Berlin was voted the greatest uni city in the EU / Creative commons
Berlin was voted the greatest uni city in the EU / Creative commons

Students are a genuine source of wealth for cities like London, Rotterdam and Milan. This is the conclusion of the recent conference, The Class Conference, an annual event organized by The Class of 2020, a real estate association that has focussed its attention on the student housing market since 2011. In Europe, the top university city is Berlin, and two Portuguese cities, Lisbon and Porto, are in the top 5.

Berlin is the top city for students in Europe

Aside from the university education, what are the top cities in Europe for student housing? The Class of 2020 ranked 44 university cities on 35 parameters, and Berlin is the city that came out on top. It has the best relationship between tuition fees and quality of teaching, rich and affordable social life, variety of fun entertainment and just the right mix of culture and leisure perfect for a student budget.

Lisbon and Porto are strong contenders

However, Portugal is hot on the heels of the German capital. In fact, with two German and two Portuguese cities in the top 5, the great competitiveness of Germany and Portugal really stands out.

According to The Class 2020, Lisbon and Oporto earn their top 5 spots thanks to their cultural beauties and the availability of apartments at low prices. More importantly, they both have a vibrant youth culture and low cost of living in general, making these Portuguese destinations among the best student cities to live in.

A city like Milan is not at the top of the ranking due to its lack of readily available housing and the level of international education that, although improving, is still low. The same housing shortage problem also affects Madrid, which does not appear among the Spanish cities in the top 20: however, Barcelona, Valencia and Seville all rank among the best cities for students.

These are the top 5 European university cities:

1. Berlin, Germany

Berlin
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2. Munich, Germany

Munich
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3. Lisbon, Portugal

Lisboa
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4. Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Amsterdam
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5. Porto, Portugal

Oporto
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