Oh, and if you end up somewhere along the Rhine, I'll buy you a beer sometime
I suspect you may be biased
Though you do make a good argument. As for the beer, I think you for the sentiment, but even my own friends have yet to find a way to force one down my throat.
Berlin is ugly and overhyped!
Hey! :p
I'm off to Berlin in February for an Erasmus myself. I guess it's a weeny bit different from yours, since mine is a research internship Erasmus, so the quality of the lab played much more of a role in the decision process, and I had much more choice (basically, any biological research lab in Europe, or the world with some extra paperwork).
So, it depends a lot of what you want. Denmark is nice (Friend of mine just finished his Master's in Copenhagen), but a bit pricey. Germany or the Netherland shouldn't be too bad (your Erasmus grant should cover rent at least). I agree that "I like the place's history' is a terrible reason to choose a country. Are you going for a short or long Erasmus? Some people have a gift for language, but myself I know that I'd have no hope to get even remotely fluent in six month. Part of the reason I chose Germany is that I have some German that I can hope to improve.
Yea, mine's an English one. Hardly dependent on labs, but a good standard in teaching would be nice. It's a short term one - only one semester. I'm not exactly comfortable with even the one semester, but giving up on something you want just because of nerves seems like going too gently into that good night.
The options are Bonn or Heidelberg for Germany, Utrecht for Netherlands, and Aarhus for Denmark.