Armidale Life

Living in Armidale you will experience the best of both city and rural living. Enjoy a healthy and active lifestyle with access to shopping, gourmet food, top sporting facilities and cultural delights all for a fraction of the price you'd expect to pay in a major city. You can live in the heart of Armidale or experience the tranquility of New England on a rural property.

Armidale balances a city-esque vibe amid a country landscape. This seemingly sleepy country town is in fact a buzzing urban centre with an impressive catalogue of galleries, museums, music gigs and theatre performances. There's a bounty of cafés and restaurants, many of which focus on local ingredients, as well as picturesque national parks, majestic waterfalls and plenty of walking trails to get your fill of country air. Suffice to say, its cover has been blown.

- Australian Traveller

Accommodation options

Flexible on campus accommodation

There are some great reasons to live on campus when you study with UNE including:

  • Support and mentorship — our Residential System fosters a supportive environment to enhance your academic success and future employment.
  • The ultimate lifestyle — with a variety of social and cultural events
  • An 'inbuilt' community — with an instant network of friends and support
  • Great opportunities — get involved with clubs, community projects, sport, and professional experiences
  • Convenience — live in the heart of the action with easy access to classes and campus services
  • Different accommodation options — a variety of options for traditional catered accommodation, independent living, or a combination of both.

If you need to visit UNE for a short period — whether for intensive schools, graduation, working on campus, or another reason, — short-term accommodation is available in our residential college system.

Off campus living

College accommodation may not suit everyone. Share housing and private board is a popular accommodation choice for our off campus students. The expenses and responsibilities such as rent and housekeeping are split among housemates. You'll often have your own bedroom but share common living areas such as the kitchen, lounge room and bathroom.

Renting is another choice for UNE students living in Armidale. Compared to rental costs in a major city, living in Armidale is relatively inexpensive. There are a great range of properties available throughout the year including units, townhouses, family homes and rural properties. Local real estate agents can assist you in finding rental properties.

Accommodation information is available through UNE Life Advocacy & Welfare. They can assist you with finding share housing accommodation and provide advice about renting in Armidale.

Travelling and getting to UNE

If you live in town, travelling to the university will take you no time at all. Driving to the university is relatively easy with a number of direct routes you can take. Depending on where you live it can take as little as 5-10 minutes to drive to the university.

Edwards Coaches provide routine bus services to the university Monday-Saturday and night rider services on Friday and Saturdays. If you would like to walk or bike to the university, there are designated footpaths and bike paths from the town centre to UNE. It's usually a 20-30 minute commute to UNE and many of the paths wind through the beautiful heritage parklands and bushland reserves.