Nottingham Attractions - Things To Do In Nottingham

Where is Nottingham?

Nottingham is located in the East Midlands region of England.

Nottingham lies 48 miles (77km) south of Lincoln, 43 miles (69km) north-west of London, 24 miles (39km) west of Sheffield and 14 miles (23km) south-west of Doncaster.

How many people live in Nottingham?

Nottingham, a city of around 300,000 people.

How big is Nottingham?

Nottingham covers an area of just five square miles (13km squared). Most famous for being home to Nottingham Trent University, which has been named the top university in the country for student experience nine times since 2009, Nottingham can be seen as a very green and friendly city with lots going on. The surrounding scenery also makes Nottingham into a very picturesque city that many enjoy visiting or living in.

How far to Nottingham?

Nottingham is about 20 miles south of Derby and 29 miles north of Leicester and has a population of around 275,000 people.

How to get there by bus or train

The city's central bus station is located near the Broadmarsh shopping complex. There are many services running through the city centre with the most notable being: Nottingham City Transport, Trent Barton Buses, Arriva Fox County Buses, Stagecoach in Mansfield Buses & High Peak Buses. It is possible to get to most places within Nottingham by public transport but it isn't recommended if you are looking for somewhere fast as there are severe delays during peak times on most services. The main train station is situated in Station Road West just off  the southern edge of The Meadows. There are frequent trains running between Nottingham and Leicester, Derby, Sheffield, Leeds and London St Pancras International .

The main bus station is just off the south side of the broadmarsh shopping mall . It's actually underground so you will need to take a few flights of stairs down! Well worth using if you arrive at night as buses go from there all night long while there isn't any train service after about 11:30.

What to do and see in Nottingham

Nottingham is a truly beautiful and well-renowned city. It's situated in England and has many things to offer, such as:

Many tourist attractions! Museums: Wollaton Hall and Nottingham castle The oldest working cinema in England, the Broadway Cinema Art galleries Cinemas Nightclubs Restaurants Parks Concert venues Bars Clubs Incredible shopping  opportunities

The 'Old Market Square' is the hub of the city. Here, people can play chess at one of many boards or even enjoy a game of basketball with friends! Shopaholics can spend hours in this square covered by high street shops, boutiques and cafes galore! Both locals and visitors alike will find something they like here for sure! The surrounding roads are also filled with amazing restaurants offering every cuisine imaginable. Walking through this area, you'll be surrounded by beautiful old architecture which adds to the charm associated with Nottingham. It's truly a wonderful place to be!

Nottingham Parks

Nottingham has a landscape that varies from rolling hills and dense woodlands through to open countryside and natural parks, this attracts many walkers and cyclists alike. Whether its cycling down the river on The Forest cycleway taking in everything around you or walking through Sherwood forest to see the real home of Robin Hood. If you want peace and tranquility then where better than Lenton Abbey because not only do they have a beautiful building that holds such history but also a peaceful relaxing garden.Nottingham has several parks spread throughout its boundaries so there's bound to be one near you if not your house. One such park is Wollaton Park which is home to a deer park and also to the famous Wollaton Hall. This hall has been used in many productions such as Shakespeare's Henry VIII, The Dark Knight Rises and television shows such as Doctor Who. It was even used for the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics! If you're looking for something more lively, Nottingham Forest Park hosts regular events throughout much of the year so there's always something going on no matter what time or time of year it is! If you fancy a change from this busy city there are a variety of places surrounding Nottingham that can be visited either by car or train. There's an abundance of countryside surrounding Nottingham including Sherwood forest which is famous for being home to folklore hero Robin Hood. Or why not visit the National Ice Centre which hosts ice sports throughout much of the year!

The city centre itself is lively no matter when you visit. With regular buskers, street performers and performances in the old Market square there's always something different to see. And if shopping is your thing there are plenty of shops to be found along Bridlesmith bar and Victoria street with large chains such as Topshop, New Look and Debenhams well represented.

Nottingham Hotels

For anyone looking for a place to stay in Nottingham while they visit there are plenty of hotels around the city centre taking up many high streets within easy reach of all that Nottingham has to offer! So whether you want nightlife or somewhere quieter Nottingham has it all. As well  as hotels Nottingham has a range of guest houses and bed & breakfasts to choose from.

