🇧🇪
Brussels
Belgium
Multilingual capital of Europe with great rail connections.
🇮🇹
Florence
Italy
Renaissance art, Tuscan light and a walkable historic core.
Estimated monthly student budget
🇧🇪 Brussels
€1,000–1,300 / month
Estimated monthly student budget
🇮🇹 Florence
€1,000–1,300 / month
Best for
🇧🇪 Brussels
- Students interested in EU politics or international careers
- Those who plan to travel widely across Europe
- People who enjoy multilingual environments
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.
🇧🇪 Brussels
🇮🇹 Florence
Expensive
Cost of Living
Expensive
High
Nightlife
Moderate
Fair
Weather
Very Good
Excellent
Travel Opportunities
High
Active
Student Life
Very Active
Manageable
Housing
Tight
Strong
University Reputation
Strong
Student insights
🇧🇪 Brussels
- Extremely international
- Excellent rail connections to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Cologne
- Strong professional and internship opportunities
Student insights
🇮🇹 Florence
- Unmatched cultural and artistic environment
- Compact, walkable historic centre
- Pleasant Tuscan climate most of the year
Student voice — 🇧🇪 Brussels
“Brussels is amazing if you care about EU careers.”
Student voice — 🇮🇹 Florence
“Florence feels like living inside a museum, in the best way.”
🇧🇪 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
🇮🇹 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.