Brussels is arguably the most international student city on the continent: two big universities, EU institutions, and Erasmus students from everywhere mean you will never feel like the only foreigner. It is compact, affordable next to Paris or Amsterdam, and endlessly connected by high-speed rail. The bilingual French-and-Dutch surface hides a genuinely global, laid-back and slightly surreal city that grows on you fast.

• ULB and VUB sit side by side in the leafy south-east, giving you a French- and a Dutch-speaking campus a tram apart.
• You are 1h22 from Paris and under two hours from Amsterdam, London and Cologne by train.

Student life orbits Ixelles and the square by Cimetière d'Ixelles near the campuses, where cheap bars fill with an Erasmus crowd every night. Flagey and Saint-Gilles bring a more mixed, arty scene, and the beer culture means a night out is about terraces and brown cafés as much as clubs. ESN and the university circles run constant parties.

• The bars around Cimetière d'Ixelles and Place Fernand Cocq are the classic cheap student pre-drinks.
• Follow ESNbrussels and the ULB 'cercles' for student parties and welcome-week trips.
• For clubs, Fuse and C12 handle electronic nights; Delirium off the Grand-Place has 2,000 beers.

Budget around 1,000 to 1,250 euros a month, with rent the big variable. A room in a shared flat (a 'coloc') or a studio runs 500 to 750 euros, but Brussels has a genuine bargain: the STIB under-25 annual pass costs 12 euros, plus about 6 euros for the MOBIB card the first time (recent exchange students paid around 18 euros all in, issued on a school enrolment certificate). Markets and Turkish or Moroccan grocers keep food cheap.

• Get the STIB under-25 pass with a school enrolment certificate: 12 euros a year, plus about 6 euros for the MOBIB card the first time.
• A room in a coloc is 500-750 euros; check Appartager, Immoweb and Brussels housing Facebook groups.
• Eat at a friterie or the Maison Antoine chip stand at Place Jourdan instead of restaurants near the centre.

Most students take a room in a shared flat (coloc) or a kot; start hunting in August because September is brutal. Immoweb, Appartager and Facebook groups are the main sources, and the universities' housing services list vetted rooms. Favour Ixelles, Etterbeek, Saint-Gilles or Flagey for the student vibe, and always ask whether the landlord registers you for residency.

• Use Immoweb and Appartager for colocs; ULB Logement and Brik (VUB) for vetted student rooms.
• Ixelles and Etterbeek keep you near both campuses; Saint-Gilles is artier and slightly cheaper.
• Post in the Brussels Studcasa group to catch rooms passed on by departing exchange students.

STIB runs the metro, trams and buses on one MOBIB card, and with the 12-euro youth pass you will use it constantly. Trams and the metro link the campuses to the centre in minutes, Villo! bike share fills the gaps, and the three main stations put SNCB trains and international rail at your feet. The cobbled hills make walking scenic but sweaty.

• Load the STIB app for tickets, or ride on the under-25 annual pass (12 euros a year, plus the 6-euro MOBIB card).
• Trams 7 and 25 loop past ULB and VUB; the metro is quickest across the centre.
• Brussels-Midi is your gateway to Eurostar, Thalys and TGV for weekends abroad.

The Université libre de Bruxelles (French) and Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Dutch) share the Solbosch and Etterbeek area and host most exchange students, with a growing menu of English-taught master's courses. Teaching is research-led and fairly formal in exams but relaxed day to day, and the international offices run solid welcome programmes. Saint-Louis and several arts and management schools round out the options.

• ULB and VUB offer English-taught programmes especially at master's level; check the exchange catalogue early.
• The Erasmus welcome desk sorts your student card, library and canteen (the 'resto U') access.

It depends entirely on your passport. If you're an EU/EEA or Swiss citizen there's no visa: you just rock up, then register at your local commune (town hall) within about three months to get a residence document. Bring your enrolment letter, passport, proof of health insurance and proof you can support yourself.

If you're a non-EU student (UK, US, most of the world) you need a type D long-stay student visa before you travel. You'll need your official admission/enrolment letter, proof of sufficient funds (roughly €770–800 a month, often via a blocked account or scholarship), health insurance and sometimes a medical certificate and police clearance. Once in Belgium you must register at the commune within 8 working days to get your residence card. Start early, because appointments and document legalisation eat weeks.

• EU/EEA/Swiss, no visa, just register at the commune
• Non-EU, apply for a type D long-stay visa before arriving
• Proof of funds, ~€770–800/month
• Register at your commune within 8 working days of arrival
• Post-Brexit: UK students now need the type D visa

Brussels food is unpretentious and delicious: moules-frites, a proper cornet of chips with sauce, a caramelised Liège waffle, and beer from Trappist to sour lambic. The city wears its Tintin heritage on giant murals, the Marolles flea market runs daily on Place du Jeu de Balle, and Matongé serves the best Congolese food outside Kinshasa. English works everywhere, but a 'bonjour' smooths things.

• Queue at Maison Antoine (Place Jourdan) for the chips locals swear by.
• Do the Place du Jeu de Balle flea market early, then brunch in the Marolles.
• Try a gueuze or lambic beer at Cantillon, a working family brewery you can tour.

Ixelles is the student heartland, the Châtelain market, Flagey ponds and cheap bars are all here. Saint-Gilles is the artier, more bohemian neighbour, Sainte-Catherine downtown does seafood and canal-side drinks, and Etterbeek keeps you close to campus and the EU quarter. The Grand-Place centre is beautiful but touristy and better visited than lived in.

• Ixelles: Flagey, Châtelain and the densest student nightlife, a short tram from campus.
• Saint-Gilles: art-nouveau houses, the Parvis market and a young creative crowd.
• Sainte-Catherine: canalside bars and the old fish market for a night out downtown.

Few cities travel as easily as Brussels. Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp are all under an hour, Lille is 35 minutes over the French border, and high-speed trains reach Paris in 82 minutes, Amsterdam and Cologne in under two hours, and London via Eurostar. Grab a discounted youth rail pass and treat your weekends as a tour of north-west Europe.

• Bruges and Ghent (under an hour) are the classic first weekend trips.
• Book Paris, Amsterdam or London tickets early on Eurostar or Thalys for the cheapest fares.
• Use an SNCB Go Pass 10 (under 26) for cheap domestic hops to the coast or the Ardennes.

Brussels rewards a little language flexibility: default to French but do not be surprised by Dutch signage and Flemish suburbs. Sort your commune registration fast, it unlocks the 12-euro transport pass and a bank account, and carry an umbrella always, because the weather changes hourly. The city can look scruffy, but the good stuff hides behind plain doors.

• Register at your commune within days of arriving to unlock the STIB youth pass and banking.
• Keep some coins for public toilets and small friteries that still refuse cards.
• Ask the Brussels Studcasa group which communes process residency fastest, it varies wildly.