Venice.

Ca' Foscari's Buddy Programme pairs every incoming student with a trained volunteer who answers questions, meets you in person for a transit card or campus tour, and brings you along to the International Welcome Week held before each semester starts. ESN Venezia then runs the ongoing calendar: welcome days, cultural events, aperitivo nights, cineforum screenings, karaoke and trips around the Veneto region, all built around its Students Helping Students motto. Both groups lean heavily on organised events rather than spontaneous nightlife, since Venice's geography makes casual bar hopping between neighbourhoods slower than in a mainland city.

• Get matched with a Buddy Programme volunteer before your welcome week starts.
• Join ESN Venezia's aperitivo nights and trips to meet people quickly.
• Plan your evenings around events, Venice's islands make bar hopping slower.

Venice is one of the most expensive Italian cities to live in, and location changes your budget dramatically. A shared room in a Ca' Foscari residence on the historic islands runs from about 318 to 564 euros a month depending on the building, while the university's Mestre residence on the mainland costs 330 to 420 euros. Add an annual public transport pass at 230 euros for students, and cicchetti at 2 to 4 euros a piece for an easy, affordable meal. Groceries and eating out cost noticeably more near San Marco and the Rialto than a few stops away by vaporetto or bus.

• Expect island residences to cost more than the equivalent room in Mestre.
• Budget 230 euros a year for unlimited student vaporetto and bus travel.
• Eat cicchetti at 2 to 4 euros each for a cheap, filling meal.

Ca' Foscari's own residences sit both on the islands, at Santa Marta and San Giobbe, and on the mainland at Via Torino in Mestre, with a share of beds at each reserved for ESU Venezia at reduced prices through a yearly call for applications. Santa Marta alone holds 650 beds across scholarship, subsidised and market rate rooms, while San Giobbe and Via Torino add several hundred more between them. Partner Catholic run residences add further options across the city at varying prices. Because island housing is scarce and expensive, many exchange students choose Mestre and commute in by train, a journey of about ten minutes.

• Apply to ESU Venezia's yearly call for a subsidised bed as early as possible.
• Consider a Mestre residence if island housing is full or too expensive.
• Check Santa Marta and San Giobbe first, Ca' Foscari's largest residences.

Venice runs on vaporetti, not buses, and students aged 6 to 25 can buy an annual ACTV pass for 230 euros covering every waterbus, urban bus, tram and the People Mover, valid from 1 September to 31 August. Buying month by month costs 25 euros each time, so the annual pass pays for itself quickly if you are staying a full year. If you live in Mestre, the train to Venezia Santa Lucia takes around 10 minutes, with roughly 189 services a day, faster and cheaper than any bus. Expect to walk far more than in any other city, since much of the centre is only reachable on foot.

• Buy the 230 euro annual student pass if you are staying a full year.
• Take the 10 minute train from Mestre instead of a slower bus route.
• Pack comfortable shoes, most of central Venice is walking only.

Ca' Foscari splits its academic year into two semesters, each organised into two teaching terms, roughly running autumn and spring. Partner universities must nominate exchange students by 15 April for the first semester or a full year starting in September, and by 15 October for the second semester starting around February. Once nominated, you generally have one month from receiving instructions to complete online registration, including transcripts, your learning agreement, language certificates and a copy of your ID. Missing either the nomination or the follow up registration window can push your exchange back a full semester.

• Confirm your home university nominates you by 15 April or 15 October.
• Complete online registration within one month of receiving instructions.
• Prepare transcripts and your learning agreement before registration opens.

Si eres ciudadano de la UE o del EEE no necesitas nada más allá de registrar tu residencia si te quedas más de 90 días. Los estudiantes de fuera de la UE casi siempre necesitan un visado de estudios tipo D gestionado en el consulado italiano antes de llegar, además de justificar matrícula, fondos y seguro médico. Lo que necesitas exactamente depende de tu nacionalidad, así que consúltalo con tu consulado con tiempo.

Una vez en Italia, los estudiantes de fuera de la UE deben solicitar el permesso di soggiorno, el permiso de residencia, en los ocho días siguientes a la llegada, usando un kit de correos y una cita en la questura de policía. Es lento y lleno de papeleo, así que lleva fotocopias de todo y cuenta con colas. La oficina de relaciones internacionales de tu universidad suele guiarte en el proceso.

• UE/EEE, sin visado; regístrate si te quedas 90+ días
• Fuera de la UE, visado de estudios tipo D en tu consulado
• Al llegar, permesso di soggiorno en 8 días

Cicchetti, small savoury bites of cured meat, seafood, vegetables or cheese on crostini, cost around 2 to 4 euros each and are eaten standing at a bacaro bar with an ombra of wine or a Spritz, a custom locals call andar per bacari, wandering from bar to bar. The Rialto Market has supplied Venetian kitchens with fresh fish and produce for centuries and still shapes what ends up on a cicchetti counter. Prices and crowds both rise sharply near San Marco and the Rialto, so bacari a few streets away in Dorsoduro or Cannaregio tend to be cheaper and genuinely popular with students rather than tourists.

• Order a round of cicchetti with an ombra at a bacaro bar.
• Shop or eat near the Rialto Market for the freshest local seafood.
• Walk a few streets from San Marco for cheaper, more local bacari.

Dorsoduro is where most students end up living, since Ca' Foscari's Gothic palazzi sit right in the district and Campo Santa Margherita stays lively with cafes and bars both day and night, without San Marco's tourist density. Cannaregio, home to Santa Lucia train station and several vaporetto stops, offers a quieter, more residential alternative with strong transport links to the rest of the city. Students who cannot find or afford island housing settle in Mestre on the mainland instead, trading a longer commute for noticeably lower rent. Wherever you land, a vaporetto or train ride puts campus within easy reach.

• Live in Dorsoduro to stay close to Ca' Foscari and Campo Santa Margherita.
• Pick Cannaregio for a quieter base with strong transport connections.
• Choose Mestre for lower rent if island housing is out of budget.

Padua is barely half an hour from Venezia Santa Lucia by direct train, with around 72 services a day, easy for an afternoon at the Scrovegni Chapel or the Basilica of Saint Anthony. Treviso, a walled medieval town with its old moat still intact, sits under 40 minutes away with frequent trains of its own. Verona takes longer, about 1 hour 11 minutes on the fastest direct trains and around 37 services a day, worth a full day for its Roman arena and old bridges. All three make realistic day trips without ever needing a car.

• Take the 30 minute train to Padua for the Scrovegni Chapel.
• Ride under 40 minutes to Treviso, a walled town with its moat intact.
• Spend a full day in Verona, about 1 hour 11 minutes away by train.

Apply to ESU Venezia's housing call the moment it opens, and seriously consider Mestre if you miss the deadline, the ten minute train in is far less painful than paying island prices. Buy your annual ACTV pass in your first week if you are staying a full year, it pays for itself fast once you start exploring. Learn the andar per bacari habit early, cicchetti and an ombra make a genuinely cheap dinner once you know where to look. A common rookie mistake is underestimating how much walking Venice demands, pack real shoes, not just the ones that looked good for the trip.

• Apply for ESU Venezia housing early, or plan on commuting from Mestre.
• Buy your annual ACTV pass in week one if staying the full year.
• Bring comfortable shoes, Venice runs almost entirely on walking.