Malaga.

Student life clusters around the Teatinos campus district and spills onto the beaches and into the centre's tapas bars. The eastern fishing neighbourhoods of Pedregalejo and El Palo are the go-to for beachfront chiringuitos, while Soho and the old town cover nightlife. The Feria de Malaga in August is a week-long street party, and the mild climate means beach season stretches deep into term.

• Head to the chiringuitos of Pedregalejo and El Palo for beers by the beach and grilled sardine skewers.
• Ask the Malaga group on Studcasa where the Teatinos student bars and best beach spots are.
• If you are around in August, dive into the Feria de Malaga: daytime in the centre, nights at the Cortijo de Torres fairground.

Malaga is mid-range for Spain and cheaper than Madrid or Barcelona: budget 750 to 1,100 euros a month. Rooms are reasonable, especially out by the Teatinos campus, and the beach, the parks and the free opening hours at some museums keep entertainment cheap. Chiringuito fish and tapas are good value if you avoid the most touristy stretches of the port.

• A shared-flat room runs 350 to 500 euros a month, better value in Teatinos and El Palo than the Centro Historico.
• Get a student travel card for the EMT buses and metro; the beach and centre are otherwise walkable.
• Eat espetos and pescaito at neighbourhood chiringuitos in El Palo rather than the pricier port-side spots.

Rooms in Malaga are easier to find than on the pricier Costa or in the big cities, though the university district fills up before term. Search Idealista and local Facebook groups for a piso compartido, focusing on Teatinos if you want to be near campus or the centre and El Palo if you want the beach. View before paying and beware holiday-let scams.

• Search Idealista and 'Pisos compartidos Malaga' groups; Teatinos is the student-heavy zone near the university.
• Choose Teatinos for campus proximity, or the Centro and El Palo for beach and nightlife.
• Avoid wiring deposits to unseen landlords, as short-term holiday scams are common on the coast.

Malaga is walkable in the centre and along the seafront promenade, with EMT buses and a two-line metro covering the wider city and the Teatinos campus. Cercanias trains run west to the airport and the resort towns of the Costa del Sol. It is flat and increasingly bike-friendly, with MalagaBici stations across town.

• Take the metro lines 1 and 2 out to the Teatinos university district, and EMT buses everywhere else.
• The cercanias C1 line runs to the airport and along the coast to Fuengirola in about 45 minutes.
• Use MalagaBici or just walk the flat, pedestrianised centre and the beachfront paseo.

The University of Malaga (UMA) is a modern, fast-growing public university spread mainly across two campuses, El Ejido near the centre and the larger Teatinos to the west, with well-regarded tourism, telecommunications and business schools and a big international-student intake. It runs plenty of English-taught courses and Spanish-language options for exchange students. Enrolment is handled through the UMA online portal.

• Most faculties are at Teatinos, so check your campus before choosing where to live.
• UMA offers Spanish courses and some English-taught modules for exchange students, so sort your learning agreement early.

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

Malaga's food is coastal and unpretentious: espetos de sardinas, sardines skewered and grilled over driftwood fires on the beach, pescaito frito and fresh boquerones anchovies, so local that malaguenos are nicknamed after them. Cool off with ajoblanco, a chilled almond-and-garlic soup, and finish with the region's sweet Malaga wine, poured from the barrels of the century-old Antigua Casa de Guardia.

• Eat espetos straight off the beach fire at an El Palo or Pedregalejo chiringuito, best from May to September.
• Buy fish and produce, and grab a tapa, at the stained-glass Mercado Central de Atarazanas.
• Sip sweet Malaga wine at Antigua Casa de Guardia, the city's oldest bodega, standing at the barrel.

The Centro Historico is the pretty, walkable core around the cathedral and Picasso Museum; Soho between the centre and the port is the arty, muralled district; La Malagueta is the beach right by the centre; and Pedregalejo and El Palo to the east are relaxed former fishing quarters with the best beach life. Teatinos in the west is the modern student zone by the campus.

• Teatinos for affordable rooms next to the university and a young crowd.
• El Palo or Pedregalejo for a laid-back beach life a little out of the centre.
• The Centro Historico or Soho to be walkable to museums, tapas and nightlife.

Malaga is the gateway to the Costa del Sol and inland Andalusia. The cliff-top Caminito del Rey gorge walk is an hour away, dramatic Ronda 1.5 to 2 hours, and Granada, Cordoba and Seville are all easy day or weekend trips by bus or AVE. Whitewashed villages like Frigiliana and the beaches of Nerja and Marbella line the coast.

• Book ahead for the Caminito del Rey clifftop walk near El Chorro, about an hour away by train.
• Take the AVE to Cordoba (1h) or Seville (2h), or the bus to Granada (1.5h) for the Alhambra.
• Day-trip along the coast to Nerja and the white village of Frigiliana, or up to clifftop Ronda.

Malaga's beach-city vibe is deceptively easy, but a few things help. The sun is strong nearly year-round, so beach kit and suncream are term-time essentials, not just summer ones. The centre gets rammed with tourists and cruise crowds, so living and eating a little way out means better prices and atmosphere. And learn to read the chiringuito rhythm, where lunch is the main event.

• Treat the beach as a year-round amenity, since even winters are mild and sunny.
• Eat and drink a few streets back from the port and cathedral to dodge tourist prices.
• For the best-value fish, follow the locals east to El Palo rather than the central seafront.