Cagliari.

ESN Cagliari, based right next to the university's International Mobility Office, works on a Students Helping Students principle, organising cultural, recreational and sports activities plus regular trips around Sardinia for exchange students. It also takes part in national ESN events such as the National Erasmus Games and seasonal meetups elsewhere in Italy, alongside its own local calendar. CUS Cagliari, the university sports centre, offers reduced rate gym and sports access through the CUS Card, while ERSU's canteens give exchange students discounted meals across the city, and the university runs Italian language courses to help you settle in.

• Join ESN Cagliari for cultural, sports and trip activities around Sardinia.
• Get the CUS Card for cheap university sports and gym access.
• Use ERSU's discounted canteens and the university's Italian language courses.

Cagliari runs cheaper than mainland Italy's big university cities: Numbeo prices an inexpensive restaurant meal at about 20 euros and a cappuccino at under 2 euros. The airport train into town costs just 1.30 euros for a six minute ride, and the CTM annual pass costs 175 euros, with 35 to 70 euro student rates tied to an Italian income certificate exchange students rarely have. Renting is the real pressure point: a one bedroom flat outside the centre averages close to 570 euros a month, and ERSU has raised its own rent support to a maximum of 2,500 euros a year for students who miss out on dormitory places.

• Expect about 20 euros for a restaurant meal, cheap for a cappuccino too.
• Pay just 1.30 euros for the six minute airport train into town.
• Budget around 570 euros a month for a one bedroom flat outside the centre.

ERSU, the regional student welfare body, runs Cagliari's official dormitories, but supply is tight: only about 400 beds were active against demand from roughly 25,000 students, with a plan to reach around 1,170 beds only by 2028. Most exchange students end up on the private market instead, where a one bedroom flat outside the centre averages close to 570 euros a month. ERSU also pays a Fitto Casa rent contribution, raised to a maximum of 2,500 euros a year, to students who apply for a dormitory place but do not get one. Apply to ERSU early regardless, since it costs nothing to be on the list.

• Apply to ERSU early; only about 400 beds exist for 25,000 students.
• Expect the private market for most exchange students, around 570 euros a month.
• Ask about ERSU's Fitto Casa rent support if you miss a dormitory place.

Cagliari Elmas airport sits right next to a train station of its own, and the regional train reaches Cagliari's main station in about six minutes for 1.30 euros, faster and cheaper than any bus option. A taxi covers the same trip in about 15 minutes for 20 to 30 euros if you land after trains stop running late at night. Around the city, CTM buses and the Metrocagliari light rail cover every neighbourhood, and an annual pass gives unlimited access to both networks.

• Take the airport train into town in six minutes for 1.30 euros.
• Use a taxi only if you land late; trains stop running at night.
• Budget 175 euros for the CTM annual pass for buses and Metrocagliari.

Nearly every exchange student in Cagliari studies at the University of Cagliari, founded in 1606 and one of Italy's oldest, spread mainly across the historic centre with science and medical departments in Monserrato, just outside the city. The university enrols around 31,000 students across six faculties, from law and economics to medicine and engineering, and the ISMOKA International Mobility Office is the primary contact for incoming exchange students, from application through enrolment. Most courses run in Italian, so the university runs dedicated Italian language courses for exchange students to help you follow lectures and settle in.

• Contact ISMOKA, the university's International Mobility Office, for exchange enrolment questions.
• Expect most courses in Italian; take the university's own language courses early.
• Science and medical departments sit in Monserrato, just outside the historic centre.

If you are an EU or EEA citizen you need nothing beyond registering your residence if you stay past 90 days. Non-EU students almost always need a national type D study visa arranged through the Italian consulate before arrival, plus proof of enrolment, funds and health insurance. Exactly what you need depends on your nationality, so check with your consulate early.

Once in Italy, non-EU students must apply for a permesso di soggiorno, the residence permit, within eight days of arrival, using a post office kit and a police questura appointment. It is slow and paperwork-heavy, so bring photocopies of everything and expect queues. Your university's international office will usually walk you through it.

• EU/EEA, no visa; register if staying 90+ days
• Non-EU, type D study visa from your consulate
• After arrival, permesso di soggiorno within 8 days

Sardinian food centres on durum wheat: try culurgiones, hand pleated dumplings filled with potato, pecorino and mint, or malloreddus, small ridged pasta shells often served alla campidanese with a Sardinian sausage and tomato ragù. Pane carasau, a paper thin bread twice baked until crisp, has fed shepherds for millennia and turns up on every table, sometimes layered into pane frattau with tomato, cheese and a poached egg. Finish with seadas, fried pastry parcels of tangy pecorino drizzled with honey. In Cagliari, the Marina district's narrow streets pack in the widest choice of places to try them, alongside its bars and cafes.

• Try culurgiones or malloreddus alla campidanese, Sardinia's classic durum wheat dishes.
• Taste pane carasau, the twice baked shepherd's bread, plain or as pane frattau.
• Finish with seadas, fried pecorino pastry drizzled with honey, a Sardinian classic.

La Marina, the old port quarter right by the centre, is Cagliari's busiest nightlife district, packed with cocktail bars, wine bars and casual restaurants that fill up from Thursday through the weekend. Stampace, just west along Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, has a more relaxed scene of craft beer bars and pizzerias, an easy add on to a night that starts in Marina. Castello, the walled medieval hilltop quarter with its Pisan towers, trades bar density for panoramic views and quieter cocktail spots, while Villanova keeps a more residential, everyday feel with a handful of well liked bars tucked into its side streets.

• Go to La Marina for Cagliari's busiest bars and late night restaurants.
• Try Stampace's Corso Vittorio Emanuele II for a more relaxed craft beer scene.
• Visit Castello for panoramic views, or Villanova for a quieter, local feel.

Nora, a former Phoenician, Punic and Roman city about 39 kilometres and 45 minutes away, combines a Roman theatre and baths with a beach right next to the ruins, some of it visible underwater. Su Nuraxi di Barumini, a UNESCO listed nuraghe complex with a central tower and around 50 surrounding huts, sits about 63 kilometres and 50 minutes north. Villasimius, 62 kilometres east, has some of Sardinia's best beaches, including Punta Molentis and Porto Giunco, plus snorkelling in the Capo Carbonara marine reserve. Mainland Italy is reachable by overnight ferry, with Palermo the closest crossing at about 11 hours.

• Visit Nora, 45 minutes away, for Roman ruins right beside a beach.
• See Su Nuraxi di Barumini, a UNESCO nuraghe site, about 50 minutes north.
• Take the overnight ferry to Palermo, the shortest mainland crossing at 11 hours.

Apply to ERSU for dormitory housing as early as your exchange is confirmed, since only about 400 beds exist against demand from roughly 25,000 students. Get the airport train instead of a taxi on arrival, it is faster and a fraction of the price. Join ESN Cagliari's activities in your first weeks to meet people before term gets busy, and sort a CTM pass early so you are not buying single tickets for months. The rookie mistake is staying only in Cagliari: nuraghe ruins, Roman cities and some of Sardinia's best beaches all sit within an hour's drive.

• Apply to ERSU early; beds are scarce against demand from 25,000 students.
• Take the airport train over a taxi, it is faster and much cheaper.
• Get out of Cagliari too: ruins and beaches sit within an hour's drive.