Córdoba, nicknamed 'La Docta' for its four-century-old university, has one of the highest student populations in the country, so the whole city runs on student rhythms. It is cheaper and more manageable than Buenos Aires, with the Sierras de Córdoba on the doorstep for weekends outdoors. The famous cordobés humour and warmth make it easy to settle in.

• Home to Argentina's oldest university and a genuinely student-run city, so you're never far from people your age
• Sierras, rivers and mountain villages within an hour for weekend escapes

Nueva Córdoba, the neighbourhood wrapped around the university, is wall-to-wall students, bars and late-night eats. Nightlife centres on the Güemes district and the clubs near Chateau Carreras, and no night out is complete without a fernet con coca, Córdoba drinks more of it than anywhere on earth. The local cuarteto music gets everyone dancing.

• Start the night in Güemes, then head to the boliches near Chateau Carreras that open past 1am
• Try a cuarteto dance night, since this bouncy genre was born in Córdoba
• Ask the Córdoba Studcasa group about the weekly intercambio language meet-ups around Nueva Córdoba

Córdoba is even gentler on your wallet than Buenos Aires. A room in a shared flat, food, transport and a lively social life fit comfortably into €400–650 a month. As everywhere in Argentina, bring US dollars and change them through Western Union or the blue rate to stretch your money.

• A shared room in Nueva Córdoba runs roughly AR$150,000–250,000 a month, often bills included
• Use Western Union for near-blue exchange rates instead of paying by foreign card
• Fill up on lomito sandwiches and empanadas for a couple of euros

Most students live in Nueva Córdoba for its walk to campus, or in Güemes, Alberdi and Cofico. Shared flats (departamentos compartidos) are the norm and usually rented informally month to month, so you rarely need the local guarantor a full lease demands.

• Browse ZonaProp, Facebook groups like 'Alquiler Nueva Córdoba' and university noticeboards
• Nueva Córdoba puts you in walking distance of the Ciudad Universitaria and the nightlife
• Post in the Córdoba Studcasa group, as rooms turn over fast between semesters

Córdoba is compact enough to walk much of the centre. City buses (colectivos) and trolleybuses cover the rest, all paid with the rechargeable Red Bus card, as there is no metro. For late nights, apps like DiDi and Cabify are cheap and safer than waiting at a stop.

• Buy a Red Bus card at a kiosco and top it up to ride every bus and trolleybus
• Use the DiDi or Cabify app for late-night rides home
• Central Córdoba is very walkable, covering Nueva Córdoba and the old town on foot

The Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC), founded in 1613, is Argentina's oldest and a UNESCO-listed site, with faculties spread around the Ciudad Universitaria. Private options include the Universidad Católica de Córdoba, Siglo 21 and Blas Pascal. Terms run March to July and August to December.

• UNC is free and huge, so check which pavilion your faculty sits in on the Ciudad Universitaria
• Private universities like UCC and Siglo 21 offer smaller classes and more support for incoming exchange students

Rules depend heavily on your nationality. Many passport holders can enter visa-free as tourists for 90 days, and some students effectively study on that basis for a single semester, extending once if needed. Officially, longer stays require a student visa arranged through an Argentine consulate before you travel.

For the student visa you will typically need an acceptance letter, a criminal-record check, a birth certificate and consular legalisation, so start early because it is slow. Once in Argentina, student-visa holders register for temporary residence and get a local ID, the DNI. Always confirm the current requirements with the consulate for your country.

• Many nationalities: 90-day visa-free tourist entry
• Longer stays, student visa from an Argentine consulate
• Student visa needs an acceptance letter, police check and legalised documents
• On arrival with a student visa, register for temporary residence and a DNI

Córdoba's signature is the lomito, a towering steak sandwich, best chased with fernet. Regional dishes like locro and humita show the Andean influence, and Sunday still means asado with friends. The Manzana Jesuítica in the centre is a reminder of the city's colonial roots.

• Order a lomito completo, steak, ham, cheese, egg and salad in one enormous sandwich
• Visit the UNESCO-listed Manzana Jesuítica and the Cabildo on Plaza San Martín
• Learn the fernet-to-Coca ratio locals swear by, roughly one to three

Nueva Córdoba is the student heart, packed with flats, cafés and bars beside Sarmiento Park. Güemes is the bohemian, artsy quarter with the Paseo de las Artes weekend market, Cofico and Alta Córdoba are quieter and cheaper, and Cerro de las Rosas is the leafy, upscale option.

• Nueva Córdoba for student life and walkability to campus
• Güemes for artists, antiques markets and the best bars
• Cofico or Alta Córdoba for lower rents a short bus ride from the centre

The Sierras de Córdoba are the reason to keep weekends free. Villa Carlos Paz on its lakeside is under an hour away, Alta Gracia has a Jesuit estancia and Che Guevara's childhood home, and villages like La Cumbre and Mina Clavero offer rivers and hiking. The Alpine-styled town of Villa General Belgrano even hosts an Oktoberfest.

• Bus to Villa Carlos Paz (about an hour) for the lake and cable car
• Visit Alta Gracia's UNESCO Jesuit estancia and the Che Guevara museum
• Head to Villa General Belgrano for its beer festival, or Mina Clavero's river beaches in summer

The cordobés accent, with its sing-song tonada, takes an ear to crack, so don't panic if you miss half of the first conversations. As across Argentina, live off Western Union cash rather than card payments, and shift your body clock later, because dinners and nights out start much later than you're used to.

• Change money via Western Union, not your foreign card, to avoid losing nearly half the value
• Embrace fernet con coca, since turning it down at a party is practically rude
• Learn a few words of local slang, the tonada cordobesa is a point of pride