Paris concentrates more top universities per square kilometre than almost anywhere - the Sorbonne, Sciences Po and PSL all sit within a short metro ride. Beyond the lecture halls you get free national museums on the first Sunday of the month, a river to picnic beside, and day trips to chateaux and Champagne country. The trade-off is cost and crowds, but the payoff is a semester with genuinely no dull weekends.

• Free entry to the Louvre, Orsay and most national museums on the first Sunday of the month, plus year-round if you are an EU passport holder under 26.
• Everything is central: from the Latin Quarter you can walk to Notre-Dame, the Pantheon and the Jardin du Luxembourg in under 20 minutes.
• A base for the rest of Europe - Eurostar to London, TGV to Lyon or Brussels, all under two and a half hours.

Student life clusters around the Latin Quarter and the 5th, where cheap bistros and the Sorbonne crowd spill onto rue Mouffetard. Nights out drift between Canal Saint-Martin, the bars of Bastille and Oberkampf, and cheap pints in the Marais. Erasmus events run all semester through ESN Paris, and the apero scene - drinks on the grass at Buttes-Chaumont or on the Seine steps - is where most friendships actually form.

• Join ESN Paris and your university international office for weekly soirees and cheap trips.
• Apero by the Canal Saint-Martin or on the Seine steps at Quai de la Tournelle is the free, classic Paris night out.
• Le Baron Rouge by Marche d Aligre for natural wine, or the student bars along rue de la Huchette.

Paris is the most expensive city in France, so nudge the national band upward: budget roughly 1,100 to 1,700 euros a month once rent is in. A room in a shared flat runs 650 to 900 euros, a studio easily 900 plus, but the CAF housing subsidy (APL) can claw back 100 to 200 euros. Student canteens serve a full meal for around 3.30 euros, which is what keeps the whole thing affordable.

• CROUS restaurants (Resto U) charge about 3.30 euros for a three-course meal - the single biggest money-saver.
• Apply for APL through caf.fr as soon as you have a lease; it can cut rent by 100 to 200 euros a month.
• A pint is 7 to 8 euros in the centre but 4 to 5 during happy hour - look for the chalkboards from 17:00.

Housing is the hardest part of Paris - start hunting weeks before you arrive and expect to move fast. The Cite Internationale Universitaire (CIUP) in the 14th is the dream: leafy, cheapish and packed with international students, but heavily oversubscribed. Otherwise chase CROUS rooms via Lokaviz, shared flats (colocation) on leboncoin and La Carte des Colocs, and use the free Visale state guarantee if you have no French guarantor.

• Apply early to the Cite Internationale Universitaire de Paris (CIUP) - its houses are affordable and social but fill months ahead.
• Use Studapart, Lokaviz (CROUS) and La Carte des Colocs; avoid any landlord asking for money before a viewing.
• Get a free Visale guarantee at visale.fr to replace a French garant, and ask the Studcasa Paris group who is subletting each intake.

The metro is the backbone - 16 lines, a stop rarely more than 400 metres away, running until roughly 00:40 and later at weekends. Under-26 students should get the Imagine R pass, far cheaper than monthly Navigo tickets and free across all zones at weekends. For short hops, Velib bikes and simply walking beat waiting underground.

• Imagine R student pass is about 350 euros for the year (all zones free at weekends) versus 88.80 a month for a standard Navigo.
• Download Bonjour RATP or Citymapper for live metro and RER routing.
• A Velib bike subscription is a few euros a month and often faster than the metro for trips under 3 km.

Paris hosts France academic heavyweights: Sorbonne Universite and Universite Paris Cite for sciences and humanities, Sciences Po for politics, PSL (with Dauphine and the ENS) for research, and Pantheon-Sorbonne for law and economics. Teaching leans on formal lectures (CM) plus smaller tutorials (TD), and exams are demanding, so keep on top of the reading. International offices are well-drilled - lean on them for course registration and the paperwork maze.

• Sciences Po, the Sorbonne and Universite Paris Cite all run large Erasmus intakes with dedicated welcome desks.
• Expect the CM (lecture) plus TD (tutorial) format; attendance at TDs is usually graded.

What you need depends entirely on your nationality. EU/EEA/Swiss students need no visa and can just enrol. Non-EU students on an exchange over 90 days apply for a VLS-TS student long-stay visa before arriving, then validate it online within three months and pay a small OFII tax; under 90 days you may only need a short-stay Schengen visa or none at all.

Budget time for the admin marathon: you will want a French bank account, proof of accommodation, health cover (EHIC for Europeans, or enrolment in French social security), and civil-liability insurance. Book prefecture and OFII steps the moment you can, because slots vanish.

• EU/EEA/Swiss, no visa, just enrol
• Non-EU, over 90 days, VLS-TS long-stay student visa, validated online after arrival
• Proof of ~€615/month funds usually required
• Get civil-liability insurance (assurance responsabilite civile) before term

Everyday eating revolves around the boulangerie - a fresh baguette or pain au chocolat costs about 1.20 euros - and the covered markets. Sunday morning at Marche d Aligre or the Marche des Enfants Rouges is a ritual; the Marais does the city best falafel at L As du Fallafel. Beyond French classics, Belleville and the 13th serve superb Chinese, Vietnamese and North African food for student prices.

• L As du Fallafel on rue des Rosiers in the Marais - the queue moves fast and it is worth it.
• Marche d Aligre (12th) on a Sunday for cheap produce, cheese and a glass at Le Baron Rouge.
• Rue de Belleville and avenue de Choisy (13th) for the best-value Asian food in the city.

Where you land shapes your whole semester. The Latin Quarter and 5th are studenty and central but pricey; the Marais (3rd and 4th) is lively and gay-friendly; Belleville and the 20th are cheaper, diverse and creative. Canal Saint-Martin and the 10th to 11th are the nightlife heartland, while the 13th and 14th near the Cite U are quieter, greener and better value.

• Belleville and Menilmontant (19th/20th) for the best value and a real neighbourhood feel.
• The 11th (Bastille to Oberkampf) if you want to be in the middle of the nightlife.
• The 5th and 13th if you want to be near campuses and the Cite Universitaire.

Paris is Europe easiest launchpad. Versailles is a 40-minute RER C ride, Fontainebleau forest and chateau an hour by Transilien, and Giverny (Monet garden) a morning trip. Push further and the TGV puts Reims and its Champagne houses 45 minutes away, Lyon two hours, and the Eurostar reaches London in 2h20. Book TGV and Eurostar early through SNCF Connect or Trainline for the cheap fares.

• Versailles by RER C (about 40 min) - go early to beat the queues at the chateau.
• Reims for Champagne tasting: 45 minutes by TGV from Gare de l Est.
• Grab a Carte Avantage Jeune (49 euros) if you take more than a few TGVs - it caps and cuts fares.

The unglamorous admin - bank account, APL, phone plan - is what trips people up, so tackle it in the first fortnight. Always greet with Bonjour before asking anything; skipping it reads as rude and gets you worse service. And never buy a metro ticket from someone on the platform or pay a deposit for a flat you have not seen - both are classic scams targeting new arrivals.

• Open a French account (or use Lydia or Revolut) early - you need a RIB for APL and most subscriptions.
• Validate your ticket and keep it until you exit; plain-clothes inspectors fine fare-dodgers on the spot.
• Ask the Studcasa Paris group before signing anything - locals there flag the current rental scams.