🇪🇸
Madrid
Spain
Spain's capital — museums, parks and endless nights.
🇵🇹
Porto
Portugal
Riverside charm, port wine and welcoming locals.
Estimated monthly student budget
🇪🇸 Madrid
€1,050–1,400 / month
Estimated monthly student budget
🇵🇹 Porto
€850–1,100 / month
Best for
🇪🇸 Madrid
- Students looking for a large international city
- Those who want to travel frequently around Europe
- People interested in academic and professional opportunities
Best for
🇵🇹 Porto
- Students looking for a mid-sized city
- Those who prefer a more authentic, less touristy experience
- People interested in Portuguese culture
Category profile
How each city tends to feel across the things students care about — different, not better or worse.
Expensive
Cost of Living
Moderate
Very High
Nightlife
High
Very Good
Weather
Good
Excellent
Travel Opportunities
High
Very Active
Student Life
Active
Tight
Housing
Manageable
Top-Tier
University Reputation
Strong
Student insights
🇪🇸 Madrid
- Exceptional nightlife
- Outstanding national and international connections
- Highly prestigious universities
Student insights
🇵🇹 Porto
- City with great personality and authenticity
- Good university reputation
- More moderate cost of living than many European capitals
Student voice — 🇪🇸 Madrid
“Madrid is a city that never sleeps.”
Student voice — 🇵🇹 Porto
“Porto was the best choice ever.”
🇪🇸 Madrid
Pros
- Exceptional nightlife
- Outstanding national and international connections
- Highly prestigious universities
- Wide cultural and leisure offer
- Great networking and career opportunities
Cons
- Very expensive rent
- High cost of living by Spanish standards
- Large, sometimes overwhelming city
- Longer daily commutes than in mid-sized cities
- Less sense of student community than in more compact destinations
🇵🇹 Porto
Pros
- City with great personality and authenticity
- Good university reputation
- More moderate cost of living than many European capitals
- Good balance between leisure and calm
- Good international connections
Cons
- Rainier climate than other southern European destinations
- Increasingly expensive rental market
- Smaller Erasmus community than Lisbon or Seville
- Less cultural and leisure offer than major capitals
- Fewer international and professional opportunities
Have you studied in one of these cities?
Share your experience and help future students make better Erasmus decisions.