Aix-en-Provence.

Aix-Marseille University runs an integration week for incoming exchange students, with campus tours, presentations of student services, and visits to both Aix and Marseille to get your bearings from day one. The Service Universitaire des Langues offers an intensive French week before term starts plus evening classes throughout the year, useful even if your programme runs in English. Life outside class centres on Cours Mirabeau's cafes and the university district around Pont de l'Arc, both busy with students year round thanks to Provence's mild climate.

• Join the integration week for campus tours and a first look at Marseille too.
• Take the intensive French week before term starts, even in an English taught programme.
• Cours Mirabeau's cafes and the Pont de l'Arc university district stay busy year round.

A furnished CROUS room with a private bathroom and shared kitchen runs from about 280 euros a month, the cheapest option in town. A private room in a shared flat averages around 480 euros, while a solo private room runs 400 to 500 euros, or 650 to 750 with meals included. Add the 100 euro annual student bus pass or the 90 euro regional ZOU études pass, and transport barely dents a monthly budget. Private student residences cost more, from about 500 to 950 euros depending on comfort and location.

• A CROUS room starts around 280 euros a month, the cheapest option available.
• A shared flat room averages about 480 euros a month, bills often extra.
• The annual student bus pass costs 100 euros, or 90 for the regional ZOU pass.

CROUS manages several residences in Aix, including Estelan, Arc de Meyran and Cuques, with small furnished rooms, a private bathroom and a shared or collective kitchen from about 280 euros a month. Many exchange students are placed in a CROUS residence directly by their host university, so ask your international office about housing as soon as you are accepted. Exchange students selected for university administered housing can also be placed directly in a CROUS residence in Aix or Marseille as part of their exchange package.

• CROUS residences like Estelan or Cuques start around 280 euros a month.
• Ask your host university's international office about CROUS housing early.
• Some exchange students are placed directly into a CROUS residence as part of the program.

Aix runs on buses rather than trams: the Aixpress electric line and the wider Aix en Bus network cover the city, with an annual pass for under 26s costing 100 euros or a regional ZOU études pass at 90 euros a year covering buses and trains across the region. The A2 shuttle connects the bus station to the TGV station for about six euros, then continues on to Marseille Provence airport, so getting to a flight or a train rarely needs a car. Aix's compact centre is also easy to cross on foot or by bike once you are settled in.

• The under 26 annual bus pass costs 100 euros for the whole Aix network.
• The A2 shuttle links the bus station, the TGV station and the airport.
• The compact centre is easy to walk or bike once you know your way.

Aix-Marseille University spans the city with faculties in law, economics, humanities and more, and it takes in over 900 international exchange students a year through bilateral agreements. Sciences Po Aix and Arts et Métiers add specialised programmes in the same city, so check carefully which institution actually holds your exchange spot. Before the semester starts, incoming students get a step by step handbook covering enrolment and campus life, plus online briefing sessions from the International Relations team once you are accepted, alongside the integration week itself.

• Aix-Marseille University takes in more than 900 exchange students a year on bilateral agreements.
• Sciences Po Aix and Arts et Métiers run separately from Aix-Marseille University, check which is yours.
• Read the incoming student handbook and join the online briefing once you are accepted.

Was du brauchst, hängt komplett von deiner Nationalität ab. EU/EWR/Schweizer Studierende brauchen kein Visum und können sich einfach einschreiben. Nicht-EU-Studierende auf einem Austausch über 90 Tage beantragen ein VLS-TS-Langzeit-Studivisum vor der Anreise, validieren es dann online innerhalb von drei Monaten und zahlen eine kleine OFII-Gebühr; unter 90 Tagen brauchst du vielleicht nur ein Kurzzeit-Schengen-Visum oder gar keins.

Plan Zeit für den Verwaltungsmarathon ein: du willst ein französisches Bankkonto, einen Unterkunftsnachweis, Krankenversicherung (EHIC für Europäer, oder Einschreibung in die französische Sozialversicherung) und eine Haftpflichtversicherung. Buch Präfektur- und OFII-Termine, sobald du kannst, denn Slots verschwinden schnell.

• EU/EWR/Schweiz, kein Visum, einfach einschreiben
• Nicht-EU, über 90 Tage, VLS-TS-Langzeit-Studivisum, nach Ankunft online validiert
• Finanzierungsnachweis von ~615 €/Monat meist erforderlich
• Hol dir eine Haftpflichtversicherung (assurance responsabilité civile) vor Semesterbeginn

Aix is closely associated with the calisson, an oval sweet of almond and candied melon paste on a thin wafer base, topped with royal icing, a specialty defended by a union of local makers. Place Richelme holds a daily market for fresh fruit, vegetables and produce every morning except New Year's Day, while a bigger market takes over Cours Mirabeau on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings with clothing, crafts and antiques. Cours Mirabeau itself, lined with plane trees and fountains, has hosted the cafe Les Deux Garçons since the days of Cézanne and Zola.

• Try a calisson: almond and candied melon paste on a wafer with royal icing.
• Shop fresh produce at the daily Place Richelme market every morning but New Year's Day.
• Catch the bigger Cours Mirabeau market for crafts and clothing, Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday.

Vieil Aix, the old town around Cours Mirabeau, is dense with cobbled streets, markets and cafes, and rents here sit among the highest in the city. Quartier Mazarin, just south of Cours Mirabeau, is quieter and more residential, with elegant buildings, art galleries and the Musée Granet, good for anyone who wants calm close to the centre. The university district around Pont de l'Arc, south of downtown, gathers a large student population with cheaper restaurants, supermarkets and green space, trading some atmosphere for a lighter budget.

• Vieil Aix puts markets and cafes on your doorstep, at the city's highest rents.
• Quartier Mazarin offers a quieter, more residential base just south of Cours Mirabeau.
• Pont de l'Arc has the biggest student population and the cheapest everyday prices.

The A2 shuttle links Aix's bus station to the TGV station in about six euros each way, and the same line continues on to Marseille Provence airport, so you rarely need a car. From the TGV station, high speed trains reach Marseille in about 11 to 13 minutes, and a shuttle plus TGV combination gets you to Avignon in under an hour. Cassis and its calanques, a string of steep limestone inlets on the coast, take about two hours by train via Marseille, a full but doable day trip if you leave early.

• The A2 shuttle links Aix to its TGV station and on to Marseille airport.
• High speed trains from Aix TGV reach Marseille in about 11 to 13 minutes.
• Cassis and its calanques make a full but realistic day trip by train.

Ask about CROUS housing as soon as you are accepted, since good rooms in Estelan or Cuques go fast for a city this popular with students. Sign up for the integration week and the intensive French course before term starts, even if your degree runs in English, since both make the first weeks far smoother. Aix has no tram and only a small in town train station, so learn the bus network and the A2 shuttle early rather than assuming you can walk everywhere in this compact but hilly old town.

• Apply for CROUS housing the day the portal opens; good rooms go fast.
• Take the integration week and intensive French course even in an English taught degree.
• Learn the bus network and the A2 shuttle early since Aix has no tram.