🇭🇺
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.
🇭🇺 Budapest
🇮🇹 Florence
Very Affordable
Cost of Living
Expensive
Very High
Nightlife
Moderate
Fair
Weather
Very Good
Excellent
Travel Opportunities
High
Outstanding
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.