Exeter, UK – green, studenty, Southern, small, village-like

Exeter can look very white, middle-class and even sleepy – but wait until the term starts and the city becomes a lively and studenty place with lots of things going on. It’s big enough to have everything you might need: shops, clubs, services and facilities, several train stations, and a (tiny) airport. But at the same time it’s small enough to make you feel at home quite easily, plus you can walk almost everywhere. It's very green, so much so that when my parents visited, they thought it was very “rural” and said hi to everyone in the street… 

Winter is quite mild and springtime is truly glorious. It might not be as cheap as other university towns, but not as posh as it looks either. Also, there are lots of international students, so many that you could spend a whole year without speaking a word of English outside lectures. Which incidentally means there’s a good chance of finding someone to practice your language skills with.