🇧🇪
Brussels
Belgium
Multilingual capital of Europe with great rail connections.
🇮🇹
Rome
Italy
Ancient ruins, dolce vita and Italy's biggest capital.
Estimated monthly student budget
🇧🇪 Brussels
€1,000–1,300 / month
- Accommodation≈ €56049%
- Food≈ €25022%
- Transport≈ €807%
- Leisure≈ €25022%
Estimated monthly student budget
🇮🇹 Rome
€1,050–1,350 / month
- Accommodation≈ €61051%
- Food≈ €26022%
- Transport≈ €807%
- Leisure≈ €25021%
Best for
🇧🇪 Brussels
- Students interested in EU politics or international careers
- Those who plan to travel widely across Europe
- People who enjoy multilingual environments
Best for
🇮🇹 Rome
- Students who want a major European capital
- Those passionate about history and classical culture
- People looking for top-tier universities
Category profile
How each city tends to feel across the things students care about — different, not better or worse.
🇧🇪 Brussels
🇮🇹 Rome
Expensive
Cost of Living
Expensive
High
Nightlife
High
Fair
Weather
Very Good
Excellent
Travel Opportunities
Excellent
Active
Student Life
Very Active
Manageable
Housing
Tight
Strong
University Reputation
Top-Tier
Student insights
🇧🇪 Brussels
- Extremely international
- Excellent rail connections to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Cologne
- Strong professional and internship opportunities
Student insights
🇮🇹 Rome
- Extraordinary historical and cultural heritage
- Prestigious universities with many international programmes
- Excellent rail and flight connections
Student voice — 🇧🇪 Brussels
“Brussels is amazing if you care about EU careers.”
Student voice — 🇮🇹 Rome
“Rome is overwhelming at first, then you fall in love.”
🇧🇪 Brussels
Pros
- Extremely international
- Excellent rail connections to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Cologne
- Strong professional and internship opportunities
- Wide cultural offer
- Multilingual environment
Cons
- Grey, rainy climate
- Fragmented student community across neighbourhoods
- Cost of living relatively high
- Less iconic atmosphere than Ghent or Bruges
- Bureaucracy across language regions
🇮🇹 Rome
Pros
- Extraordinary historical and cultural heritage
- Prestigious universities with many international programmes
- Excellent rail and flight connections
- Vibrant food and aperitivo culture
- Pleasant Mediterranean climate most of the year
Cons
- Very competitive and expensive housing
- Public transport can be slow and crowded
- Notoriously slow administrative processes
- Massive tourist crowds in central areas
- Erasmus community feels fragmented across the city
Have you studied in one of these cities?
Share your experience and help future students make better Erasmus decisions.