Ljubljana vs Rome for couples
Ljubljana, in Slovenia, and Rome, in Italy, are about 489 km apart. Every figure below comes from the data behind our city pages: an estimated monthly cost for a couple, tax tier, annual climate, safety, healthcare, internet speed, language and residency rules. Ljubljana leads on cost, safety, internet speed and getting by in English; Rome on healthcare and residency rules.
12 questions, about 4 minutes, no account needed. Taking the quiz is free, and so is seeing your #1 city. Full results for both of you are a one-time US$12 (€12 in Europe).
Side by side
Source: the datasets behind our city pages. Cost is our model estimate (a country-level cost index scaled for city size); tax tiers are assigned by hand from each country's top marginal income tax rate and overall tax reputation; temperature from the Open-Meteo archive (2019 to 2023 averages); rainfall from TerraClimate (1991 to 2020 normals); safety and healthcare are our own country-level estimates; internet from the Ookla Speedtest Global Index; English from the EF English Proficiency Index; residency from our hand-reviewed residency dataset (not legal advice); short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset.
Factor by factor
Cost of living
Ljubljana is cheaper: we estimate about €2,840 a month for a couple living centrally, against €3,567 in Rome. That is €727 a month, or 20%, less.
Taxes
A tie: Slovenia and Italy both sit in our high tax tier.
Climate
Rome is 6°C warmer on average over the year: 17°C against 11°C in Ljubljana. Rome is drier, with about 703 mm of rain a year against 1,403 mm in Ljubljana (50% less).
Safety
Ljubljana is the safer pick: Slovenia scores 80 out of 100 on safety, 23 points above Italy (57).
Healthcare
Rome has the stronger healthcare: Italy scores 76 out of 100 on healthcare, 6 points above Slovenia (70).
Internet
Ljubljana has faster home internet: about 110 Mbps median fixed download against about 70 Mbps in Rome.
Language
Main languages: Slovenian, English in Ljubljana; Italian in Rome. English goes further in Ljubljana (good English) than in Rome (limited English).
Residency and visas
Long-term residency for people from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland is easier to obtain in Italy (comparatively open) than in Slovenia (possible, with conditions). The cheapest self-funded income route we track starts at about $3,725 a month in Slovenia and $2,718 in Italy. Citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland have freedom-of-movement or simplified residency rights in both. For short visits, 93 of 198 passports can enter Slovenia visa-free and 93 can enter Italy.
Which one fits a couple
If one of you puts cost (€2,840 against €3,567 a month), safety (80 against 57 out of 100), internet speed (110 Mbps against 70 Mbps) and getting by in English (good English against limited English) first, Ljubljana comes out ahead. If the other cares more about healthcare (76 against 70 out of 100) and residency rules (comparatively open against possible, with conditions), Rome does.
Climate can pull the two of you apart too: a partner who wants warmth leans toward Rome (17°C on average), while one who minds the heat leans toward Ljubljana (11°C), and whoever minds rain will prefer Rome (703 mm a year against 1,403 mm).
Size differs too: Ljubljana is a mid-sized city (250,000 to 1 million people) and Rome a large one (1 to 5 million people). Ljubljana is near the coast; Rome is coastal.
OurNextCity has each partner answer 12 questions privately, then ranks Ljubljana, Rome and 913 other cities for both of you at once.