Bucharest.

Bucharest is a 2 million person capital and the best travel hub around: cheap flights and near free trains put the Black Sea, Transylvania, Turkey and the Balkans within reach. Expect 400 to 500 fellow Erasmus students and English everywhere among locals your age. Not conventionally pretty, but green and easy to compress into a two day timetable to free up the rest of the week.

• Genuine hub location: cheap Wizz Air and Ryanair flights plus near free student trains reach the Black Sea coast, the Carpathians, Istanbul and Budapest.
• A huge international scene of 400 to 500 Erasmus students each semester, with English spoken everywhere by people your age.
• Not a pretty city on paper, but green (Herastrau, Cismigiu, Carol and Titan parks) and full of spots worth getting lost in.

The Old Town around Piata Unirii is the party epicentre, with bars and clubs running until 6 or 7am. Mojo is the go to Erasmus bar and Control Club cuts prices in half on Tuesdays. ESN Poli and Happy Erasmus run a buddy system and monthly events, topped off by the Vama Veche weekend on the Black Sea, four days with 400 Erasmus students from across Romania.

• Mojo is the classic Erasmus bar, Control Club halves its prices on Tuesdays and Princess Club offers free entry and drinks for girls on Wednesdays.
• ESN Poli and Happy Erasmus organise a buddy system, weekly events and the Vama Veche weekend on the Black Sea, plus join the Studcasa Bucharest group to link up with other exchange students before you even land.
• By day, hit Herastrau, Cismigiu, Carol and Titan parks, free sport sessions near Grangasi park, and the free open air concerts near the Parliament.

A residence room runs 100 to 120 euros a month, a room in a shared flat 240 to 450 euros depending on standard. A cheap canteen meal is about 3.50 euros, a mid range restaurant 8 to 15 euros, and a pint 2 to 3 euros in normal bars (6 to 7 in trendy clubs). Skip Mega Image for groceries and head to Lidl or Kaufland instead, since Carrefour and Auchan sit close to French prices.

• The student metro pass costs about 2 euros a month with the Romanian student card, though buses run on a separate ticket, around 16 euros a month if you use them daily.
• A Bolt ride across town costs 2 to 5 euros, and a local SIM card gives about 150GB of data for roughly 7 euros a month.
• Some students cover extras with a part time bar job, around 450 euros a month, since service and hospitality gigs are easy to pick up as an Erasmus student.

Two clear options. Campus residence rooms cost 100 to 120 euros a month: compact doubles, ethernet only, recurring hot water cuts, but only five to ten minutes from campus and the easiest way to meet every other Erasmus student. Shared flats in town run 240 to 450 euros via Imobiliare.ro or Facebook groups, closer to the social scene downtown.

• Search shared flats on Imobiliare.ro (the local Leboncoin) and Facebook groups like Erasmus Bucharest or Francais a Bucarest, and always get everything in writing with the landlord.
• Watch for rent paid in cash, deposits withheld unfairly, bed bugs, and check a building does not carry a red earthquake risk sticker before signing anything.
• Residence rooms come with a randomly assigned roommate and a double room requirement, so pick your roommate early if you can, and expect guests to be banned after 10pm.

The metro is modern and efficient, two lines serving the UPB campus about 25 to 30 minutes from downtown, though it stops around 11pm. Metro (Metrorex) and bus and tram (STB) are separate companies with separate tickets, use the 24pay app for buses. The 90 percent student discount applies to the metro and trains, not buses. After 11pm, Bolt and Uber become the real night network.

• Buy your metro pass with the Romanian student card to unlock the 90 percent discount, about 8 lei a month, but budget separately for buses since the discount does not apply there.
• Bolt and Uber run 24/7 for 2 to 5 euros a ride and are the safest option once the metro closes around 11pm.
• From Henri Coanda airport, take a Bolt for about 15 euros or the shuttle to Piata Unirii for around 1 euro.

