🇮🇹
Bologna
Italy
Oldest university in Europe and Italy's food capital.
🇮🇹
Florence
Italy
Renaissance art, Tuscan light and a walkable historic core.
Estimated monthly student budget
🇮🇹 Bologna
€1,000–1,300 / month
Estimated monthly student budget
🇮🇹 Florence
€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
🇮🇹 Florence
- Students passionate about art, architecture and culture
- Those who want an authentic Italian experience
- People looking for a walkable, compact historic city
Category profile
How each city tends to feel across the things students care about — different, not better or worse.
🇮🇹 Bologna
🇮🇹 Florence
Moderate
Cost of Living
Expensive
Moderate
Nightlife
Moderate
Good
Weather
Very Good
Excellent
Travel Opportunities
High
Outstanding
Student Life
Very Active
Manageable
Housing
Tight
Top-Tier
University Reputation
Strong
Student insights
🇮🇹 Bologna
- Exceptional university atmosphere
- Very high academic prestige
- Excellent location for travelling around Italy
Student insights
🇮🇹 Florence
- Unmatched cultural and artistic environment
- Compact, walkable historic centre
- Pleasant Tuscan climate most of the year
Student voice — 🇮🇹 Bologna
“University life in Bologna is unlike anything else.”
Student voice — 🇮🇹 Florence
“Florence feels like living inside a museum, in the best way.”
🇮🇹 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
🇮🇹 Florence
Pros
- Unmatched cultural and artistic environment
- Compact, walkable historic centre
- Pleasant Tuscan climate most of the year
- Excellent rail connections across Italy
- Strong international student community
Cons
- Expensive and competitive housing market
- Heavy tourist pressure in the centre
- Limited nightlife compared to larger capitals
- Cost of living higher than many Erasmus destinations
- Smaller local student community than Bologna or Padova
Have you studied in one of these cities?
Share your experience and help future students make better Erasmus decisions.