[mcv]

Buildings spread out through the city seems to be a product of having older universities. The oldest Dutch universities have that too, whereas newer universities tend to have most buildings concentrated on a campus. I know of only one that has on-site dorms (TU Twente), but most do have affordable student housing in the vicinity (though never enough for all students). There's usually a cheap, student-oriented sport center connected to the university.

University restaurants (also called "mensa" here) are pretty cheap, but quality is mediocre. Better cook your own dinner.

[thejdude]

Hm, I've heard many complain about the food quality at our mensa, and many never ate there, but overall my experience wasn't bad. No fancy restaurant quality, but better than typical prepared/frozen meals and not at all bad.

[mcv]

I used to joke that they had a big can of "mensa spices" that they put in everything, making it all taste the same, no matter what it was originally.