🇭🇺
Budapest
Hungary
Thermal baths, ruin bars and the Danube at sunset.
🇪🇸
Valencia
Spain
Beach, paella and a relaxed Mediterranean pace.
Estimated monthly student budget
🇭🇺 Budapest
€800–1,050 / month
Estimated monthly student budget
🇪🇸 Valencia
€850–1,100 / 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
🇪🇸 Valencia
- Students who want to live near the sea
- Those looking for balance between studies and social life
- People who enjoy outdoor activities
Category profile
How each city tends to feel across the things students care about — different, not better or worse.
🇭🇺 Budapest
🇪🇸 Valencia
Very Affordable
Cost of Living
Moderate
Very High
Nightlife
High
Fair
Weather
Very Good
Excellent
Travel Opportunities
High
Outstanding
Student Life
Very Active
Plentiful
Housing
Manageable
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
🇪🇸 Valencia
- Excellent balance between leisure, studies and quality of life
- Access to an urban beach
- Good climate during most of the year
Student voice — 🇭🇺 Budapest
“Budapest is a brilliant city for Erasmus.”
Student voice — 🇪🇸 Valencia
“Living and studying here has been great. I wouldn't choose any other city.”
🇭🇺 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
🇪🇸 Valencia
Pros
- Excellent balance between leisure, studies and quality of life
- Access to an urban beach
- Good climate during most of the year
- Large international community
- Good national and international connections
Cons
- Increasingly high rental prices
- Less intense Erasmus vibe than Seville or Granada
- Some areas can feel quite touristy
- Cost of living higher than many Spanish student destinations
- Less sense of a traditional university city
Have you studied in one of these cities?
Share your experience and help future students make better Erasmus decisions.