🇮🇹
Florence
Italy
Renaissance art, Tuscan light and a walkable historic core.
🇮🇹
Rome
Italy
Ancient ruins, dolce vita and Italy's biggest capital.
Estimated monthly student budget
🇮🇹 Florence
€1,000–1,300 / month
Estimated monthly student budget
🇮🇹 Rome
€1,050–1,350 / month
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
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.
🇮🇹 Florence
🇮🇹 Rome
Expensive
Cost of Living
Expensive
Moderate
Nightlife
High
Very Good
Weather
Very Good
High
Travel Opportunities
Excellent
Very Active
Student Life
Very Active
Tight
Housing
Tight
Strong
University Reputation
Top-Tier
Student insights
🇮🇹 Florence
- Unmatched cultural and artistic environment
- Compact, walkable historic centre
- Pleasant Tuscan climate most of the year
Student insights
🇮🇹 Rome
- Extraordinary historical and cultural heritage
- Prestigious universities with many international programmes
- Excellent rail and flight connections
Student voice — 🇮🇹 Florence
“Florence feels like living inside a museum, in the best way.”
Student voice — 🇮🇹 Rome
“Rome is overwhelming at first, then you fall in love.”
🇮🇹 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
🇮🇹 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.