🇳🇱
Amsterdam
Netherlands
Canals, bikes and one of Europe's most international cities.
🇧🇪
Brussels
Belgium
Multilingual capital of Europe with great rail connections.
Estimated monthly student budget
🇳🇱 Amsterdam
€1,300–1,700 / month
Estimated monthly student budget
🇧🇪 Brussels
€1,000–1,300 / month
Best for
🇳🇱 Amsterdam
- Students who want a deeply international experience
- Those interested in top-tier universities
- People who plan to travel across Europe constantly
Best for
🇧🇪 Brussels
- Students interested in EU politics or international careers
- Those who plan to travel widely across Europe
- People who enjoy multilingual environments
Category profile
How each city tends to feel across the things students care about — different, not better or worse.
🇳🇱 Amsterdam
🇧🇪 Brussels
Very Expensive
Cost of Living
Expensive
Very High
Nightlife
High
Fair
Weather
Fair
Excellent
Travel Opportunities
Excellent
Very Active
Student Life
Active
Very Tight
Housing
Manageable
Top-Tier
University Reputation
Strong
Student insights
🇳🇱 Amsterdam
- Extremely international and English-friendly
- World-class universities
- Iconic, beautiful city to live in
Student insights
🇧🇪 Brussels
- Extremely international
- Excellent rail connections to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Cologne
- Strong professional and internship opportunities
Student voice — 🇳🇱 Amsterdam
“Amsterdam is magical — just lock in housing months early.”
Student voice — 🇧🇪 Brussels
“Brussels is amazing if you care about EU careers.”
🇳🇱 Amsterdam
Pros
- Extremely international and English-friendly
- World-class universities
- Iconic, beautiful city to live in
- Excellent flight and rail connections
- Wide cultural and nightlife offer
Cons
- Notoriously difficult housing market
- Very high cost of living
- Grey, rainy climate much of the year
- Tourist saturation in central areas
- Expectations often exceed the day-to-day reality
🇧🇪 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
Have you studied in one of these cities?
Share your experience and help future students make better Erasmus decisions.