hour on the train, so it's a great location to commute for weekend trips.
The town and shopping centre is fairly small. Much cleaner than some towns i've visited, but in saying that they it's nothing flash.
I walk to work in the morning and it's nice that people actually say "Hello" when you see them every day or give you the time of day when asked.
I'm not really into the Saturday night town scene, but they do have a street or two where it all happens...
Anyway, all up, it's an ok place to live... nowhere near as bad as some people have have mentioned and it's certainly not "the asshole of england".
Different strokes for different folks though eh?