🇭🇺
Budapest
Hungary
Thermal baths, ruin bars and the Danube at sunset.
🇩🇰
Copenhagen
Denmark
Scandinavian design, bikes and one of Europe's best quality of life.
Estimated monthly student budget
🇭🇺 Budapest
€800–1,050 / month
Estimated monthly student budget
🇩🇰 Copenhagen
€1,400–1,800 / month
Best for
🇭🇺 Budapest
- Students with a tight or mid-range budget
- Those looking for a very active social life
- People who want to travel frequently around Europe
Best for
🇩🇰 Copenhagen
- Students who value high quality of life
- Those interested in design and sustainability
- People looking for top-tier universities
Category profile
How each city tends to feel across the things students care about — different, not better or worse.
Very Affordable
Cost of Living
Very Expensive
Very High
Nightlife
High
Fair
Weather
Fair
Excellent
Travel Opportunities
High
Iconic
Student Life
Very Active
Plentiful
Housing
Very Tight
Well-Regarded
University Reputation
Top-Tier
Student insights
🇭🇺 Budapest
- Excellent value for money
- One of the best nightlife scenes in Europe
- Large Erasmus community
Student insights
🇩🇰 Copenhagen
- Excellent quality of life
- World-class universities
- Very bike-friendly and well-organised
Student voice — 🇭🇺 Budapest
“Budapest is a brilliant city for Erasmus.”
Student voice — 🇩🇰 Copenhagen
“Best quality of life I've ever experienced.”
🇭🇺 Budapest
Pros
- Excellent value for money
- One of the best nightlife scenes in Europe
- Large Erasmus community
- Ideal location for travelling
- Relatively accessible accommodation
Cons
- Long, cold winters
- University prestige lower than major Western capitals
- Local language difficult for many students
- Fewer international professional opportunities
- Some infrastructure can feel less modern than Western Europe
🇩🇰 Copenhagen
Pros
- Excellent quality of life
- World-class universities
- Very bike-friendly and well-organised
- Strong design and sustainability culture
- English universally spoken
Cons
- Very high cost of living
- Extremely competitive housing market
- Long, dark winters
- Locals can feel reserved
- Less spontaneous nightlife than southern Europe
Have you studied in one of these cities?
Share your experience and help future students make better Erasmus decisions.