🇮🇹
Padova
Italy
Historic university town, just 30 minutes from Venice.
🇮🇹
Rome
Italy
Ancient ruins, dolce vita and Italy's biggest capital.
Estimated monthly student budget
🇮🇹 Padova
€800–1,100 / month
Estimated monthly student budget
🇮🇹 Rome
€1,050–1,350 / month
Best for
🇮🇹 Padova
- Students who want a real university-town atmosphere
- Those who plan to travel around northern Italy frequently
- People who value academic prestige
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.
Moderate
Cost of Living
Expensive
Moderate
Nightlife
High
Good
Weather
Very Good
Excellent
Travel Opportunities
Excellent
Iconic
Student Life
Very Active
Manageable
Housing
Tight
Top-Tier
University Reputation
Top-Tier
Student insights
🇮🇹 Padova
- One of Italy's oldest and most prestigious universities
- Just 30 minutes by train to Venice
- Strong sense of student community
Student insights
🇮🇹 Rome
- Extraordinary historical and cultural heritage
- Prestigious universities with many international programmes
- Excellent rail and flight connections
Student voice — 🇮🇹 Padova
“Padova surprised me — I'd choose it again over Milan.”
Student voice — 🇮🇹 Rome
“Rome is overwhelming at first, then you fall in love.”
🇮🇹 Padova
Pros
- One of Italy's oldest and most prestigious universities
- Just 30 minutes by train to Venice
- Strong sense of student community
- Compact, walkable historic centre
- Reasonable cost of living for northern Italy
Cons
- Smaller international community than Bologna
- Less famous than Florence or Rome
- Cold and foggy winters
- Limited big-city nightlife
- Housing tightens up at the start of the academic year
🇮🇹 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.