🇭🇺
Budapest
Hungary
Thermal baths, ruin bars and the Danube at sunset.
🇮🇹
Florence
Italy
Renaissance art, Tuscan light and a walkable historic core.
Estimated monthly student budget
🇭🇺 Budapest
€800–1,050 / month
Estimated monthly student budget
🇮🇹 Florence
€1,000–1,300 / 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
🇮🇹 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.
Very Affordable
Cost of Living
Expensive
Very High
Nightlife
Moderate
Fair
Weather
Very Good
Excellent
Travel Opportunities
High
Iconic
Student Life
Very Active
Plentiful
Housing
Tight
Well-Regarded
University Reputation
Strong
Student insights
🇭🇺 Budapest
- Excellent value for money
- One of the best nightlife scenes in Europe
- Large Erasmus community
Student insights
🇮🇹 Florence
- Unmatched cultural and artistic environment
- Compact, walkable historic centre
- Pleasant Tuscan climate most of the year
Student voice — 🇭🇺 Budapest
“Budapest is a brilliant city for Erasmus.”
Student voice — 🇮🇹 Florence
“Florence feels like living inside a museum, in the best way.”
🇭🇺 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
🇮🇹 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.