Hotels in Bologna, Italy. Hotel booking in Bologna from ahotelinitaly.com

According the Mao Zedong 'the East is Red' but in Italy make that the North. Bologna, the comfortable, intellectual, and very well fed capital of the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, is also the spiritual home of Communism in Italy. Mind you, it's also arguably the gourmet capital of Italy too ... though every region will sing its own merits. Hence the various nicknames appended to the city: Bologna La Rossa, and Bologna La Grassa: Bologna the Red and Bologna The Fat. For good measure, this lovely city is also known as Bologna La Dotta or Bologna the Learned, courtesy of its famed and very old university. Founded in 1088 it is the oldest existing university in the world - Oxford and Cambridge mere striplings by comparison.

And Bologna is a very old town. Probably founded by the Etruscans, the pre-Roman civilisation which gave its name to Tuscany, it occupies a strategically vital position between the River Po and the Apennine mountains. By the late medieval period Bologna was a powerful trading power as well as a seat of learning. The money that poured into the city built one of the most beautiful towns of medieval Europe, and much of that remains. The city has fine churches, but probably the best-known architectural feature of the city is 'the porticoes', some 37km of arcades that run around the city. Rain or shine, you can walk the streets of Bologna protected from the elements, beneath the porticoes.

Unsurprisingly you'll find superb restaurants and some very hip bars. Bologna is a marvellous place to spend a long weekend, though you may have to let the belt out a notch on your return home.

To the left you'll find a selection of Bologna hotels, just to whet your appetite. See also Bologna hotels (full listings) and our Bologna hotel map.