I studied abroad in Rome at 20. It is the trip I measure everything else against — not because Rome is perfect, but because living somewhere completely unfamiliar for a semester does something to you that no other kind of travel quite replicates. You figure out who you are when the usual context is stripped away. You make friends from places you would not have otherwise overlapped with. You eat things you cannot find at home. You get a little bit lost and then you stop minding.
Europe is the most popular study abroad destination in the world and the options are genuinely overwhelming. So here are 23 of the best cities to study abroad in Europe — what makes each one worth considering, who it actually suits, and the one specific thing about each place that tends to seal the deal.
If you want the deep-dive city-by-city breakdown with student profiles and exactly who each city suits, the best places to study abroad in Europe guide covers every major city in detail. But if you are still figuring out the shortlist, start here.
Rome is the obvious choice and it earns every cliché thrown at it. There is genuinely no city in Europe where the history is more physically present — the Colosseum is at the end of a street, the Pantheon is in the middle of a neighbourhood, and you walk past things daily that most people see once in a lifetime. For students studying art history, architecture, humanities, or Italian, it is essentially a living classroom.
The city is enormous and a little chaotic, which is part of what makes a semester there so formative. You figure things out. You learn to navigate the metro, find the neighbourhood bars where locals eat rather than tourists, and do day trips on weekends to places like the Amalfi Coast or Cinque Terre. Speaking of which — if you are based in Rome, the Cinque Terre day trip guide is essential reading before your first month is up.
Best for: art history, architecture, humanities, first-time Europe students
Florence is smaller than Rome, more manageable, and beautiful in a way that is almost unreasonably concentrated. It is considered the birth place of the Renaissance and was once the center of medieval European trade and finance. The Uffizi Gallery, the Duomo, the Ponte Vecchio, and the Boboli Gardens are all within a 40-minute walk of each other. Art and design students in particular find it almost too good — the city is essentially a living portfolio of the Renaissance.
What most people do not realise until they get there is how walkable and genuinely liveable Florence is as a city. It has a strong aperitivo culture, excellent markets, and a pace that suits the student who wants to actually spend time in a place rather than move through it. Pair a semester here with a long weekend in Bologna and you will understand Italian food in a way no restaurant outside the country can replicate.
Best for: art, design, architecture, fashion, Italian language students
If you’ve never traveled outside your home country, then choosing London as your study abroad destination may be a good choice for you! There is no language barrier, making the city easy to navigate! London is a melting pot of lots of different cultures, nationalities and languages making it a very special study abroad city in Europe.
London is one of the most international cities in the world and a semester here is less like going abroad and more like moving temporarily to a city that operates at a higher frequency than most places you have lived. The museums (the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Tate Modern, the V&A) are free and world-class. The theatre scene is extraordinary. Every neighbourhood has its own distinct identity — Shoreditch, Notting Hill, Borough Market, Brixton — and you could spend a semester exploring just the city and not run out of things to discover.
The honest reality: London is expensive. Accommodation costs are high and eating out adds up faster than it does anywhere else on this list. Students who thrive here come with a plan — a part of the city they want to live in, a few things they specifically want to do, and a community from their program to anchor to early. It rewards those who show up prepared.
Best for: business, finance, theatre, law, journalism, fashion, career-minded students
Dublin is one of the most immediately social study abroad cities in Europe. The Irish pub culture is not a tourist performance — it is a genuine social institution, the place where people of all ages go to talk, and the fact that there is no language barrier means you can actually be part of conversations rather than performing a version of integration. Trinity College is one of the most beautiful university campuses in Europe and the surrounding city is compact enough to feel familiar within a few weeks.
The literary history here is extraordinary — Beckett, Wilde, Joyce, Yeats, Heaney — and the city takes it seriously in a way that is not just museum-ified. The Irish diaspora means a familiar warmth toward American students in particular, which makes the settling-in period faster than almost any other European city.
Best for: literature, theatre, history, students who want European immersion without a language barrier
Barcelona has been ranked one of the top best cities to study abroad in Europe and continues to be a popular destination for students looking to study abroad in Europe! Gaudi’s architecture alone gives the city a visual quality that photographs cannot fully prepare you for. The Gothic Quarter is one of the most atmospheric neighbourhoods in Europe. The beach is genuinely accessible. And the social life — long dinners, late nights, weekends that start properly on Friday and do not finish until Sunday evening — is exactly what the study abroad social experience is supposed to feel like.
The honest note: Barcelona has such a large international student population that it can feel like a bubble if you are not deliberate about stepping outside of it. Push yourself to go to parts of the city where Catalan is the default, take a cooking class with locals, and avoid the trap of spending every night with other American students. The city has real depth — you have to go looking for it.
Madrid is the capital of Spain and is known for its blend of modern and historical culture. Because it’s a capital city, there is lots of places to explore during a semester abroad.
Paris is the most aspirational city on this list and one of the genuinely great cities in the world. The art museums are free for EU residents under 26 and very cheap for everyone else, which means the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay become regular Tuesday afternoon options. The food at every price point is excellent. The architecture is extraordinary. And the feeling of being in Paris — actually living there rather than visiting — is one that students consistently describe as life-changing in a way that is hard to articulate until you have done it.
It requires some French, genuine curiosity about French culture rather than just the aesthetic of it, and the independence to navigate a large and complicated city. Students who arrive with those three things tend to have the best time of their lives. Students who arrive expecting it to feel like an Instagram reel tend to find it exhausting.
