🇳🇱
Amsterdam
Netherlands
Canals, bikes and one of Europe's most international cities.
🇮🇹
Padova
Italy
Historic university town, just 30 minutes from Venice.
Estimated monthly student budget
🇳🇱 Amsterdam
€1,300–1,700 / month
Estimated monthly student budget
🇮🇹 Padova
€800–1,100 / 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
🇮🇹 Padova
- Students who want a real university-town atmosphere
- Those who plan to travel around northern Italy frequently
- People who value academic prestige
Category profile
How each city tends to feel across the things students care about — different, not better or worse.
Very Expensive
Cost of Living
Moderate
Very High
Nightlife
Moderate
Fair
Weather
Good
Excellent
Travel Opportunities
Excellent
Very Active
Student Life
Iconic
Very Tight
Housing
Manageable
Top-Tier
University Reputation
Top-Tier
Student insights
🇳🇱 Amsterdam
- Extremely international and English-friendly
- World-class universities
- Iconic, beautiful city to live in
Student insights
🇮🇹 Padova
- One of Italy's oldest and most prestigious universities
- Just 30 minutes by train to Venice
- Strong sense of student community
Student voice — 🇳🇱 Amsterdam
“Amsterdam is magical — just lock in housing months early.”
Student voice — 🇮🇹 Padova
“Padova surprised me — I'd choose it again over Milan.”
🇳🇱 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
🇮🇹 Padova
Pros
- One of Italy's oldest and most prestigious universities
- Just 30 minutes by train to Venice
- Strong sense of student community
- Compact, walkable historic centre
- Reasonable cost of living for northern Italy
Cons
- Smaller international community than Bologna
- Less famous than Florence or Rome
- Cold and foggy winters
- Limited big-city nightlife
- Housing tightens up at the start of the academic year
Have you studied in one of these cities?
Share your experience and help future students make better Erasmus decisions.