🇭🇺
Budapest
Hungary
Thermal baths, ruin bars and the Danube at sunset.
🇮🇹
Rome
Italy
Ancient ruins, dolce vita and Italy's biggest capital.
Estimated monthly student budget
🇭🇺 Budapest
€800–1,050 / month
Estimated monthly student budget
🇮🇹 Rome
€1,050–1,350 / 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
🇮🇹 Rome
- Students who want a major European capital
- Those passionate about history and classical culture
- 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
Expensive
Very High
Nightlife
High
Fair
Weather
Very Good
Excellent
Travel Opportunities
Excellent
Iconic
Student Life
Very Active
Plentiful
Housing
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
🇮🇹 Rome
- Extraordinary historical and cultural heritage
- Prestigious universities with many international programmes
- Excellent rail and flight connections
Student voice — 🇭🇺 Budapest
“Budapest is a brilliant city for Erasmus.”
Student voice — 🇮🇹 Rome
“Rome is overwhelming at first, then you fall in love.”
🇭🇺 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
🇮🇹 Rome
Pros
- Extraordinary historical and cultural heritage
- Prestigious universities with many international programmes
- Excellent rail and flight connections
- Vibrant food and aperitivo culture
- Pleasant Mediterranean climate most of the year
Cons
- Very competitive and expensive housing
- Public transport can be slow and crowded
- Notoriously slow administrative processes
- Massive tourist crowds in central areas
- Erasmus community feels fragmented across the city
Have you studied in one of these cities?
Share your experience and help future students make better Erasmus decisions.