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Hi,

Although I can't say much about the south as I live in the North.

What I can say is if you haven't already done so, practice your french as it will go a long way to integrating and encourage engagement with others.

Hey,


I am looking at moving to the South of France by myself (young woman from London) and am choosing between: Nice, Bordeaux, Montpeillier and Toulouse. I want to move and settle for life, my main concern is making friends/ lonliness. In this regard, which is the easiest city to move to?



Thanks in advance! - @carla-g1

You also have to think about visas.

@carla-g1

Hey Carla!

Your message resonates a bit with what I went trough: I moved to Toulouse from Chile in 2012 for eduaction reasons. I had no contacts in the city whatsoever at the time, but I quickly realised how easy is to meet people here (at work but also outside of it). Toulouse is very lively, full of young and mostly open minded people. There're lots of international students, erasmus, foreing workers, so is really easy to find people who are going through the same experiences as you (as an expat). As a very international city, you'll be able to go out and make friends even if you don't speak french at first.

I never lived in either Bordeaux, Montpellier or Nice, but I've visited them all several times. From what I can say, Bordeaux is very much like Toulouse but with a Parisian feel (they have a direct high-speed train connection to Paris, so there's loads of Parisians living there). Montpellier and Nice are very much alike, with a less open-minded feel and a little bit of self-centered feel. I'm happy to go there, but I'm also happy when I leave :-).

Feel free to msg me if you have any further questions.

Best,

Oscar