For those who love sport and exercise, there is also the opportunity to do so in style at the National Ice Centre, an indoor ice rink situated within the heart of the city centre! And for those looking to take up sports themselves then you might want to look into joining one of Nottingham's many sports clubs or teams such as Nottingham Rowing Club which has been going since 1870.

Theatres In Nottingham

Nottingham also offers any student wanting a bit of culture somewhere to go with its huge selection of different venues including The Theatre Royal home to several famous plays over the years – appearing on stage here have included Robert Powell as Jesus in passion, Richard Harris as Professor  Snape in Harry Potter and Peter O Toole in Waiting for Godot.

Nightlife in Nottingham

Nottingham also has a huge selection of bars, pubs and clubs some more relaxed than others with places like The Salutation on Angel Row catering to the more laid back atmosphere while Rock City just down the road offers what many describe as Nottingham's best rock music! Then there are plenty of other places that cater for all tastes you can find people at alternative venues such as Rock City playing acoustics songs on Monday nights or partying away the weekend at Stealth Club which has 3 rooms offering different types of electronic dance music including trance, house and drum n bass…the list goes on. For those looking to take it easy, why not pop into one  of the many bars and enjoy a quiet drink or two, you can either go to any of the bars in The Lace Market area where they offer cheap drinks during happy hour. Or if you're looking for something different why not check out some of Nottingham's night club's like Gatecrasher which offers house music or Vision which has trance nights…again there are plenty to choose from. Then for those that want to party all night long then Club Fusion Who is probably one of Nottingham's best clubs offering different dance music each weekend including drum n bass, techno and commercial.

Sports Venues in Nottingham

For all you sports lovers there's always something on in Nottingham. You can try your hand at Rally Driving at Castellolive, take in a game of football, Rugby League or Cricket. It is also home to the world famous Trent Bridge cricket ground which hosts international tests as well as county fixtures.

If you like to try something exciting, why not take a trip to Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre to try out the Zero Gravity Simulator for those white knuckle rides at an affordable price! For those amongst us who love shopping there are plenty of sports shoe shops in Nottingham such as CCC where you can get your gripping and walking shoes and whatever else you may need.

Nottingham Forest and Notts County Football

Nottingham has two professional football teams, Nottingham Forest and Notts County. Both were once among the most successful English football clubs but they have since fallen out of favour. 

Nottingham Zoo

For those who love animals we mustn't forget about Nottingham's zoo in West Bridgford which is located in Colwick Country Park, this has over 2000 animals and covers 193 hectares. It brings together some of the finest examples of different animal habitats and provides a wide range of educational opportunities for children and adults alike.

So you can see there is plenty to do in Nottingham if you're looking for culture, food shopping and country parks, don't miss out on what Nottingham can offer.

Nottingham Universities

There are five universities all within walking distance to each other in the city of Nottingham. The two older, world-renowned research institutions are the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University. These two universities have a combined student population numbering over 100,000 students.

The other three universities include De Montfort University, University of Nottingham Science Park - Notts, and The University of Law. These three 'younger' universities not only benefit from their close proximity with one another but also from being right next to the main hub for higher education with the buildings consisting mostly of modern architecture with plenty of open spaces. All campuses can be easily accessed by bike or foot making them a very sustainable choice for students with a larger carbon footprint than most other cities across Britain.

Nottingham Castle

Nottingham Castle is a castle in Nottingham, England. The original castle was a wooden motte-and-bailey structure built in the 11th century by William the Conqueror on an island formed by two tributaries of the River Trent. In the 14th century, a stone tower was constructed which survived until it was demolished in  1649. The site was then turned into a purpose-built county jail which helped make Nottingham one of England's most important towns. After 1715, when the Jacobite rebellion was quashed, the castle ceased to be used as a prison and fell into disrepair. It lay mostly unused until 1805 when buildings within the castle walls were converted into a Gothic-style county prison. In 1848, a new prison was built on the site of the original castle bailey, and the medieval buildings were destroyed to make room for it. In July 2010, work began to convert parts of the inner ward into a heritage attraction in order that visitors could again visit some of the castle's rooms and grounds.

