🇧🇪
Brussels
Belgium
Multilingual capital of Europe with great rail connections.
🇫🇷
Toulouse
France
The pink city — French southwest with a major student population.
Estimated monthly student budget
🇧🇪 Brussels
€1,000–1,300 / month
Estimated monthly student budget
🇫🇷 Toulouse
€900–1,200 / 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
🇫🇷 Toulouse
- Students who want to improve their French
- Those looking for a warm southern French city
- People interested in aerospace or engineering
Category profile
How each city tends to feel across the things students care about — different, not better or worse.
Expensive
Cost of Living
Moderate
High
Nightlife
High
Fair
Weather
Very Good
Excellent
Travel Opportunities
High
Active
Student Life
Iconic
Manageable
Housing
Manageable
Strong
University Reputation
Strong
Student insights
🇧🇪 Brussels
- Extremely international
- Excellent rail connections to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Cologne
- Strong professional and internship opportunities
Student insights
🇫🇷 Toulouse
- Warm southern French climate
- Huge student population
- Strong universities, especially in engineering
Student voice — 🇧🇪 Brussels
“Brussels is amazing if you care about EU careers.”
Student voice — 🇫🇷 Toulouse
“Toulouse made me actually use my French.”
🇧🇪 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
🇫🇷 Toulouse
Pros
- Warm southern French climate
- Huge student population
- Strong universities, especially in engineering
- Lively bar and music scene
- Beautiful pink-brick architecture
Cons
- French language barrier in daily life
- Housing tightens at the start of the year
- Hot summers
- Smaller international community than Paris
- Public transport less extensive than larger metros
Have you studied in one of these cities?
Share your experience and help future students make better Erasmus decisions.