The 5 Best Places to Study Abroad (Plus One Wild Card)
Written in collaboration with travel content creator Laura Vogel.
If you’re on the fence about studying abroad, let me be the one to push you off it: go. Full stop. The question isn’t whether; it’s where.
After thinking through this more than a few times, these are the five places I’d tell any student to seriously consider, in no particular order. The last one might surprise you!
1. Italy (Florence, Milan, or Rome)
Italy is one of those places that makes you feel like you’re living inside a painting, because you basically are. Whether you’re based in Florence, Milan, or Rome, you’re surrounded by culture and history at every turn.
The bonus? Everyone will want to come visit you, which means you’ll never be short on travel companions. And with Italy’s rail network, you can knock out a huge number of bucket-list trips within Italy and the surrounding areas. A weekend in the Amalfi Coast? Easy. Day trip to Cinque Terre? Done. You can even catch the train to the French Riviera, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, and beyond. And, of course, you have many major airports in Italy with cheap direct flights around Europe.
Oh, and did I mention the food? 😉
2. Prague, Czech Republic
Prague has quickly become one of the most popular study abroad cities over the past few years, and for good reason. It’s significantly more affordable than the major Western European cities, the nightlife is legendary, and there is genuinely a lot to see and do. You’ve got WW2 history, one of the largest royal palaces in the world, and some very infamous music and art history.
But the real selling point is location. Prague is your gateway to Eastern Europe. Cities like Budapest, Krakow, Vienna, and Berlin are all within reach, and many students never would have visited them otherwise. It’s a seriously underrated home base.
3. Vienna, Austria
Vienna is one of my absolute favorite cities in the world, and I don’t say that lightly. It’s clean, safe, and incredibly walkable. It’s the kind of city where you can wander without a plan and still end up somewhere beautiful.
Vienna has some of the most impressive art museums on the planet, a coffee culture that feels like a lifestyle, and an incredibly rich history that runs deep in every building and boulevard. Vienna reminds me of Paris in the sense that it has the most impressive museums and grand palaces. Austria also played a huge part in WW1 and WW2, so there’s plenty to see if you’re interested in that. Vienna had one of the most infamous and powerful royal families in the world, that were intertwined with Marie Antoinette in France and the Habsburg royal family in Spain. For music lovers, Vienna is the capital of classical music. This city was home to Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and more. You will never run out of things to do in Vienna.
A quick train ride gets you to Salzburg, and the Alps are practically next door.
4. Madrid, Spain
I will always say Madrid over Barcelona, and I’ll stand by that. Madrid has an energy that’s completely its own. There are students everywhere, a social culture that actually includes you, and a nightlife scene that doesn’t start until after midnight (seriously, embrace it). Beyond the city itself, you’ll have access to some of the most beautiful day trips and weekend getaways in all of Europe. Granada, Barcelona, Porto, Lisbon, and Morocco are all doable. Madrid is simply the best.
5. Hong Kong (The Wild Card)
This one catches people off guard, but hear me out! Hong Kong has a massive international community, is one of the safest cities in Asia, and has a high proportion of English speakers since it was a British colony for so long, so the transition is much smoother than you’d expect.
The blend of British colonial history and vibrant Asian culture creates something genuinely unique that you won’t find anywhere else. And strategically? It might be the best-positioned city on this list. Vietnam, Thailand, Bali, South Korea, Japan, and even Australia are all reasonable trips from Hong Kong. If you want to maximize how much of the world you see in one semester, this is your move.
No matter where you end up, you’ll have the time of your life. But more than that, you’ll probably find that travel teaches you more about yourself and about the world than anything you’ll learn sitting at a desk.
So start looking. The right city is out there.