Nottingham Architecture

Nottingham is known for having a split personality when it comes to its buildings! Half are historic buildings with wonderful architectural details, including medieval half-timbered houses and Georgian townhouses. The other side of Nottingham's buildings is concrete structures built in brutalist architecture style during the post-World War II era. One famous example is "Broadmarsh Shopping Centre."  It seems that everywhere you turn in Nottingham has something different to offer!

Transport in Nottingham

Nottingham is very well served by transport. The main forms of Nottingham transport are as follows:

The bus network in Nottingham is comprehensive and well-used. In fact, buses now make up the majority share of all public transport journeys within the city.  In 2014/15 there were over 61 million bus passenger journeys in Nottingham, a figure which has been increasing year-on-year since 2000/01. Most services pass through the Broadmarsh Bus Station, a part of the Broadmarsh Shopping Centre close to Nottingham railway station. There can be long queues for buses here at peak times and delays due to traffic congestion are common during rush hours. Buses from Broadmarsh serve several stops on Canal Street, close to Nottingham Express Transit (NET) and the Victoria Centre. There are also buses to nearby towns and villages such as Bingham, Sneinton, Beeston and Stapleford.

Buses that serve Trent Bridge (for example, service 24 from Wollaton Park) stop on Pelham Street near the University of Nottingham's Jubilee Campus.  Many services provide direct connections with other major cities such as Birmingham, Sheffield and Leicester. The green Trent Barton service 85 stops outside the National Ice Centre and provides a link to Mansfield and Derby. There is even an express bus to London which takes approximately four hours; this departs hourly during weekdays but only has two departures per day at weekends.

Route numbers usually start with  "1" and with buses that serve the city centre, they often terminate at The Exchange in Market Square.  The only exception to this is the University of Nottingham Hopper buses, 1H and 1L. These operate on a circular route around the Jubilee Campus, which hosts many academic departments affiliated with science and engineering disciplines.

There are many other bus routes that serve Nottinghamshire.  Nottingham City Transport runs service to Clifton via Sherwood through route 53 , whilst Trent Barton runs service to East Midlands Airport via West Bridgford, Bingham and Carlton-on-Trent through route 1.  There are also express services from Stapleford or Beeston running to Sutton-in-Ashfield, Hucknall and Arnold through route 25. 

There are also services that both companies run to Beeston via Wollaton, providing links around the University of Nottingham campus.

The city centre is served by three tram lines; line 1 running from Chilwell to the Queen's Medical Centre, line 2 running from Hucknall to Phoenix Park via Old Market Square, line 3 running from Beeston to Wilford Lane via Clifton.  All these routes serve stops on Bridgeway Street at different intervals. The trams operate all day with frequencies varying between every 7 and 12 minutes depending on the time of day.

Nottingham Airports

Nottingham is served by East Midlands airport which offers regular flights around Europe. The airport also has a shuttle bus to the train station where you can catch a train into Nottingham city center.

There is also the smaller Donington park airfield which offers very limited flights. It mainly caters to small business jets, but it has a lot of private planes and helicopters based there. The advantage of this airport is that if you are flying in late at night, it will be a quiet place to land - not many people around. There is no public transport to get you home once you land, though.

Nottingham City Airport

Nottingham City Airport is designed for internal flights within the UK. There are daily flights to Dorset, Belfast, Jersey and the Highlands of Scotland. The aircraft mainly use East Midlands airport as their route. However, if there is bad weather or anything unusual happening at the main airport it will divert to Nottingham City Airport. It has a very short runway so it cannot handle large planes, but they have no issue with small ones... which are far more common anyway! The advantage of this airport is that you might be able to avoid flying into busy airports with all their rules and regulations - you can always find a quiet spot somewhere on one of these smaller airstrips!

Nottingham Council

The council of Nottingham is one of the five borough councils of the city. The council has 12 constituencies that are led by their respective councillors, with each constituency (or electoral district) having one councillor per 100 voters on average. Each councillor serves for a period of 4 years. Some constituencies within the council are represented by only one councillor due to a particularly small electorate. If you would like further information about Nottingham council activities or need to contact a specific department in the area, here is their website link, https://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/