Where to Travel: Studying Abroad

I am considering studying abroad at my university next spring (2014) and was wondering what the POTN community thinks of where I should go...

My options (unconfirmed, but i am fairly certain of these) are...
Barcelona, Spain
Dublin, Ireland
Australia (3 campus choices it looks like...)

And there is talk of adding Chile next year

Florence is also a pretty viable option as my university has its own campus there, but I hear the cultural experience isn't the same due to that, so I am leaving that as my last option...

My main decision factor in choosing a location is photography driven - why not take advantage of this opportunity, right? I like shooting landscapes and astrophotography, but also am trying documentary lately working for my school's newspaper and trying to expand my horizons...

So any insight on any locations - obviously all provide new environments and amazing photo ops, just trying to see what anyone has to say or weigh in with experience being in these countries or just thoughts on the matter...

(I'd expand my gear before I went... for what it is worth)

For landscapes and astrophotography I'd say Ireland. I've never been but I would love to go there just to photograph it. It's also so close to Europe that I'm sure you could get away even on a student budget to photograph some of those fairy tale cities.

I live in Australia I'm not really fussed with the landscapes here, for astrophotography you'd have to get a fair way out of the city before you'd have a viable place to shoot.

I have never been to Australia, and cannot comment on that. But I visited the other places you mentioned multiple times (many times in Ireland). In order of preference, for photography purposes, for me they will be Florence, Barcelona, and only then Dublin. I do not want to dump on Dublin, and my apologies to the Irish there, but it is a place worth visiting just for a day. Yes, the landscapes around it are beautiful, but they are all the same, and I did not find anything spectacular to shoot. Frequent rains will set you back in the opportunities to shoot. Besides, Ireland is isolated, you have to fly to visit any other place in Europe. The good thing about Ireland is that they all speak English, it makes it easier to go around, and the people are probably the friendliest and nicest in Europe.

Barcelona and its surroundings (e.g., Tarragona, the Pyrenees, Girona, Monserratte, the mountains, the cliffs, the beaches) are spectacular. Besides, within three-four hour drive you get to be in South France, with a lot of other great places to see and to shoot.

Florence... Tuscany... I was there twice, and plan to go again. That is the place to see again and again and again. If you like history, architecture, landscapes, art - this is the place to be.

Please let us know what you will decide.

It all depends on how you feel about being in a strange country. Do you want english speaking or are you happy to learn another language to use in a country where english is not the first language. I am natuarlly going to say Australia. The reason I say this is we are a pretty laid back bunch once you get out of the major cities. As for photographic opportunities, if you like landscapes we have them coming out of our kazoo haha. I will just say this, I have travelled a lot. The countries where I feel most at home in away from Australia is the U.S. and N.Z. Everywhere else (and that includes the U.K.) I feel like I am in a strange land.

Be warned, Australia is expensive to travel. I've found you can do more with the same money - say buying a ticket to Singapore and onwards to wherever in Asia - than you can trying to see parts of Australia.

A funny choice is to go to Australia, then to fly to New Zealand, because NZ is very compact and you can see the sights of either island in two weeks or a month or two in depth.