Klaipėda.

Student social life in Klaipėda gathers around two things: the sea and the Old Town. LCC International University runs its own on campus community, with residence halls and a gym a short walk from the centre, drawing exchange students from dozens of partner universities each semester. Downtown, Teatro Square and the harbourside bars around the Danė river, including the long running Mėmelis by the old warehouses, are where students gather in the evenings. The biggest date on the calendar is the Sea Festival each July, a three day, decades old celebration of the port that takes over the whole city centre.

• Join the Sea Festival each July, three days of concerts, markets and fireworks by the port.
• Meet other students at Teatro Square or the harbourside bars along the Danė river.
• Exchange students at LCC live in on campus residence halls close to town.

Klaipėda is one of the more affordable university cities on the Baltic coast. A one bedroom flat runs around 330 euros a month outside the centre and about 520 in it, an everyday restaurant meal costs roughly 11 euros, and a single city bus ticket is 0.70 euros, with a 30 day pass for one zone at about 28 euros. Groceries and eating in keep costs down further, so students who cook rather than eat out regularly land well below the citywide averages for meals.

• Expect roughly 330 euros a month for a one bedroom flat outside the centre.
• Load a 30 day bus pass for about 28 euros rather than buying single tickets.
• Budget around 11 euros for a casual restaurant meal, less if you cook at home.

Dormitories are the standard starting point. Klaipėda State University of Applied Sciences, a separate institution, runs two dorms for its own exchange students, on Debreceno gatvė at 150 euros and Taikos prospektas at 200 euros a month, and space is limited, so request a room on your application. LCC International University instead houses its exchange students on campus in its own residence halls. Outside these arrangements, a private rental market exists too, and each university's international relations office helps students navigate it once results and enrolment are confirmed.

• Request a dorm room on your exchange application form, spaces are limited each year.
• Ask your own host university which dormitory you can use.
• Ask your host university's international office for help once your place is confirmed.

Central Klaipėda is compact enough to walk or cycle, and buses fill the rest: a single ticket costs 0.70 euros, a 30 day pass for one zone about 28 euros, loaded onto an electronic card rather than paid in cash on board. To cross the water to the Curonian Spit, the L1 water bus runs from the Old Town for about 5 euros a ride, less with a discount card. Palanga International Airport, the region's gateway, sits about 32 kilometres north on highway A13, and a public bus links it directly to Klaipėda's bus station for arrivals without a car.

• Load an electronic transport card for buses rather than paying cash, it is cheaper.
• Take the L1 water bus from the Old Town over to the Curonian Spit.
• From Palanga Airport, 32 kilometres north, a public bus runs straight to Klaipėda.

Klaipėda University teaches around 2,800 students across three faculties: Social Science and Humanities, Marine Technologies and Natural Sciences, and Health Sciences, with its main campus in a restored 1907 barracks near the Old Town. It belongs to EU-CONEXUS, an alliance of European coastal city universities. LCC International University, also in the city, teaches over 100 courses entirely in English in a North American style and and takes exchange students through both Erasmus and its own exchange agreements. At LCC, nominations open April 1 for autumn and October 1 for spring, with applications due June 1 and November 15.

• Klaipėda University's main campus sits in a restored German barracks in Naujamiestis.
• At LCC, every course runs in English, taught in a North American style.
• Check your host university's own application deadlines early.

Tu papeleo depende de tu nacionalidad. Los ciudadanos de la UE y del EEE no necesitan visado; si te quedas más de tres meses te registras para un certificado que confirma tu derecho de residencia en una oficina del Departamento de Migración, algo sencillo. Para la mayoría de estudiantes de intercambio europeos, eso es todo.

Los estudiantes de fuera de la UE necesitan un visado nacional (D) o, para estancias más largas, un permiso de residencia temporal, tramitado a través del Departamento de Migración lituano (portal MIGRIS) y normalmente una embajada lituana en tu país. Necesitarás tu carta de admisión, justificante de fondos, seguro médico y datos de alojamiento. Solicítalo con bastante antelación, ya que el trámite puede tardar de varias semanas a un par de meses, y registra tu dirección en cuanto llegues.

• UE/EEE: sin visado; regístrate para un certificado de residencia si te quedas más de 90 días
• Fuera de la UE: visado nacional D o permiso de residencia temporal vía el portal MIGRIS
• Lleva carta de admisión, justificante de fondos, seguro médico y prueba de alojamiento
• Empieza pronto: el trámite del permiso puede tardar de 1 a 2 meses

Food culture here leans coastal and Lithuanian rather than international. Turgaus, the Old Town's Market Square, still functions as a working market with fresh produce pavilions, a good spot for cheap, everyday shopping rather than souvenirs. Harbourside bars along the Danė river, including the long standing Mėmelis by the old warehouses, mix food, drink and views of the barquentine Meridianas moored nearby. The Sea Festival each July turns the whole centre into a free street market and concert stage for three days, with food stalls, fishermen's competitions and a fireworks finale drawing crowds from across the region.

• Shop for fresh produce at Turgaus, the Old Town's working Market Square.
• Eat by the water at one of the harbourside bars along the Danė river.
• Plan around the Sea Festival in July for food stalls and free concerts.

Senamiestis, the Old Town, rebuilt on a grid after an 1854 fire, is where most going out happens, centred on Teatro Square and the Danė riverside bars, and it stays walkable to almost everything. Across the river, Naujamiestis mixes handsome 19th century merchant houses with Soviet era blocks and newer housing, and it is where Klaipėda University's main campus sits, so many students choose it for the short walk to class over Old Town rent. Herkaus Manto street, three kilometres long, runs through Naujamiestis and is the area's main spine for shops and everyday errands.

• Pick Senamiestis for nightlife and walkability, right in the historic centre.
• Choose Naujamiestis to live close to Klaipėda University's main campus.
• Use Herkaus Manto street for everyday shopping and errands in Naujamiestis.

Klaipėda's location makes the coast and the rest of Lithuania equally easy to reach. The Curonian Spit, a UNESCO listed dune peninsula, is a short water bus ride from the Old Town, with the resort town of Nida further down its length. Palanga's beaches and promenade sit just up the coast. For longer trips, direct buses reach Kaunas in as little as two and a half hours and Vilnius in under four, both running multiple times a day, which makes either an easy weekend away without needing a car.

• Take the water bus to the Curonian Spit for dunes and pine forest.
• Ride a direct bus to Kaunas in around two and a half hours.
• Head to Vilnius, under four hours away by direct bus, for a longer weekend.

Sort your accommodation request the moment you submit your exchange application. Dorm places are limited and go to students who asked early on their application, not to whoever arrives first. Get an electronic transport card in your first days rather than paying cash on the bus each time. If you are flying into Palanga, plan the public bus into Klaipėda in advance since services run on a set timetable rather than constantly. Pack for coastal weather: wind off the Baltic makes the port feel colder than the temperature suggests.

• Request your dorm room the moment you submit your exchange application form.
• Get an electronic transport card early instead of paying cash on buses.
• Pack for wind off the Baltic, the port feels colder than the forecast.