Third year student Olivia Paton gives the low-down on how to enjoy a nights out in Notts!
When arriving at the University of Nottingham, it is not only overwhelming attempting to navigate your way around the huge campus, but also the city itself. Freshers week will most likely be your first proper introduction to Nottingham nightlife; being picked up by the uni buses on the different club nights, you’ll soon find yourself becoming familiar with the dark streets that you squint at in confusion during the daylight (or is that just me?) Anyway, whatever you fancy doing on your night out, I’ve got you covered on some of the best clubs, restaurants and bars that I’ve come across during my two years at the university.
Download the Fatsoma app on your smartphone and sign yourself up
CLUBS
First off, download the Fatsoma app on your smartphone and sign yourself up; all the club tickets are available to buy on there. WARNING: Crisis tickets are basically a myth and sell out within seconds (how??), so you’ll most likely be buying your tickets from your friend’s cousin’s brother after Freshers finishes.
So, as you’ve gathered, Crisis Wednesdays (which are held at Rock City) are one of the most popular student nights out. Their Black Cherry lounge will definitely be your favourite if you’re into Rap and Grime and all the other rooms are pretty good whatever your music taste.
Next up: PRYZM – they hold student nights on Mondays and Tuesdays and have lots of different rooms; go downstairs to the cheese room if you wanna sing along to ‘Dancing Queen’.
Following this, the club Ink is huge and their most popular nights are on a Friday. It depends on what night you go out on, but Stealth is pretty grime in general but they also hold soul and ABBA nights too.
And lastly, Pom Pom: although it’s small in comparison to the other clubs, I really enjoyed my fair share of Pom Pom Thursdays during first year. Tip: it is best to go out on student nights, not on the weekend.
A cheeky Nandos can be found near Old Market Square tram stop
RESTAURANTS
For fast food, you can find the main chains in the centre of the city: Macdonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell and sadly… not KFC (I want to lodge a complaint, seriously.) I had some chips from the burger van next door to Crisis once and they were good. If you fancy some food, drink and a dance all in one, you can find Revolution, which is located at the Cornerhouse. For a fancier restaurant, try Mowgli Street Food, which specialise in Indian cuisine. For seriously good burgers, do not hesitate to go to Annie’s Burger Shack. And not to forget, a cheeky Nandos can be found near the Market Square tram stop.
For a classy night, head to The Hockley Arts Club
BARS
Want to go out, but not out out? There are some right hidden gems in Notts. Coco Tang is an underground bar and they do some really cool cocktails (have you seen the mean girls ‘Regina George’ one?!) Pepper Rocks is also tucked out of the way at Pepper Street (haha, ironic) – try the Mango Breeze drink; you won’t regret it. Das Kino is a chilled bar worth going to; you can ring up to book a ping pong table (it’s pretty funny/embarrassing accidentally aiming ping pong balls at strangers nearby.) The rooftop bar Alto is lovely and is located on level two inside the Cornerhouse. Equally, for a classy night, head to The Hockley Arts Club, which is a beautiful building found on the backstreets of Hockley. Go upstairs to the top floor the ‘Electric Garden’ and sip on your Gin and Tonic.
Use DG Taxis, a safe taxi service used by students
PRE-DRINKS (AKA PRINKS), TRAMS & TAXIS
It’s tempting to drink way too much before leaving the house because a) you’re a student now and you want to save money and b) there’s this uni culture of ‘go hard or go home’. But honestly, you won’t even have the chance of going home if you drink too heavy and can’t even make it out of your door. As for getting to and from the city, I recommend either the tram (beware that no trams run after midnight) or using DG Taxis, which is a safe taxi service used by students. You can download the DG Cars App on your smart phone or you can ring them on 0115 950 0500 to book a cab.
So, these are my tips for a good Nottingham Night Out – I hope all this information helps you in finding your feet during your first year at the University of Nottingham. Enjoy Freshers Week and make the most of getting to know Nottingham!
Olivia Paton
Featured image courtesy of Mark Michaelis via Flickr. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
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