As the national capital, Rabat is calmer, cleaner and greener than Casablanca, with a walkable historic core, an ocean setting and a big concentration of universities and embassies. Mohammed V University and the private International University of Rabat draw students from across Morocco and abroad, and the UNESCO-listed medina and Kasbah give daily life a storybook backdrop. It is an easy, safe-feeling place to settle into Moroccan life.

Agdal is the student quarter, buzzing with cafes, bookshops and cheap eateries around the university. Social life runs on cafe culture, walks along the river and beach, and events at the many cultural institutes. It is more relaxed than Casa, with students gathering over mint tea, in Agdal's restaurants, or down by the Bouregreg marina and Oudaias.

Rabat is a touch cheaper than Casablanca, so budget around 6,000-9,000 dirhams (roughly 550-850 euros) a month. A room or small flat runs about 2,500-4,500dh, and the usual mix of street food, markets and set lunches keeps daily costs low. The tram and shared taxis make transport cheap too.

There is little formal student housing, so most students share flats found via agencies, Facebook groups or word of mouth. Agdal is the obvious student choice for its cafes and campus proximity, while Hassan and L'Ocean are also central and pleasant. View places in person, negotiate the rent, and be ready to pay a couple of months upfront.

The Rabat-Sale tramway (two lines) links the city with its twin Sale across the river, cheap and easy with a rechargeable card. Blue petits taxis are plentiful, so insist on the meter, and buses and shared grands taxis fill the gaps. ONCF trains, including Al Boraq high-speed services, run from Rabat-Agdal and Rabat-Ville.

Rabat is a national academic hub: the public Mohammed V University spans law, sciences, medicine and the humanities, while the International University of Rabat and specialised schools like ENSIAS (IT) and ENA add professional and English-taught options. Teaching tends to be formal and lecture-led, largely in French, with Arabic ever-present around campus.

Here is the honest version, and it depends entirely on your passport. Citizens of the EU, UK, US, Canada, Australia and many others enter Morocco visa-free for up to 90 days, so a short exchange that fits inside 90 days needs no visa at all, just your passport and an entry stamp. That covers a lot of one-semester students.

Staying longer than 90 days (a full year, or a long semester) means getting a residence card, the carte de sejour, which you apply for in-country at the local police prefecture within your first three months. Your university issues the enrolment attestation you will need. Start the paperwork the week you arrive: it is bureaucratic, slow, and everyone underestimates it. Non-visa-free nationalities must sort a student visa at a Moroccan consulate before flying.

You will eat well: tagines, Friday couscous, harira, fresh fish off the Atlantic, and street snacks like msemen and sfenj doughnuts with mint tea. The medina's food stalls and the Ville Nouvelle's cafes cover both traditional and modern tastes. As across Morocco, Ramadan shifts daily life toward the evenings.

Agdal is the modern student and cafe district; Hassan is central and historic near the landmark tower; the old Medina and the Kasbah of the Oudaias hold the traditional heart; Hay Riad is a newer, upscale business area; and across the river, Sale keeps a more traditional, local feel.

Rabat's rail links make travel simple: Casablanca is under an hour by high-speed train, and Tangier is around 1h20 on Al Boraq. Meknes and Fez's imperial medinas are a couple of hours inland, the blue town of Chefchaouen is a longer weekend, and the beach town of Asilah lies up the coast.

Rabat feels relaxed and safe, but the usual advice holds: keep some French and Darija ready, insist on taxi meters, and carry cash for small buys. Dress modestly out of respect, especially in the medina, and plan around Friday afternoons and Ramadan when the pace slows right down.