Best for: art, fashion, film, literature, French language, students with some existing independence
Lisbon is one of the best value study abroad cities in Western Europe and one of the most beautiful. The hills, the trams, the azulejo tile facades, the miradouros overlooking the city at sunset — it is visually extraordinary in a way that does not wear off. The Atlantic surf coast is accessible for day trips, the nightlife runs late and feels safe, and the Portuguese are genuinely warm toward visitors in a way that makes finding a foothold in the city fast.
Lisbon has a growing creative and entrepreneurial energy layered onto its older cultural foundations, which makes it an interesting city to be in right now. English is widely spoken, the cost of living is lower than any comparable Western European capital, and students who go there consistently say it was the city that surprised them most.Best for: creative industries, business, international students on a budget, warm-weather seekers
Berlin is unlike any other city in Europe and describing it accurately is genuinely difficult — it resists tidy descriptions in the way that only cities with complicated histories do. The physical evidence of the Wall, the division, the reunification is still present in the city in a way that goes beyond museums. And the creative culture that grew in the spaces left by that history — the arts scene, the music scene, the experimental nightlife — is still very much alive and draws students who are interested in culture as much as coursework.
It is also cheap by European capital standards, politically engaged, and actively welcoming of international students and creative people. Students in arts, political science, history, and architecture find Berlin particularly transformative. If you want the city that will make you think differently rather than just feel differently, Berlin is probably it.Best for: arts, history, political science, architecture, film, music students
Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and one of the most affordable for students — the cost of living is significantly lower than Western European capitals, and the city’s medieval architecture, castle district, and riverside setting make the daily experience of being there feel consistently remarkable. The Czech Republic joined the EU’s Erasmus program years ago and the international student infrastructure is well-established. Czech language is not required in most international programs, though a few words go a long way with locals.
Best for: history, architecture, arts, students who want Western European quality of life at Central European prices
Amsterdam is one of the most visually distinctive cities in the world — the canal houses, the bikes, the bridges, the museums arranged along the water — and living there for a semester rather than visiting it for a weekend is a completely different experience. The Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum become options for a Tuesday afternoon rather than a rushed three-hour visit. The city is deeply international, English is the default in academic settings, and the overall culture is open and liberal in a way that suits students who are figuring themselves out as much as figuring out a new city.
One practical note: Amsterdam has a serious student housing shortage. Book accommodation as early as possible — earlier than feels necessary. This is the logistical challenge that catches more students off-guard here than anything else.
Best for: international business, liberal arts, design, film, art history students
Munich is the other Germany — clean, efficient, and with a relationship to outdoor life that sets it apart from most European study abroad cities. The Alps are 90 minutes away, which means skiing in winter and hiking in summer as normal weekend activities rather than expensive expeditions. The beer halls are real and worth experiencing; the Oktoberfest crowds are real and worth knowing about before you book accommodation in late September.
Engineering, technology, and business students find Munich particularly well-matched — the city has a strong technical university tradition and significant industry connections. It is the most expensive German city for students, but still considerably cheaper than Paris or London for a comparable quality of life.Best for: engineering, technology, business, environmental science, outdoor-oriented students
Lyon is France’s second city by reputation and arguably its best by quality of life. It has the best food scene in the country — Paul Bocuse established it as the capital of French gastronomy and that reputation has only grown. The old city (Vieux Lyon) is a UNESCO-listed Renaissance district with the famous traboules, hidden passageways through buildings that have been used by locals for centuries. And the cost of living is dramatically more manageable than Paris.
Lyon is significantly more welcoming to students who are still learning French than Paris tends to be, which makes it a better first France option for most students. You still improve your French because it is the default. You just do not feel judged for imperfect pronunciation at every cafe.
Best for: French language, gastronomy, students who want real French life without Paris prices or attitude
Edinburgh is one of the most dramatic cities in Europe — a medieval Old Town built around a volcanic rock with a castle on top, a Georgian New Town laid out below it with wide streets and elegant townhouses, and the Scottish Highlands within driving distance for weekends. The city has a literary and intellectual tradition that runs deep (Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Walter Scott all walked those streets) and an annual Festival season in August that briefly turns it into the most exciting city on the continent.
It is significantly more affordable than London, more manageable in size, and has a warmth to it that belies the weather reputation. The weather is real — cold, grey, and wet for a substantial part of the year — but students who lean into it rather than fighting it consistently describe Edinburgh as one of the most formative study abroad experiences they could have had.
Best for: literature, history, philosophy, medicine, architecture, students who love the outdoors and dramatic landscapes
Vienna is the most civilised city on this list in a very specific way — it has the coffee house culture, the concert halls, the opera, the museums, the grand boulevards — and it takes all of it seriously in a way that is not stuffy but deeply lived-in. Music students in particular find it almost unreasonably good. The city also has some of the best public transport in Europe, a very high quality of life, and a student culture that is active without being overwhelming.
Best for: music, art history, international relations, architecture, students who want European high culture
And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed this list of the best cities to study abroad in Europe. I know how difficult the decision to study abroad can be, so I hope this list was useful to you!
I’m so excited for you to embark on your journey and have the time of your life on all your study abroad adventures!
Hey there, I'm Angelique!
I'm a Filipina-American, Chicago native living abroad and running my online design agency from Chiang Mai, Thailand. Over a decade of traveling in, and yes, I still pinch myself. With family split between the US, UK, and SE Asia, travel has always been part of my story. This blog is where I share the honest side of living and traveling abroad, the places I explore, and the little hacks that make this life actually work. Glad you're here, friend!
Ang Around The Globe is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.