Modena.

ESN Modena e Reggio Emilia (ESN MoRe) covers both UNIMORE campuses with buddies, language tandems, dinners and trips, and the city's own ritual does the rest: aperitivo. From Thursday evening, Piazza Pomposa and via Gallucci fill with spritzes and Lambrusco, and places like Embassy X2 turn an all-you-can aperitivo into dinner for around 12 euros. Small city, tight scene, zero anonymity.

• Sign up with ESN MoRe for a buddy and the trip calendar; in a cohort this small you meet everyone within weeks.
• Adopt the Thursday and Friday aperitivo on Piazza Pomposa and via Gallucci; it is where the week lands.
• Turn aperitivo into a full dinner at Embassy X2, around 12 euros for the all-you-can buffet and drink formula.

Modena costs northern-Italian money softened by student deals: plan on 750 to 950 euros a month all-in. A private room averages around 400 euros, the SETA student bus pass covers a whole academic year for 77 euros, and the espresso stays under 2. Market groceries and aperitivo-as-dinner keep the food line kind.

• Rooms average about 400 euros a month on the private market, with listings spanning roughly 270 to 570 by district.
• The SETA Under 27 pass hands UNIMORE students a full academic year of city buses for a flat 77 euros.
• Espresso at the bar runs well under 2 euros, and the evening aperitivo formula quietly covers many dinners.

Immobiliare.it and Bakeca carry the private listings, and the Welcome Desk helps with the rest. The regional ER.GO agency runs the Allegretti residence on via Vignolese, 93 beds and a 24-hour reception, worth requesting early. Centro Storico puts everything on foot at the highest rents, Buon Pastore sits near several faculties, Crocetta saves money.

• Ask the Welcome Desk about an ER.GO residence place like Allegretti the moment your nomination is confirmed.
• Hunt Immobiliare.it and Bakeca early; rooms around the 400-euro average move fast in a city this size.
• Pick Centro Storico for the full walkable life, Buon Pastore for faculty proximity, Crocetta for the budget.

Modena is a bicycle city on Po-plain flatness: some 60 km of lanes, including greenways along old rail lines, make the bike the default, and the 77-euro yearly SETA pass covers the buses. There is no tram or metro and no need. The nearest airport is Bologna's, reached by train and a change at Bologna Centrale in around 40 minutes.

• Get a second-hand bike in your first week; flat streets and some 60 km of lanes make it the fastest way around.
• Load the SETA Under 27 yearly pass, 77 euros for the whole academic year, and stop thinking about bus tickets.
• For flights, train to Bologna Centrale and connect to the airport shuttle; door to door it is quick.

UNIMORE, the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, splits across the two cities, so check which campus your courses use. The incoming cohort stays in the hundreds, which buys you an International Welcome Desk that handles permits, codice fiscale, health and housing in person. Teaching is mostly Italian, and the CLA language centre runs courses from beginner up with a placement test.

• Confirm Modena versus Reggio Emilia for every course before arranging housing; the campus split is real.
• Lean on the International Welcome Desk for every permit and code; personal handling is Modena's quiet luxury.

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

Modena eats better than cities five times its size: traditional balsamic ages in local attics, Parmigiano and Lambrusco come from a 30-km radius, and the Albinelli market sells it all under one roof. Then the other religion: Enzo Ferrari was born here, and the Ferrari, Maserati and Pagani museums dot the Motor Valley around town.

• Shop and graze at the Mercato Albinelli, the historic covered market that works as the city's stomach.
• Taste real aceto balsamico tradizionale at source here; the supermarket bottle is a different product entirely.
• Do the Motor Valley museums, Enzo Ferrari's in town and Maranello close by, even if cars usually leave you cold.

The Centro Storico is the prize: porticoed streets, the market, aperitivo squares and most faculty buildings within a ten-minute walk, at the city's highest rents. Buon Pastore just south serves several faculties at gentler prices, Sant'Agnese adds leafy calm, and Crocetta to the north is the budget standby with an easy bus or bike run into the centre.

• Centro Storico if the budget stretches to it; Modena is a city best lived from inside its porticoed walls.
• Buon Pastore as the practical compromise, close to several faculties with rents a clear notch gentler.
• Crocetta when the budget rules the decision; the flat bike ride into the centre still takes only minutes.

Bologna is the escape hatch: under 30 minutes by regional train for a few euros, three departures an hour, delivering Italy's food capital and its low-cost airport, where Ryanair runs dozens of routes. The high-speed network at Bologna puts Florence, Milan and Rome in easy reach, and the Apennines rise south for green weekends.

• Treat Bologna as your second city: under 30 minutes away, a few euros a ride, trains three times an hour.
• Fly from Bologna's Marconi hub, one of Italy's biggest low-cost airports, whenever a European weekend calls.
• Connect to the high-speed lines at Bologna Centrale and Florence, Milan or even Rome become day trips.

Let the Welcome Desk drive your paperwork from day one, codice fiscale first, and life gets simple. Buy the bike before the bus pass debate even starts, then brace for the plain's famous fog, which owns November to February. EU students, carry your EHIC card; it covers your healthcare and spares the residual bureaucracy.

• Book the Welcome Desk for your very first week; codice fiscale and permits shrink from ordeal to errand.
• Fit proper bike lights early on; riding home through the Po valley's fog without them is genuinely dangerous.
• Bring your EHIC card if you are an EU national; it is your healthcare cover for the whole exchange here.