🇪🇸
Madrid
Spain
Spain's capital — museums, parks and endless nights.
🇭🇷
Zagreb
Croatia
Compact Croatian capital with friendly locals and a strong café culture.
Estimated monthly student budget
🇪🇸 Madrid
€1,050–1,400 / month
Estimated monthly student budget
🇭🇷 Zagreb
€700–1,000 / 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
🇭🇷 Zagreb
- Students looking for a friendly, underrated destination
- Those with a mid-range budget
- People who want an authentic Central/Southeastern European experience
Category profile
How each city tends to feel across the things students care about — different, not better or worse.
🇪🇸 Madrid
🇭🇷 Zagreb
Expensive
Cost of Living
Affordable
Very High
Nightlife
Moderate
Very Good
Weather
Good
Excellent
Travel Opportunities
High
Very Active
Student Life
Very Active
Tight
Housing
Comfortable
Top-Tier
University Reputation
Well-Regarded
Student insights
🇪🇸 Madrid
- Exceptional nightlife
- Outstanding national and international connections
- Highly prestigious universities
Student insights
🇭🇷 Zagreb
- Friendly, welcoming locals
- Reasonable cost of living
- Compact, easy-to-navigate centre
Student voice — 🇪🇸 Madrid
“Madrid is a city that never sleeps.”
Student voice — 🇭🇷 Zagreb
“Zagreb is the most welcoming city I've lived in.”
🇪🇸 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
🇭🇷 Zagreb
Pros
- Friendly, welcoming locals
- Reasonable cost of living
- Compact, easy-to-navigate centre
- Strong café and outdoor culture
- Easy access to the Croatian coast
Cons
- Smaller Erasmus community
- Less famous than other European capitals
- Cold winters
- Fewer international flight connections
- Croatian language barrier outside university
Have you studied in one of these cities?
Share your experience and help future students make better Erasmus decisions.