Bolivia.

Bolivia is South America stripped to its essence: the highest, cheapest and most indigenous country on the continent. Landlocked at its heart, it stacks Andean peaks, high-altitude cities, Amazon jungle and the surreal white expanse of the Salar de Uyuni into one place. More than half the population is indigenous, Aymara and Quechua are spoken alongside Spanish, and traditions here are lived rather than performed for tourists.

For an exchange student it is unbeatable value and total immersion. Your money goes further than anywhere else on the continent, few foreigners means your Spanish has nowhere to hide, and the culture is genuinely unlike anything in Europe. The catch is altitude and rough edges: La Paz sits at 3,600 metres, infrastructure is patchy, and strikes and road blockades happen. Come curious and adaptable.

Student life centres on La Paz and Cochabamba, and they run at different tempos. La Paz is dramatic and intense, with bars and clubs clustered in the Sopocachi district and a bohemian scene of penas, live folk music over a beer. Cochabamba is warmer, flatter and famous for eating and partying, a proper student town thanks to its huge public university.

Nights out are cheap and local: expect Pacena and Huari beer, singani the national spirit, and saltenas the morning after. There are far fewer international students than in Argentina or Chile, so you end up genuinely embedded with Bolivians rather than in an Erasmus bubble. Say yes to a pena, a football match and the endless fiestas and you build a real circle fast.

Bolivia is the cheapest country in South America, full stop. Rent, food, transport and beer cost a fraction of European prices, and even by regional standards it is a bargain. A student lives comfortably on roughly 400 to 750 euros a month, and frugally for less.

You save simply by living locally: almuerzo set lunches, market food and the minibuses. Prices only climb when you buy imported electronics or chase Western comforts. The main money pits are tourist trips like the Uyuni salt flats and Amazon tours, plus imported goods. Otherwise this is a rare place where a student budget stretches into genuine spare cash.

• Almuerzo set lunch at a market: €1.50-3
• Local beer (Pacena) in a bar: €1.50-2.50
• Minibus or micro across town: €0.25-0.40
• Teleferico cable-car ride in La Paz: €0.40
• SIM with data (Tigo or Entel): €6-12/month

Rooms and shared flats go through Facebook groups, university noticeboards and word of mouth; there is little formal student housing. In La Paz aim for Sopocachi or Miraflores, central, safe-ish and near the universities; in Cochabamba the northern neighbourhoods and Recoleta are the pleasant, leafy student areas.

One quirk to know: alongside normal monthly rent (alquiler), Bolivia has anticretico, where you hand the owner a large lump sum as an interest-free loan and pay no rent, getting it all back when you leave. It suits long stays if you can front the cash, but for a single semester stick to monthly rent. Always view in person and pay in bolivianos.

• Room in a shared flat, Sopocachi (La Paz): €120-220/month
• One-bed apartment, central Cochabamba: €200-350/month
• Anticretico lump sum, large deposit refunded when you leave (long stays only)

La Paz has the world's largest urban cable-car network, Mi Teleferico, which glides you over the canyon city cheaply and is genuinely the nicest commute you will ever have. Otherwise cities run on minibuses, micros (old buses) and trufis (shared taxis) that follow shouted routes for small change. Ride apps are limited, so use radio taxis or a trusted local app at night.

Between cities you take long-distance coaches, often overnight, with cama fully reclining seats on the better lines; they are cheap but the roads are mountainous and slow. Domestic flights on BoA and Amaszonas save a full day between, say, La Paz and Santa Cruz for not much money. Skip driving yourself: altitude, mountain roads and traffic make it a poor idea.

• Teleferico cable-car ride: €0.40
• Minibus or trufi across town: €0.25-0.50
• Overnight cama coach, La Paz to Cochabamba: €7-14
• Domestic flight, La Paz to Santa Cruz: €40-70

The main public universities are the Universidad Mayor de San Andres (UMSA) in La Paz and the Universidad Mayor de San Simon (UMSS) in Cochabamba, both huge, cheap and intensely local. On the private side, the Universidad Privada Boliviana (UPB) and the Universidad Catolica Boliviana (UCB) are better organised for foreigners and stronger for engineering and business, while Sucre's USFX, founded in 1624, is among the oldest universities in the Americas.

