Cali.

Social life revolves around salsa, from beginner classes to the sweaty clubs of Juanchito and the spectacular Delirio cabaret shows. Granada and El Peñón hold the cocktail bars and restaurants, university nightlife is cheap and friendly, and December's Feria de Cali turns the whole city into a week-long party. Caleños are welcoming, so you will make local friends fast.

• Take beginner salsa classes at an academy like Son de Luz before you brave the clubs.
• See a Delirio show, a salsa, circus and orchestra spectacle held monthly.
• If you're here in late December, the Feria de Cali is the year's biggest celebration.

Cali is the most affordable of Colombia's big cities, so 450 to 700 euros a month is comfortable. A shared room runs roughly 600,000 to 1,200,000 pesos, street food and set lunches cost next to nothing, and MÍO transit fares are minimal. Your money stretches further here than almost anywhere else you could do an exchange.

• A room in a shared flat costs about 600,000-1,200,000 pesos, cheapest near the southern universities.
• Lunch on a 'corrientazo' set menu for around 12,000-18,000 pesos.
• Load a tarjeta MÍO for the bus network; single rides are very cheap.

Students cluster in the south around Ciudad Jardín, San Fernando and Tequendama, near ICESI, Javeriana and Univalle, while San Antonio offers bohemian charm on the hill. Rooms are found mainly through Facebook groups, university boards and word of mouth, so a local contact helps. Favour a well-regarded building, and visit before paying anything.

• Look at San Fernando and Ciudad Jardín for proximity to ICESI, Javeriana and Univalle.
• San Antonio gives you a charming, arty hilltop barrio with viewpoints.
• The Cali Studcasa group is useful for finding rooms and trustworthy landlords locally.

Cali runs on the MÍO bus-rapid-transit system, paid with a rechargeable card, which covers the main corridors well but gets crowded. Because of the heat and patchy coverage, students lean on cheap taxis and apps like DiDi and inDrive, especially at night. The centre and San Antonio are walkable, but distances and sun make the bus or a cab the norm.

• Get a tarjeta MÍO for the BRT trunk lines linking north, centre and south.
• Use DiDi or inDrive for cheap, safer door-to-door rides after dark.
• Carry water and sunscreen, the midday heat makes long walks brutal.

Cali's universities include the large public Universidad del Valle (Univalle), the well-regarded private ICESI, the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali and the Autónoma de Occidente. Teaching is in Spanish, so decent Spanish is important, and the private campuses in the south are modern and green. Academic life is friendly and less pressured than in Bogotá's elite institutions.

• ICESI and Javeriana Cali sit in the leafy south; Univalle's Meléndez campus is the big public option.
• Classes are in Spanish, line up a 'compañero' language exchange through your faculty.

For most Europeans, plus US, Canadian, UK and Australian citizens, Colombia stamps you in visa-free for up to 90 days, extendable at Migracion Colombia to a maximum of 180 days in a calendar year. For a short single-semester exchange that can be enough, and it is easily the simplest route.

For longer study you apply for a student visa, either a Visitor (V) visa or a Migrant (M) visa for study depending on length, through Colombia's online visa portal before or soon after arrival. You will need an acceptance letter, proof of funds and health cover; once it is granted, register it and collect your cedula de extranjeria ID card. The online process is reasonably quick by regional standards if your documents are in order.

• Tourist entry (EU/UK/US/CA/AU): 90 days, extendable to 180 per year
• Student visa (V or M for study), apply via Colombia's online visa portal
• Cedula de extranjeria, the ID card you register once a visa is granted

Caleño food is tropical and generous: sancocho de gallina (hen stew) on a Sunday, aborrajados (fried sweet plantain with cheese), and cooling street treats like cholado and lulada packed with fresh fruit. Chontaduro sellers work the streets, the río Cali and its cat sculptures make a pleasant stroll, and the Cristo Rey statue watches over it all. Everyday Spanish is essential, as English is limited.

• Try a cholado or lulada from a street cart on a hot afternoon, shaved ice and tropical fruit.
• Eat sancocho de gallina at a Sunday lunch, ideally out towards the Pance river.
• Sample aborrajados and empanadas vallunas from a neighbourhood fritanga.

San Antonio is the postcard barrio, cobbled, bohemian and perched on a hill with sunset views, while Granada and El Peñón concentrate the best eating and going out. San Fernando is a solid, central student area, and Ciudad Jardín in the south is greener and near the private universities. Choose south for campus proximity, San Antonio for atmosphere.

• San Antonio: artsy, walkable and scenic, best for atmosphere and cafés.
• San Fernando: central, well-priced and popular with students.
• Ciudad Jardín: green and safe in the south, handy for ICESI and Javeriana.

Cali's location is a gift: San Cipriano's jungle river is two hours away and reached by improvised rail-motorbikes ('brujitas'), the Pacific whale-watching beaches of Ladrilleros and Juanchaco a boat ride beyond Buenaventura, and Lago Calima good for watersports. Colonial Popayán and the coffee region are easy weekends, and cheap flights reach Bogotá and Medellín.

• Ride the 'brujitas' rail-bikes into San Cipriano for jungle river swimming (about two hours).
• Whale-watch off Ladrilleros and Juanchaco on the Pacific (July-October) via Buenaventura.
• Weekend in the coffee region or colonial Popayán, both a few hours away.

Cali rewards the outgoing, say yes to dance invitations and your Spanish and social life will take off together. Stick to the busier, better-regarded neighbourhoods, use ride apps at night, and keep valuables discreet as you would in any big city. The heat is relentless, so hydrate, siesta if you can, and time errands for morning or evening.

• Learn a few salsa basics early; it's the fastest way into caleño social life.
• Use DiDi or inDrive at night and keep phones out of sight in crowds.
• Plan activities around the heat, mornings and evenings are far kinder than midday.