Students gather under Porticoes in Bologna, home of the world’s oldest university (Picture: Alamy)

As the nation’s youth decamps to university, Christian Koch looks at top-of-the-class student cities. Cheap beer, thrift shops and hipster-spotting included…

BOLOGNA

The world’s oldest existing university, the University of Bologna (founded in 1088) has bequeathed the red-brick city with an 80,000-strong student populace (many seemingly dog-on-a-string crusty types) and Italy’s best gay scene.

Learn something: At Bologna’s Carpigiani ice-cream museum (www.gelatomuseum.com), visitors can taste historic flavours (an 1822 strawberry sorbet recipe, anyone?) and create their own gelato. Walk it off by clambering up 12th-century Asinelli Tower (Italy’s other leaning tower) or strolling Bologna’s 40km of arcaded porticoes.



Hangover-friendly grub: Bologna’s surrounding Emilia-Romagna region is considered Italy’s culinary heart, having spawned Parma ham, balsamic vinegar and, yes, spaghetti bolognese. However, you won’t find it on any menus. Instead, look for tagliatelle al ragù, best sampled at side-alley eateries.


Partying: The student-saturated Via del Pratello and Via Luigi Zamboni have some great birrerie and wine bars where you can sup Aperol spritzers without people thinking you’re guzzling Lucozade in a glass. Try Caffè Zamboni (www.caffezamboni.it).

Grant-blowing digs: 15th-century nunnery Convento Dei Fiori Di Seta has a wine bar and breakfast served in the altar. From £340 per night. www.silkflowersnunnery.com

Getting there: BA return from £154. www.ba.com

LEEDS

Thanks to three universities (University, Metropolitan and Trinity), Leeds has long been lauded as a youthful, energetic city. Visit buzzing student heartlands Hyde Park and Headingley to follow in the footsteps of alumni Chris Pine, Kaiser Chiefs and Mystic Meg.

Hangover-friendly grub: Edwardian boozer Whitelock’s (www.whitelocksleeds.com) is the oldest pub in Leeds, offering spruced-up Yorkshire fare including Sunday roasts and black pudding with pancetta.

Socialising with students: The Otley Run is a famous pub crawl. Starting in Headingley, it takes in 19 watering holes, including Woodies, where you can spin a wheel if you’re unsure what to drink.

Partying: Leeds Met’s student union apparently sells more beer than the Munich beer festival. Your sloshed-student-safari should also include arty bar Nation of Shopkeepers (www.anationofshopkeepers.com, door policy: ‘no pirates or Jeffreys’) and musty gig venue Brudenell Social Club (www.brudenellsocialclub.co.uk).

Grant-blowing digs: Riverside rooms at 42 The Calls come with their own fishing rods. From £70 a night. www.42thecalls.co.uk

Getting there: Train from London: East Coast return from £26. www.eastcoast.co.uk

Sample Yorkshire fare at the historic Whitelock’s pub in Leeds (Picture: Alamy)

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

Boston might be America’s ‘cradle of liberty’ but it can be slightly staid. A short subway ride away is boho Cambridge, home to academic big-hitters Harvard and the maverick Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Leafy Harvard Square teems with used bookstores (try Lorem Ipsum), coffee houses and bars, where you can eavesdrop on students who will either become presidents (Harvard has produced eight of them) or subjects of their own Social Network film.



At Central Square you’ll find nerdier MIT students, notorious for ‘experimental’ pranks like dropping pianos from sixth-floor buildings.

Learn something: MIT museum (web.mit.edu/museum) celebrates the institute’s innovative brainwaves. Exhibits include the ‘world’s first sociable robot’ and the genius behind teabag design.

Hangover-friendly grub: Brunch nirvana East Coast Grill (www.eastcoastgrill.net) has coconut-fried fish tacos and a make-your-own Bloody Mary bar.

Partying: ‘Nightclub-theatre’ The Donkey Show (www.americanrepertorytheater.org) hosts confetti-strewn extravaganzas in which actors-dancers embed themselves in the audience.

Grant-blowing digs: Hotel Veritas has art deco rooms. From £128 per night. www.thehotelveritas.com

Getting there: BA flights to Boston from £443. www.ba.com Cambridge is a 15-minute cab

ride away.

Hang out in the second-hand bookshops, coffee houses and bars of Harvard Square (Picture: Alamy)

NANTES

The Loire capital houses 51,000 students (one in two Nantais is under 40) who take over city bars on Thursday evenings. France’s ‘city of secrets’ is like an adult playground, where visitors could stumble upon ‘supermarket art’ (masterpieces tucked-away in frozen food aisles) or real-life wolves in the moat of the local château.

While students are lying-in: Check out Les Machines de l’Ile (www.lesmachines-nantes.fr), an island of monster machines where you can ride a giant mechanical elephant or an oversized squid on a 25m high carousel.

Hangover-friendly grub: Sunday mornings at Talensac market (www.marche-talensac.fr) feature early-rising pensioners mingling with fresh-from-the-clubs students, both quaffing local Muscadet and scoffing oysters.

Partying: Cultural centre Le Lieu Unique (www.lelieuunique.com) is based in a former biscuit factory and comprises bars, artist workshops, Friday-afternoon break-dancers and Foucault-reading students.


Grant-blowing digs: Villa Cheminée is a house perched atop an industrial chimney, designed by architect Tazu Nishi. Contact the tourist board to book. en.nantes-tourisme.com

Getting there: One-way easyJet flights from £33.99. www.easyjet.com

Les machines de l’Ile, an artistic project conceived by Francois Delaroziere and Pierre Orefice (Picture: Alamy)

GRONINGEN

As degrees get more expensive, British students are increasingly enrolling at Dutch seats of learning such as the University of Groningen, where fees and living costs are half what you’d pay in Britain. Groningen is a lively student city with pretty canals and gabled houses, a party-until-5am-nightlife plus enough bicycles to give Chris Hoy a migraine.

Socialising with students: Possibly Europe’s only January music festival, Eurosonic Noorderslag (festival.eurosonic-noorderslag.nl) is staged at indoor venues across Groningen. Previous festival acts include AlunaGeorge and Villagers.

Hangover-friendly grub: If you can’t face kill-or-cure hangover herring from the Fish Market, Groningen has a plethora of budget options including Mexican Four Rose’s and Chinese buffet Ni Hao.

Partying: Snug De Pintelier (www.pintelier.nl) has extensive Belgian beer and jenever (Dutch gin) lists while indie dive Vera (www.vera-groningen.nl) is legendary for hosting seminal Nirvana gigs.

Grant-blowing digs: The Schimmelpenninck Huys is near the market square. Rooms from £63 per night. www.schimmelpenninckhuys.nl

Getting there: Groningen is two hours north-east of Amsterdam. Return flights to Amsterdam from Gatwick, Southend, Luton and Stansted, from £64. Direct trains run every hour from Schiphol Airport, £22.

Spend a day among bicycles, cafes and bars in Groningen Grote Market (Picture: Alamy)

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