Best way to run a Linux VM(s) on intel MacOS?

My daughter is starting a college computing course next month and has been told they will be using linux.

She has a fairly recent, last 5yrs or less I think, intel macbook but knows nothing about linux or vm's.

I advised her to install Ubuntu in a VM when she asked about it, she asked how to do this. Initial thought is Virtualbox but I've not used MacOS since well before it became MacOS nor used VirtualBox in many years, have heard of new shiny new things like UTM, Parallels & VMWare.

Is it a reasonable suggestion to just use VirtualBox? Is there a better option?

Bit of a dad moment; "Just install Linux and then I can help you", "But how do I install Linux dad?"