Italy

Full of students

Bologna is famous for it’s smoky red buildings and is known as ‘Red Bologna’ not only for its architecture but also its tendency towards extreme left wing politics.

The politics is partly accounted for by being one of the largest university towns in the country with around 100,000 of the 500,000 inhabitants studying here. It’s alive, happening and full of students from all around Italy lying to their parents on the phone each evening about what they’re getting up to.

There's a reason they call it 'Red Bologna' (http://www.flickr.com/photos/leeppolis/)

The town itself is a little oppressive as although there are a few cool piazzas where the students hang out to drink a bottle of wine in the evening, the rest of the town is made up of endless arcades that don’t let you see the sky as you walk along. You can escape to one of the parks or the nearby hills though.

Because of the high student population and the shortage of accommodation it’s common to pay 300 euros just to share a room with someone. It’s a great place to live otherwise though with happening nightlife and loads of courses to study.

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