I have been living for a substantial amount of time (years) in London and Madrid, a short while in Berlin, and the latter two are definitely cheaper, offering a

I have been living for a substantial amount of time (years) in London and Madrid, a short while in Berlin, and the latter two are definitely cheaper, offering a similar quality of life (personally I would say better, but it's a matter of taste, it has also to do with the sheer size of London). In London I was living in a shared flat in Zone 3, and I was paying more of what I pay now for a decent studio in the middle of Madrid's city center. Public transport is cheaper and more efficient both in Berlin and Madrid, just as well, and eating/going out too. Then again London has a better start-up scene, more availability of jobs and better paid ones, so as with everything, it's a matter of trade-offs. BTW, the EU it's not really popular these days, but I always found the fact that you can decide where to work and live with no legal barriers among dozens of different countries absolutely amazing, also considering that those countries were waging war between themselves for centuries up to about 70 years ago...