🇪🇸
Madrid
Spain
Spain's capital — museums, parks and endless nights.
🇫🇷
Toulouse
France
The pink city — French southwest with a major student population.
Estimated monthly student budget
🇪🇸 Madrid
€1,050–1,400 / month
Estimated monthly student budget
🇫🇷 Toulouse
€900–1,200 / 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
🇫🇷 Toulouse
- Students who want to improve their French
- Those looking for a warm southern French city
- People interested in aerospace or engineering
Category profile
How each city tends to feel across the things students care about — different, not better or worse.
🇪🇸 Madrid
🇫🇷 Toulouse
Expensive
Cost of Living
Moderate
Very High
Nightlife
High
Very Good
Weather
Very Good
Excellent
Travel Opportunities
High
Very Active
Student Life
Outstanding
Tight
Housing
Manageable
Top-Tier
University Reputation
Strong
Student insights
🇪🇸 Madrid
- Exceptional nightlife
- Outstanding national and international connections
- Highly prestigious universities
Student insights
🇫🇷 Toulouse
- Warm southern French climate
- Huge student population
- Strong universities, especially in engineering
Student voice — 🇪🇸 Madrid
“Madrid is a city that never sleeps.”
Student voice — 🇫🇷 Toulouse
“Toulouse made me actually use my French.”
🇪🇸 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
🇫🇷 Toulouse
Pros
- Warm southern French climate
- Huge student population
- Strong universities, especially in engineering
- Lively bar and music scene
- Beautiful pink-brick architecture
Cons
- French language barrier in daily life
- Housing tightens at the start of the year
- Hot summers
- Smaller international community than Paris
- Public transport less extensive than larger metros
Have you studied in one of these cities?
Share your experience and help future students make better Erasmus decisions.