🇮🇹
Bologna
Italy
Oldest university in Europe and Italy's food capital.
🇧🇪
Brussels
Belgium
Multilingual capital of Europe with great rail connections.
Estimated monthly student budget
🇮🇹 Bologna
€1,000–1,300 / month
Estimated monthly student budget
🇧🇪 Brussels
€1,000–1,300 / month
Best for
🇮🇹 Bologna
- Students looking for a true university city
- Those who want an authentic Italian experience
- People interested in combining studies and social life
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.
🇮🇹 Bologna
🇧🇪 Brussels
Moderate
Cost of Living
Expensive
Moderate
Nightlife
High
Good
Weather
Fair
Excellent
Travel Opportunities
Excellent
Outstanding
Student Life
Active
Manageable
Housing
Manageable
Top-Tier
University Reputation
Strong
Student insights
🇮🇹 Bologna
- Exceptional university atmosphere
- Very high academic prestige
- Excellent location for travelling around Italy
Student insights
🇧🇪 Brussels
- Extremely international
- Excellent rail connections to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Cologne
- Strong professional and internship opportunities
Student voice — 🇮🇹 Bologna
“University life in Bologna is unlike anything else.”
Student voice — 🇧🇪 Brussels
“Brussels is amazing if you care about EU careers.”
🇮🇹 Bologna
Pros
- Exceptional university atmosphere
- Very high academic prestige
- Excellent location for travelling around Italy
- Strong student identity
- Compact and walkable city
Cons
- Increasingly expensive accommodation
- Cost of living higher than Central Europe
- Less favourable climate than southern Europe
- Smaller international community than Barcelona or Lisbon
- Less leisure offer than major European capitals
🇧🇪 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.