UPB is Romania's largest technical university, limited to two faculties for Erasmus students. Building your timetable is the real challenge: two to three weeks of overlapping courses and phantom classes before it settles. The winning move is condensing everything into two or three days with friends. Courses run easier than back home, and attendance covers only 10 to 20 percent of the grade.

• The Erasmus office is adorable and reactive, but the rest of the administration is not, so chase your Romanian student card the moment you arrive since it unlocks the 90 percent transport discount.
• Expect heavy communication over WhatsApp with Romanian class representatives alongside Moodle and Teams, and no built in lunch break in the timetable.

As an EU country, Romania asks nothing of EU or EEA passport holders beyond the paperwork every exchange student already carries. There is no visa process, no residence permit and no border check to worry about.

• European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) plus a complementary travel insurance policy required by most schools, from around 20 to 50 euros a month.
• Register your stay on France Diplomatie's Ariane platform before leaving.
• Romania is in the EU but not the eurozone: bring a fee free card like Revolut and use ING or Banca Transilvania ATMs for the best exchange rates.
• Grab a local Vodafone or Telekom SIM once you land, from 5 to 7 euros for close to unlimited data, and skip the airport kiosks.

Campus canteens serve a full meal for about 3.50 euros, and bakery snacks like covrigi cost around a euro. Romanian food leans heavily on pork and chicken with polenta, ciorba soups, mici and sarmale, plus papanasi for dessert, though vegetarians will find it hard going. Caru cu Bere, the oldest restaurant in town, is the classic stop, and eating out is cheap enough for two or three times a week.

• Try mici, sarmale, ciorba and papanasi at least once, and head to Caru cu Bere, the city's oldest restaurant, for the full traditional experience.
• Vegetarians should plan ahead: menus lean heavily on pork and chicken, and meat free options are limited outside a handful of restaurants.
• Carrefour and Mega Image stay open 24 hours for late night runs, though Mega Image is pricier than Lidl or Kaufland for regular groceries.

The Old Town around Piata Unirii is the festive heart of the city, touristy and generally safe, though watch for touts and dealers hanging around the bars late at night. North of it toward Calea Victoriei you find trendier, more electro leaning bars. Grozavesti in sector 6 is the UPB and residence district to the west, new blocks minutes from campus with a distinctly communist feel outside.

• Piata Unirii and the Old Town are the easy default for a night out, but not always the best one, so branch out toward Calea Victoriei for a more local vibe.
• Grozavesti in sector 6, around UPB, is where most Erasmus residences sit, just a few minutes walk from campus.
• Big malls like AFI Cotroceni, Mega Mall and Promenada are useful for errands, cinema and rainy day plans.

Near free student trains put Brasov (1.20 euros, 3 hours), Sibiu and the Black Sea coast at Vama Veche within easy reach. Two trips come up again and again: a Danube Delta boat tour, about 40 euros for 5 hours, and driving the Transfagarasan, one of the most beautiful roads in Europe with bears sometimes visible roadside. Abroad, an overnight bus reaches Istanbul for 70 to 80 euros round trip.

• Book the Danube Delta boat tour, around 40 euros for a 5 hour trip, and drive the Transfagarasan highway if you can rent a car with friends.
• The overnight bus to Istanbul costs 70 to 80 euros round trip and saves two nights of accommodation, with Cappadocia an easy onward extension.
• Grab the 8 euro ESN card for discounts on Flixbus and Ryanair, including a free hold bag and 15 percent off fares.

Claim your Romanian student card at the secretariat the moment you arrive, since it unlocks the 90 percent discount on trains and metro. Get a local SIM in the city, not at the airport, for 5 to 7 euros of nearly unlimited data, use Revolut for payments and an ING ATM for cash, and always keep some cash on hand for rent and markets.

• Warn the waiter before ordering if you want to split the bill, since many restaurants refuse to divide it afterwards.
• Check any apartment for bed bugs and a red earthquake risk sticker before signing, and get every agreement with the landlord in writing.
• Cross the street only on green, and never copy a local jaywalking, since traffic is the one real danger in the city.