Kyoto.

Downtown Kawaramachi and the Kiyamachi canal strip hold the bars, izakaya and clubs, while the Hyakumanben area by Kyoto University is the scruffier, cheaper student heartland. Nightlife is lower-key than Osaka's, built on cosy bars and student haunts, and the calendar bursts with festivals like Gion Matsuri in July. With so many universities, the exchange scene is large and easy to join.

• Drink along the Kiyamachi canal and Kawaramachi backstreets for the main night out.
• The Hyakumanben area by Kyoto University has the cheapest, most studenty bars and diners.
• Ask the Kyoto Studcasa group which festivals and circles to prioritise through the year.

Kyoto costs a touch less than Tokyo, but tourism pushes some prices up, so plan on 850 to 1,150 euros a month. Student flats north and west of the centre are reasonable, cheap eats abound around the campuses, and a bicycle removes most transport costs. Save the kaiseki and fancy matcha cafés for treats and eat like a student the rest of the time.

• Flats near the universities run roughly 40,000-65,000 yen; the north and west are cheaper.
• Eat cheaply at student diners around Hyakumanben and standing spots near Nishiki.
• A second-hand bike (5,000-10,000 yen) is the best transport investment you can make here.

Students rent small private flats or join sharehouses and guesthouses, which are plentiful and social in a city this student-heavy. Aim for the north around Kyoto University and Demachiyanagi, or the west near Ritsumeikan's Kinugasa campus, and remember the flat grid makes almost anywhere cyclable. Book early for spring, when the whole country moves house at once.

• The Demachiyanagi and Hyakumanben area suits Kyoto University and Doshisha students.
• Guesthouses and sharehouses are common and social, good for a single semester.
• The Kyoto Studcasa group is a fast way to find rooms and second-hand bikes from leavers.

Kyoto is flat and grid-shaped, so cycling is genuinely the best way to get around and beats the crowded tourist buses. Two subway lines (Karasuma north-south, Tozai east-west) form the spine, backed by city buses, the retro Randen tram to Arashiyama, and Keihan, Hankyu and JR lines out of the centre. An ICOCA card covers trains and buses; a good bike lock covers the rest.

• Buy a bike, the flat grid makes it faster and cheaper than the packed tourist buses.
• Use the Karasuma and Tozai subway lines to cross town quickly when it rains.
• The Randen tram to Arashiyama and the Keihan line down to Fushimi are handy for day trips.

Kyoto University is Japan's second-ranked national university and a research heavyweight, with Doshisha and Ritsumeikan among the country's most respected private institutions and a wealth of arts and specialist schools besides. Exchange students get a wide choice of programmes, growing English-taught options and strong Japanese-language courses. The concentration of academia gives the whole city an unusually intellectual, youthful character.

• Kyoto University (Yoshida campus) and Doshisha both run well-established exchange programmes.
• Take Japanese-language classes here, the student-heavy city is a great place to practise.

For a full semester you'll need a Student visa, and the reality depends on your nationality, but the shape is broadly the same. Your host university applies for a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) on your behalf inside Japan, which can take 1–2 months. Once it arrives, you take it to a Japanese embassy or consulate at home and they issue the visa, usually within a week and often free or cheap.

At the airport you're handed a Residence Card ('zairyu' card), carry it at all times. Within 14 days you must register your address at the local city hall and enrol in National Health Insurance (around ¥1,500–2,000/month, covering 70% of medical costs). Want a part-time job? Apply for 'permission to engage in activity other than that permitted' and you're cleared for up to 28 hours a week.

• Student visa needs a COE, your uni applies, allow 1–2 months
• Register at city hall and join health insurance within 14 days
• Work permit clears you for up to 28 hours/week part-time

Kyoto is Japan's culinary heartland: refined kaiseki, home-style obanzai, delicate yudofu tofu, and matcha in every conceivable form, with Uji's tea fields nearby. Nishiki Market, 'Kyoto's kitchen', is the place to graze pickles, sweets and street snacks, and the Fushimi district south of the centre is a major sake-brewing area. Temples, tea houses and craft workshops make everyday culture unusually rich.

• Graze Nishiki Market for pickles, tofu, sweets and skewers (mind the no-walking-and-eating etiquette).
• Try yudofu near Nanzenji or obanzai home-style cooking at a small local restaurant.
• Tour a Fushimi sake brewery and pick up some Kyoto matcha sweets.

Downtown around Kawaramachi and Karasuma is the lively, central choice, while Higashiyama and Gion are the picture-postcard temple-and-geisha districts, atmospheric but touristy. Demachiyanagi and Hyakumanben in the north are the true student zones near Kyoto University, Arashiyama in the west is scenic and calmer, and Fushimi to the south is residential with the famous Inari shrine. North and west give the best value.

• Demachiyanabi and Hyakumanben: student central, cheap eats and near Kyoto University.
• Downtown Kawaramachi: most central for nightlife and transport, a bit pricier.
• Arashiyama and Kitayama: quieter, greener and scenic, with a slightly longer commute.

Kyoto is the heart of Kansai, so weekends are effortless: Osaka is 30 minutes, Nara and its bowing deer 45, and Uji, home of the best matcha and the Byōdō-in temple, barely 20. Kobe, Himeji and Lake Biwa are all close, and the sandbar of Amanohashidate makes a longer trip north to the coast. A day-return shinkansen even puts Hiroshima within reach.

• Uji (about 20 minutes) is essential for matcha and the Byōdō-in on the ten-yen coin.
• Nara (45 minutes) delivers a giant Buddha, deer and some of Japan's oldest temples.
• Osaka is 30 minutes for a complete change of pace when you want a big night.

Live and cycle away from the tourist honeypots, the real Kyoto is in the northern student streets, not the temple queues. Learn a little etiquette (no eating while walking in Nishiki, no photographing geiko in Gion) as locals feel swamped by visitors. Summers are brutally humid and winters sharply cold, so pack for both, and register your bike to avoid impound fees.

• Base your daily life in the northern student districts, not the tourist-clogged east.
• Respect local etiquette in Gion and Nishiki, no snapping geiko or eating on the move.
• Register your bicycle and use a strong lock; impound fees are a common student expense.