Alicante.

Nights climb through El Barrio, the old quarter's dense bar streets below the castle, with Calle Castanos as the polished alternative and the giant seafront club Marmarela as the big-night finisher students rave about. ESN Alicante organises from the campus side in San Vicente. In late June the Hogueras de San Juan takes over: bonfires, daily mascletas and a city that stops sleeping.

• Learn El Barrio's grid of bar streets early; the old quarter is where every night starts and most of them end.
• Save Marmarela on the waterfront for the big nights out; it is the giant club every student ends up naming.
• Stay for the Hogueras de San Juan, 20 to 24 June: bonfires, daily 14:00 mascletas and the midnight crema finale.

Alicante lives well on 650 to 900 euros a month. Rooms run about 250 to 340 euros in the centre and drop to 160 to 200 in student flatshares by the campus in San Vicente. The menu del dia covers lunch for 10 to 15 euros, a 30-trip youth pass costs around 21, and the beach stays the city's best free institution.

• Campus-side rooms in San Vicente run 160 to 200 euros a month; central ones 250 to 340 with the sea nearby.
• The Bono Jove 30-trip transport pass costs about 21 euros for under-30s, loaded onto the Mobilis card.
• Eat the 10-to-15-euro menu del dia at lunchtime and let the beach handle your afternoons free of charge.

First decide your side of the tram line: San Vicente del Raspeig means cheap student flatshares minutes from lectures, the centre around the Mercado means beach, nightlife and a 25-minute commute. The UA's own housing board lists vetted offers alongside Idealista, and residences like Rector 3 start around 329 euros.

• Live in San Vicente for the cheapest rooms right next to campus, or centre-side for the full beach-city life.
• Start with the UA's own accommodation board, then Idealista; private residences begin around 329 euros.
• Ask every landlord about heating and windows; Alicante flats are built for summer, and winter nights bite.

The TRAM is the city's spine: line 2 links the centre to the university in about 25 minutes, while the coastal lines double as a beach shuttle to Playa de San Juan and beyond. Load a Mobilis card and let the youth pass cut costs. From the airport, the C6 bus reaches the centre in about 20 minutes for under 4 euros.

• Make tram line 2 your daily commute; the ride from the city centre to the campus takes about 25 minutes.
• Ride the coastal tram line up to Playa de San Juan whenever the city beach at the Postiguet crowds out.
• From the airport, the C6 bus reaches the city centre in roughly 20 minutes for a flat 3.85-euro fare.

The Universidad de Alicante concentrates everything on one big modern campus in San Vicente del Raspeig, palm-lined, self-contained and easy to navigate. The English-taught offer is real, over 200 subjects run entirely in English, alongside the Spanish core, and the sports service rents courts and courses at student prices few universities match. Plan the tram commute into your timetable.

• Check the list of 200-plus subjects taught entirely in English when building your learning agreement.
• Use the campus sports service early in the semester; its courses and facilities cost little and fill fast.

What you need depends entirely on your nationality. EU, EEA, and Swiss students need no visa; you just register for a NIE (foreigner ID number) if you stay long enough. Non-EU students staying over 90 days generally need a national student visa arranged at a Spanish consulate before arrival, then a TIE residency card once in Spain.

Start the visa process early, it's slow and document-heavy: proof of enrolment, funds, private health insurance, and often a criminal record check and medical certificate. Once in Spain, book your NIE/TIE appointment (cita previa) the moment you arrive, as slots vanish fast in big cities.

• EU/EEA/Swiss, no visa, just register for a NIE
• Non-EU over 90 days, student visa before arrival
• Get your TIE card within 30 days of landing
• Book the cita previa appointment immediately

Alicante takes rice as seriously as Valencia, arroz a banda leads a whole family of seafood rices, and claims turron, with Jijona just up the road. The Mercado Central feeds the flat-share pots, lunch runs 14:00-ish and dinner past 21:00, and the Explanada's palm-lined promenade hosts the evening walk. Castle views from Santa Barbara close the postcard.

• Order arroz a banda at lunchtime somewhere near the port; it is Alicante's own seafood answer to paella.
• Shop the Mercado Central for the weekly haul; its fish and produce halls beat any supermarket run easily.
• Climb or take the lift up to Santa Barbara castle early on; the bay view organises the whole city for you.

The centre splits between the Mercado and Ensanche blocks, practical and well priced, and the old Barrio, atmospheric but loud on weekends. Playa de San Juan offers beach-first living at tram distance, and San Vicente del Raspeig is its own student town beside the campus with the cheapest rooms.

• The Mercado and Ensanche blocks for the practical central base near the market, the tram and the nightlife.
• San Vicente del Raspeig for campus-side savings, student neighbours and a short walk to morning lectures.
• Playa de San Juan only if beach-first living genuinely justifies the longer tram ride to everything else.

Alicante-Elche airport is a genuine low-cost giant, with Ryanair alone serving around 89 destinations, so half of Europe works as a weekend. By rail, Madrid arrives from 7 euros on the low-cost high-speed trains and Valencia from about 17. Closer in, boats cross to Tabarca island and the coastal tram strings the beaches northward.

• Fly cheap from the airport's huge route map; with 89 Ryanair destinations, weekends often cost less than nights out.
• Ride the low-cost high-speed trains to Madrid from just 7 euros; Valencia by train starts near 17 euros.
• Take the boat out to Tabarca in season, Spain's smallest inhabited island, for a day of clear-water swimming.

The rookie mistake is packing only for summer: flats here skip insulation and heating, so winter nights indoors get properly cold, and warm layers matter. Respect the street rules too; police have little patience for drunk foreigners, so keep the party inside venues. And pick your side of the tram line before, not after, you sign a lease.

• Bring thick blankets or budget for buying them; uninsulated flats can make January colder inside than out.
• Keep the partying inside bars and clubs; public drunkenness draws real fines from distinctly unamused police.
• Decide campus-side or centre-side before signing anything; the tram ride shapes your whole semester.