Zagreb.

The social calendar revolves around coffee, and the Saturday-morning spica ritual along Tkalciceva and Bogoviceva is a see-and-be-seen affair you should join. Nightlife clusters in Tkalciceva's bars, the summer clubs at Lake Jarun and student haunts in Tresnjevka. ESN Zagreb and the faculty student unions run pub crawls, trips and welcome weeks that help you find your people fast.

• Sip a spritz along Tkalciceva Street, then move to the bars around Trg bana Jelacica
• On summer nights head to Lake Jarun for open-air clubs like Aquarius
• Follow ESN Zagreb for parties and the semester's cheap group trips

Zagreb is one of the cheaper euro-zone capitals: reckon on roughly 650 to 950 euros a month all in, depending on whether you land a dorm or a private flat. A tram pass, a market lunch and cheap bakery burek keep daily costs low, and a coffee still runs about two euros. The real splurges come from nights out and coast trips, not everyday living.

• A student ZET transport pass is around 10 to 15 euros a month with a valid index
• A burek from a pekara or a Dolac market lunch costs 2 to 4 euros
• Domestic beer in a bar is roughly 2.50 to 3.50 euros, cheaper than most of the EU

Most exchange students choose between subsidised halls and shared private flats. State dorms like Stjepan Radic by the Sava and Cvjetno naselje are cheap but competitive, so apply early through the Student Centre. Private rooms cluster in Tresnjevka, Trnje and around the faculties, where Facebook groups and word of mouth move faster than agencies.

• Apply for a Studentski centar dorm (Stjepan Radic, Cvjetno) as soon as your Erasmus place is confirmed
• Hunt private rooms via the Studenti Zagreb groups, flatshare pages and Njuskalo listings
• Ask the Studcasa Zagreb group who is leaving a room mid-year before you sign anything

ZET's blue trams are the backbone, frequent by day and kept running by night trams after the daytime lines stop. Buses reach the hills and suburbs, and a funicular links the Lower and Upper Towns. The centre is small enough to walk, and Nextbike stations fill the gaps. Buy and validate a paper ticket or top up a Pokaznik card.

• Grab a monthly student ZET pass rather than paying per ride
• Night trams (31, 11, 12, 14) keep running when the daytime schedule stops
• Use Nextbike for short hops the trams do not cover

The University of Zagreb, founded in 1669, is Croatia's oldest and largest, with faculties scattered across the city rather than one campus. Most exchange teaching happens at the economics (EFZG), social sciences and engineering (FER) faculties, and there is a solid catalogue of English-taught courses. Private options like ZSEM and RIT Croatia teach fully in English.

• Check the English-taught course list at your host faculty early, as availability varies a lot by department
• The FER (engineering) and EFZG (economics) faculties run the widest Erasmus offerings

This depends entirely on your passport, so check your own case the moment you're accepted. Croatia is in the EU and Schengen, so if you're an EU/EEA or Swiss student you need no visa, just your national ID or passport and a quick registration of your address once you arrive.

Everyone else needs to plan properly for a stay over 90 days. Non-EU students (UK, US, Canada and Australia included) can generally enter visa-free for up to 90 days but must apply for a temporary stay permit (privremeni boravak) for study, or a long-stay D visa beforehand depending on nationality. You'll need your acceptance letter, proof of funds, health insurance and proof of accommodation, and Croatian bureaucracy is slow, so start early.

• EU/EEA/Swiss: no visa, just register your address
• Non-EU: temporary stay permit (privremeni boravak) for study
• Have ready: acceptance letter, proof of funds, insurance, address
• Start early, the administracija moves slowly

Zagreb eats hearty and Central-European: strukli, a baked cheese pastry, is the local pride, alongside cevapi, sarma and Sunday roast purica s mlincima. Dolac, the red-parasol market above the main square, is where you buy fruit, cheese and flowers. Coffee here is sacred and slow, so never take it to go.

• Try Zagorski strukli at La Struk near the cathedral
• Shop Dolac market in the morning for cheese, produce and Paski sir
• Grab cevapi or a burek when you need a cheap, filling meal

Gornji Grad, the Upper Town, is the postcard-medieval core with St Mark's church and cobbled lanes, while Donji Grad, the Lower Town, holds the museums, parks and the Green Horseshoe. Students gravitate to Tresnjevka for cheap eats and rents, leafy Maksimir for the park, and Jarun for the lake. Britanac hosts a Sunday antiques market.

• Tresnjevka: affordable rooms, local markets and an easy tram ride to the centre
• Maksimir: green and quiet, next to the huge park and the zoo
• Jarun: lakeside living for runners, rowers and summer clubbers

Zagreb is a brilliant base. Plitvice Lakes' waterfalls are a two-hour bus ride, Ljubljana and Rijeka each about two hours, and Split down on the Adriatic is reachable by fast bus or a summer train. Cross-border weekends to Vienna, Budapest and Venice are all doable now, with no Schengen queues.

• Plitvice Lakes National Park: roughly 2 hours by FlixBus or Arriva
• Samobor for cream cake and hiking sits just 30 minutes west
• Overnight to Split or Zadar, or take the train to Ljubljana in about 2 hours

A few things trip newcomers up. Always validate your tram ticket in the machine or a hefty fine follows, and markets and small bakeries still prefer cash even though cards are common. Learn a few Croatian words, like hvala and molim, and never rush a coffee. Pharmacies (ljekarna) and the tap water are both excellent.

• Validate tram tickets immediately, because inspectors do check
• Carry a few euros in coins for Dolac market and bakeries
• Post in the Studcasa Zagreb group for a current dorm-versus-flat rundown before you arrive