Pamplona.

With two universities and a big student share, Pamplona has a lively but manageable scene centred on the pintxo bars of the Casco Viejo and the Ensanche. The whole year builds towards San Fermin in July, nine days of red-and-white, dawn encierros and non-stop street parties, but the poteo bar-hop is a weekly ritual regardless. The University of Navarra's international intake keeps the crowd diverse.

• Do the poteo around the Casco Viejo and Calle San Nicolas, a pintxo and a small drink per bar.
• If you are here in early July, live San Fermin properly: wear the red-and-white, and watch, do not run, the encierro your first time.
• Ask the Pamplona group on Studcasa where the UNAV and UPNA crowds go out midweek.

Pamplona is mid-range and good value, especially given local incomes: budget 750 to 1,050 euros a month. Rooms are cheaper than on the Basque coast, the compact city needs little transport spend, and Navarra's pintxos and rose wines are affordable. The one exception is San Fermin week, when prices spike and the city fills up.

• A shared-flat room runs 300 to 450 euros a month, with Iturrama a good-value student area.
• The walkable centre means you can skip a transport pass; buy a card for the Villavesa buses only if you live further out.
• Avoid signing a lease over San Fermin in early July, when short-term prices are inflated.

Rooms in Pamplona are affordable and reasonably easy to find, particularly in the student district of Iturrama near the universities and in the Ensanche. Look on Idealista and local Facebook groups for a piso compartido. As a small, safe market there is less scam pressure than in the big cities, but still view in person before handing over a deposit.

• Search Idealista and 'Pisos Pamplona' groups; Iturrama and the Ensanche are the student-friendly areas.
• Choose Iturrama or Mendebaldea for proximity to the universities, or the Casco Viejo to be in the nightlife.
• View before you pay, and do not commit to anything during San Fermin, when the market is distorted.

Pamplona is small and flat enough to walk or cycle almost everywhere, with the Villavesa city buses covering the wider area and the suburbs. The nbici bike-share and a good cycle network make two wheels the natural choice. Regional buses and trains link you to San Sebastian, the Pyrenees and beyond.

• Walk or cycle the compact centre; the nbici bike-share and flat streets make it easy.
• Use the Villavesa buses if you live in the outer neighbourhoods or nearby Baranain.
• Regional buses like La Estellesa and Conda, and the trains, reach San Sebastian, Zaragoza and the Pyrenean valleys.

Pamplona has two universities: the private University of Navarra (UNAV), one of Spain's most prestigious, particularly for medicine, communication and its business school, with a leafy campus and a large international cohort; and the public Universidad Publica de Navarra (UPNA). Both sit close together on the south-western edge of the centre. Registration and learning agreements run through each university's own system.

• Confirm which university you are exchanging to, as UNAV and UPNA have separate campuses and systems, though they sit side by side.
• The UNAV library is excellent and open long hours; UPNA's is a quieter alternative in exam season.

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

Navarrese food blends Basque pintxo culture with the produce of the Ebro valley: chistorra sausage, tender piquillo peppers, prized white asparagus and lamb cooked al chilindron, all matched with Navarra's excellent rose wines and pacharan, the local sloe liqueur, as a digestif. The bars of Calle San Nicolas and the Plaza del Castillo are the stage for it all.

• Bar-hop Calle San Nicolas and Calle Estafeta for pintxos, and try the local chistorra and piquillo peppers.
• Order a glass of Navarra rosado, the region's signature rose, and finish a meal with a pacharan.
• Have a coffee in the Cafe Iruna on the Plaza del Castillo, Hemingway's old haunt.

The walled Casco Viejo is the historic heart and the epicentre of San Fermin, packed with pintxo bars along Calle Estafeta; the Ensanche is the elegant early-20th-century grid with the best shops and cafes; and Iturrama is the practical, affordable student district near the universities. The whole city is small enough to live centrally on a budget.

• Iturrama for affordable rooms next to the universities.
• The Casco Viejo to be in the historic heart and the middle of the nightlife.
• The Ensanche for elegant, central streets a short walk from campus.

Pamplona sits at a crossroads of northern Spain. San Sebastian and the Basque coast are an hour away, the surreal Bardenas Reales semi-desert an hour south, and the Pyrenees of Roncesvalles and the Irati forest within easy reach. As a stop on the Camino de Santiago's French Way, it is also a natural base for weekend stretches of the pilgrimage.

• Day-trip to the Bardenas Reales badlands, a Mars-like semi-desert about an hour south.
• Take the bus to San Sebastian (1h) for the coast, or head into the Pyrenees and the Irati forest.
• Walk a weekend stage of the Camino de Santiago, which passes straight through the old town.

Pamplona is green and cool by Spanish standards, so pack for rain and proper winters, not just sun. San Fermin is extraordinary but chaotic and pricey, so plan around it, and if you watch the encierro, do so from a safe spot behind the barriers your first time. Basque and Navarrese identity runs deep, so a little curiosity about local culture goes a long way.

• Pack warm and waterproof layers, since Pamplona is wetter and cooler than southern Spain.
• During San Fermin, watch the bull run from behind the barriers before ever considering running; injuries are common.
• Show interest in local Navarrese and Basque traditions; it earns you a warm welcome.