Three Dutch cities have been named among the top 50 student cities in the world. The ranking, which was put together by The Campus Advisor, named Utrecht, Amsterdam and Groningen as some of the best cities for student life.

Student cities ranking reveals best student cities in 2023

The ranking, which looked at the 50 best student cities in the world, undertook an extensive analysis of ratings left by university students on The Campus Advisor website. Rather than focus on the quality of the universities themselves, the organisation ranked each location by student friendliness, cost of living, nightlife, public transport, amenities, safety, and the opinions more generally of current students.

According to the ranking, Melbourne in Australia is the best student city in the world, followed by Berlin in Germany, and Newcastle in the UK. Groningen, Amsterdam and Utrecht all landed spots in the top 50, but other Dutch cities with large universities such as Leiden, Rotterdam, Delft and Eindhoven did not make it onto the list.

Groningen named as best student city in the Netherlands

The ranking crowned Groningen as the best student city in the Netherlands, putting it in 23rd place overall in the ranking. The city scored highly for friendliness, nightlife and amenities. “The city is small, but it feels like home to every student living there,” wrote one respondent.

Behind Groningen came Amsterdam in 28th place. A particular favourite with international students, the capital scored highly for nightlife, perhaps not a surprise given the notoriety of the Amsterdam party scene and Red Light District with university students. 

The other Dutch city praised by the ranking is Utrecht: named as the 40th best university city in the world. Utrecht was noted for student friendliness and safety. 

Top 10 best student cities in the world 2023

According to the ranking, these are the top 10 student cities in the world in 2023:

• 1. Melbourne, Australia
• 2. Berlin, Germany
• 3. Newcastle, UK
• 4. Brno, Czechia
• 5. Seoul, South Korea
• 6. Vienna, Austria
• 7. Galway, Ireland
• 8. Krakow, Poland
• 9. Montreal, Canada
• 10. Singapore, Singapore

For the full ranking, check out The Campus Advisor's website.