Teaching is entirely in Spanish, so B1 is really the minimum to keep up, and there is little English-taught provision. The academic year splits into two semesters, roughly February to June and August to December. Exchange places usually come through direct agreements rather than a slick international office, so expect informal, hands-on admin and confirm your ECTS credit mapping in writing before you commit.

Nationality matters more here than in most of the region. EU, UK, Canadian and Australian passport holders enter visa-free for up to 90 days per year. US citizens are the big exception: Bolivia requires them to buy a visa, currently around 160 dollars, available on arrival with documents or from a consulate and valid for several years.

For a full semester or year, everyone should sort a student visa (a visa de objeto determinado for study). It needs an acceptance letter, proof of funds, an apostilled birth certificate, a criminal-record check and often a yellow-fever certificate. You typically enter, then regularise your stay with Migracion inside the country with your university's help. Start the apostilles early, because Bolivian paperwork is slow and bureaucratic.

• Tourist entry (EU/UK/CA/AU), up to 90 days per year, visa-free
• US citizens, paid visa (around US$160) required, on arrival or via consulate
• Student visa (visa de objeto determinado), for a full semester, arranged with your university
• Yellow-fever certificate, often required, especially for lowland areas

Bolivia eats well and cheaply. The saltena, a juicy stuffed pastry, is the mid-morning ritual; lunch is the almuerzo set menu; and Cochabamba, the acknowledged food capital, gives you silpancho and pique macho, giant plates that defeat most people. Try llama meat, quinoa, and api, a warm purple-maize drink, with a pastel at breakfast.

Culture is where Bolivia floors you. Indigenous identity is front and centre: cholitas in bowler hats and layered skirts, Aymara and Quechua spoken daily, and coca leaves chewed openly against altitude and hunger. The festival calendar is relentless, from the UNESCO-listed Carnaval de Oruro to the miniature-buying Alasitas fair. Respect these traditions and lean in rather than treating them as spectacle.

Bolivia's exchange life runs through two cities with very different characters, both far cheaper and more local than anywhere you would study elsewhere on the continent.

• La Paz, the dramatic, cable-car-strung seat of government at 3,600 metres, with the biggest university, the best nightlife in Sopocachi and the wildest setting of any capital
• Cochabamba, the warm, flat city of eternal spring and the country's food capital, a relaxed student town built around the huge UMSS public university

Bolivia is a bucket-list country and your weekends prove it. The Salar de Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat, is the headline trip, best on a multi-day 4x4 tour. Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake, sits a couple of hours from La Paz, with Copacabana and the Inca ruins of Isla del Sol. The white colonial city of Sucre and the silver-mining altitude of Potosi make a classic pairing.

For adrenaline, mountain-bike the infamous Death Road out of La Paz; for jungle, fly to Rurrenabaque for pampas and Amazon tours. Neighbouring Peru is easy and cheap to reach overland from the lake, putting Cusco and Machu Picchu within a long-weekend stretch. Distances are big and roads slow, so pick a few trips and go deep.

• Salar de Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat, multi-day 4x4 tour
• Lake Titicaca and Isla del Sol, highest navigable lake, ~3-4 hrs from La Paz
• Sucre and Potosi, colonial white city and silver-mine altitude
• Death Road, mountain-biking day trip from La Paz
• Rurrenabaque, Amazon and pampas wildlife, short flight

A handful of habits keep you healthy, safe and out of rookie trouble.

• Take altitude seriously in La Paz, arrive slowly, skip alcohol and exertion the first days, and drink coca tea
• Carry small change; minibuses, micros and markets rarely break big notes
• In La Paz use only radio taxis or a trusted app at night, and ignore anyone posing as plainclothes police, that scam is real
• Keep a cash buffer for strikes and road blockades, which can shut transport for a day with no warning
• Learn a few Aymara or Quechua greetings, it delights people and opens doors
• Drink bottled or boiled water and ease into street food; your stomach needs a week to adjust