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Hello everyone. My name is Nana-Yaw and I’m a third-year Architecture student studying
at the University of Nottingham, and today we’re going to be talking about alternative
nights out and different activities you can do in and around Nottingham.
So first thing I want to mention, I’m going to be talking about some of the activities
that I personally know about, but there’s loads of different kinds of activities in
and around the city for all different kinds of interests.
So one of the things that I love to do is to go out for food. I like to go out to different
restaurants, try out different cuisine and there’s load of different places in Nottingham
to do that.
There’s Cosmo, which is a continental buffet, Las Iguanas, Nando’s of course, Taco Bell,
Pudding Pantry, Heavenly Desserts, bars like Slug and Lettuce, Revolution. Plenty of student
friendly pubs and Wetherspoons all around. There’s a Kitty Café which I personally haven’t
been to but it’s a café but with kittens. Who doesn’t love that?
Annie’s Burger Shack. How could I forget? If you come to Nottingham, make sure you go
there. They do all kinds of different food options. They have vegan alternatives to every
single one of their burgers so I highly recommend.
I recommend checking out the Nottingham Street Food Court. They have loads of different options
from Korean to American style fries to waffles and other desserts. And they’re independently
run so they’re like little pop-up stalls, and it’s just really cool to go there and
see the different options that they have each week. So yeah, those are a few of the ones
I’ve been to but there are many, many more.
If you’re a film lover, we have loads of different cinemas and theatres around. There’s
Cineworld, Showcase, Savoy, which is a student friendly cinema that has really cheap tickets
for all of the students. And it’s located in Lenton, so if you’re living around Lenton
in second and third year it’s just down the street. There’s IMAX and Broadway Cinema
as well.
If you’re interested in doing something more physical that would get your adrenaline
going then there’s Planet Bounce. You can go bowling, there’s Nottingham Laser Tag
Arena, you can go ice skating at Motorpoint Arena. If you want to go paintballing, I can
recommend Delta Force, which I have been to. It’s just outside of Nottingham around Derby
but there’s also Go Ballistic and Nationwide which are a bit closer to Nottingham.
Escape rooms are another thing that I didn’t know about until I came to Nottingham. And
these are like, kind of, they’re like puzzle simulations. So you’re put into a room and
you have a limited amount of time to try and escape from the rooms. And it kind of just
gets you thinking and gets your brain going. And sometimes you have to do something physical
or sometimes it’s more of like a brain teaser. They have different themes as well, so it
could be a toy shop, an abandoned science lab, a butcher’s. If you’re looking
for something a bit more chilled out, then you could go indoor golfing in the city centre.
If you’re really into drama then I’d also recommend checking out the Theatre Royal.
They have different kinds of concerts and productions that they put on and it’s a
really nice experience if you’re interested in that.
If you’re into your music then luckily for you Nottingham is home to Motorpoint Arena,
which attracts all different kinds of artists and musicians to Nottingham. There’s also
Rock City which I was supposed to see Lewis Capaldi at before Ms Rona happened.
And of course, there’s still all the typical tourist activities that you can take part
in. You can visit the Castle go and see the caves, visit Wollaton Park, Sherwood Forest,
the Attenborough Reserve.
And one of the really cool things about Nottingham as a city is that they put on different activities
in the Market Square depending on what time of the year we’re in. So at Christmas
there’s Winter Wonderland, there’s a food market around springtime. During the summer
they create a beach and put on different fun fair activities and stuff like that so it’s
almost like you’re in a seaside town.
In terms of cost, I’m quite cheap as a person so I wouldn’t be going to any of these places
if they were too expensive. So the majority of them are affordable within reason as long
as you’re regulating yourself. Just make sure you’re checking your bank balance before
you go out and go to a bar and a restaurant and go to the theatres, but generally it’s
quite affordable and student friendly.
So I hope that gives you a brief breakdown into some of the different activities that
we have in Nottingham. Of course, there are many many more. Some I don’t even know
about that you might come across during your experience at university. So make sure your
make the most of your time and experience as many of these and make as many memories
as possible.