Cairo.

Few exchange cities can match Cairo for sheer scale and history, you can revise for exams with the Giza pyramids on the skyline. It is affordable, endlessly social and full of English-speaking students, so the culture shock softens quickly. Expect noise, traffic and generosity in equal measure.

• The Giza plateau and the new Grand Egyptian Museum are a short Uber ride away, not a once-a-trip pilgrimage.
• English is widely spoken on campus and in Zamalek and Maadi, so you can settle in before your Arabic improves.
• Living costs are among the lowest of any major exchange city, which frees up budget for travel.

Student life clusters around Zamalek and Maadi cafes, Nile-side ahwas (traditional coffee houses) and rooftop bars in the city centre. Ramadan reshapes the calendar, with nights coming alive over iftar gatherings and late feasting. Alcohol is pricier and less central than in Europe, so socialising leans on shisha, coffee and long dinners.

• Sip mint tea and smoke shisha at El Fishawy in Khan el-Khalili, running since the 1770s.
• Split a sunset felucca sailboat ride on the Nile from Zamalek or Maadi for a pound or two each.
• For nightlife, Cairo Jazz Club and the Zamalek and Downtown bar scene are your reliable go-tos.

Cairo is one of the cheapest big cities you could pick, a shared flat, street food and metro rides leave real room in your budget. Most exchange students land comfortably within the country band, often near its lower end, with money to spare for weekend trips. Imported goods and Western-style bars are where costs jump.

• A koshari plate at Abou Tarek or a ful-and-taameya sandwich costs pocket change, so eat out often.
• Rent a room in a shared Zamalek or Maadi flat and you will still sit near the bottom of the 450 to 850 euro band.
• Carry cash, many places, taxis and markets remain cash-only despite growing card use.

Most students share furnished flats in Zamalek (a green island in the Nile), leafy Maadi or Dokki, all popular with the international crowd. Agents and word of mouth dominate the market, and haggling on rent is normal. Viewing in person beats paying deposits blind, so line up temporary lodging for your first week.

• Search Facebook groups like Apartments for rent in Cairo (Zamalek/Maadi), and post in the Studcasa Cairo group for flatmate leads.
• Maadi suits a quieter, greener life near the metro; Zamalek puts you central and walkable.
• Agree who pays the bawwab (building doorman) and utilities before you sign.

The Cairo Metro is fast, cheap and beats the notorious traffic, three lines cover much of the city, with women-only carriages available. For everything else, Uber and Careem are inexpensive and save you haggling with the white taxis. Microbuses are the local option but tricky without Arabic.

• Buy a rechargeable metro card; single rides cost only a few pounds.
• Use Uber or Careem for door-to-door trips, far cheaper than Europe and priced up front.
• Avoid crossing the city by road at rush hour; Line 3 under the Nile is your friend.

Cairo hosts heavyweight institutions: the American University in Cairo (AUC) in New Cairo teaches in English on a modern desert campus, while Cairo University in Giza is the historic public giant. The German University in Cairo (GUC) and Ain Shams also take exchange students. Terms run autumn and spring, and English-taught options are plentiful at the private universities.

• AUC's New Cairo campus is far out, factor a long bus or Uber commute if you study there.
• Cairo University and Ain Shams sit more centrally in Giza and Abbassia, closer to student neighbourhoods.

It depends entirely on your nationality, but most exchange students, including EU, UK, US, Canadian and Australian citizens, need a visa for Egypt. The easy route is a tourist e-visa (around $25, single entry, 30 days) or visa-on-arrival, which you sort online before you fly or at the airport in minutes.

For a full semester you don't want to live on tourist stamps: your host university helps you convert to a student residence permit once you arrive, usually processed through the Mogamma in Cairo or online. Bring your acceptance letter, passport photos and cash. Start the paperwork early, Egyptian bureaucracy is slow and loves a queue.

• Tourist e-visa, about $25, sorted online before you fly
• Get your enrolment letter early, you need it for the residence permit
• Check your own passport's rules; some Arab and African nationals enter visa-free

Egyptian food is hearty, cheap and vegetarian-friendly, koshari, ful medames, taameya and molokhia are staples you will eat weekly. Hospitality is central, so expect to be fed and offered tea constantly. Fridays are the quiet family day, and daily life bends around the five calls to prayer.

• Queue for koshari at Abou Tarek downtown, the classic first meal in Cairo.
• Try hawawshi (spiced meat in bread) and feteer, and wash it down with sugarcane juice (asab).
• Dress modestly at mosques and away from tourist zones, and learn a few Arabic pleasantries, shukran goes a long way.

Zamalek is the international student favourite, an island of embassies, galleries and cafes. Maadi is greener and calmer with a big expat community, while Downtown (Wust el-Balad) has faded belle-epoque grandeur and the best nightlife. Heliopolis and New Cairo are newer, further out and car-dependent.

• Zamalek: central, walkable and cafe-heavy, the easy landing spot.
• Maadi: quiet, leafy and metro-connected, popular with expats and families.
• Downtown: cheapest and liveliest, with bars, bookshops and street life.

Cairo is a springboard for Egypt's greatest hits. Alexandria's Mediterranean corniche is two to three hours by train, the Red Sea at Ain Sokhna is a two-hour drive for a beach day, and the Fayoum oasis makes an easy weekend. For the big trip, take the overnight sleeper train to Luxor and Aswan.

• Book the air-conditioned train to Alexandria for a day or weekend on the coast.
• Take the Watania sleeper train to Luxor for temples and the Valley of the Kings.
• Escape to Dahab or the Sinai coast during a longer break for cheap diving and mountains.

Cairo rewards a thick skin and a sense of humour, the noise, hustle and haggling are part of the deal, not a sign something is wrong. Agree taxi and market prices before you commit, keep small notes for tips (baksheesh), and drink bottled or filtered water. Give yourself a fortnight to stop flinching at the traffic.

• Download Uber and Careem before you arrive and link a card to skip cash haggling.
• Keep a stack of small pounds for tips, doormen and rounding up taxi fares.
• Cross busy roads alongside locals, not alone, traffic rarely stops for pedestrians.