🇳🇱
Amsterdam
Netherlands
Canals, bikes and one of Europe's most international cities.
🇵🇱
Warsaw
Poland
Reinvented capital with cheap nights and easy travel.
Estimated monthly student budget
🇳🇱 Amsterdam
€1,300–1,700 / month
Estimated monthly student budget
🇵🇱 Warsaw
€750–1,050 / 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
🇵🇱 Warsaw
- Students who want a major European capital on a budget
- Those who plan to travel widely around Central Europe
- People interested in modern history and culture
Category profile
How each city tends to feel across the things students care about — different, not better or worse.
Very Expensive
Cost of Living
Affordable
Very High
Nightlife
High
Fair
Weather
Fair
Excellent
Travel Opportunities
Excellent
Very Active
Student Life
Very Active
Very Tight
Housing
Comfortable
Top-Tier
University Reputation
Strong
Student insights
🇳🇱 Amsterdam
- Extremely international and English-friendly
- World-class universities
- Iconic, beautiful city to live in
Student insights
🇵🇱 Warsaw
- Very affordable for a European capital
- Strong nightlife and modern club scene
- Excellent flight and rail connections
Student voice — 🇳🇱 Amsterdam
“Amsterdam is magical — just lock in housing months early.”
Student voice — 🇵🇱 Warsaw
“Warsaw is way more fun than people think.”
🇳🇱 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
🇵🇱 Warsaw
Pros
- Very affordable for a European capital
- Strong nightlife and modern club scene
- Excellent flight and rail connections
- Wide academic offer with English-taught programmes
- Housing market more accessible than Western Europe
Cons
- Long, cold winters with limited daylight
- City feels spread out and less walkable
- Less iconic atmosphere than Kraków
- Smaller Erasmus community than Prague or Budapest
- Language barrier outside the centre
Have you studied in one of these cities?
Share your experience and help future students make better Erasmus decisions.