May 19, 2014, by International students
What’s the best thing about living in Nottingham? Part one: the place
We asked our EU and international students, what’s the best thing about living in Nottingham? Here is what they told us:
City life
Market Square
Our students described Nottingham as a city with a huge number of things to see and do, which provided everything they needed for their day-to-day lives, but small enough to get around easily. As Hasan put it, “The city is so small, but it’s perfect! By being small, everything is so proximate.” Anastasios described the city as a “compact urban core with all shops, restaurants located close to each other.”
As for nightlife, our EU and international students loved the wide variety of venues that the city has to offer. In 2016 Nottingham was named one of the best and safest places for a night out in the UK. It retained its Purple Flag award for the seventh consecutive year, an accolade that recognises excellence in the running of town and city centres at night. Alessia said “I love the bars and clubs, it’s the best place for a night out!” Mara praised the city’s buzzing music scene, saying “I love that there is an opportunity every single night to see live music.” Crystal listed her favourite things as “Great outdoors, great nightlife, shopping heaven, fascinating history, attractive range of foods, busy arts and music culture. Nottingham’s got it all and it is an ideal place to stay and study.”
Beautiful green areas
Wollaton Hall and Park
Many of our students told us that their favourite thing about living in Nottingham was the beautiful green open spaces. Andrea said “I think one of the best things about living in Nottingham is all the beautiful green areas! The University Park Campus is full of beautiful gardens and then there is Wollaton Park very near to the uni! I also love that cycling is around is very easy and that makes enjoying all the green areas easier.” Sui Lun said “Living in Nottingham is fun and vibrant, with an awesome nightlife and beautiful parks (University Campus and Wollaton Park). It’s like city life and countryside put together!” If you need to take time away from busy student life, Nottingham offers a lot of quiet spots for relaxation. ‘Serene’ and ‘peaceful’ were two of the words most commonly used to describe Nottingham. Kwasi said “The whole of Nottingham is sooo peaceful”.
Affordable cost of living
Students trying on shoes in one of Nottingham’s vintage boutiques
It’s not much fun living in a city full of great restaurants and shops if you can’t afford to spend any money, but our students told us that they found living in Nottingham to be very affordable. Andrea said “It is cheap! As a student, you can live more comfortably here than in many other UK cities.”
Location for travel
Enjoying the views in nearby Matlock Bath
Located right in the centre of England, Nottingham is in the perfect spot for travelling to the rest of the UK. Nottingham is less than two hours travel from London, with excellent transport links to the capital and the rest of the UK. East Midlands Airport, one of the UK’s fastest growing airports, is only 40 minutes from the city centre via a 24-hour bus service. Frequent rail services run from Nottingham to major UK cities, including London every 30 minutes, and the completion of the Eurostar connection at St Pancras International means that passengers are only a few hours train journey from Paris. As Erin explained, “It’s conveniently located in a central spot, so it’s easy to travel around the UK with Nottingham as a starting point.”
Why not tell us what you love about Nottingham by posting a comment below, or on our Facebook page?
English
[…] Read part one of this article here. […]