As a girl from a small, invisible town on the edge of south England, making the transition from my hometown to a major city (almost four hours away) was my biggest concern. My mind, rather than being primarily focused on making friends, settling into an academic schedule, coping with the uni workload et cetera, was instead majorly occupied with not knowing my way around the city. I don’t mean knowing where the best food places are, or the most scenic route to take to the “niche-est” picnic spot – I mean knowing where NOT to go. Unfamiliarity is a scary thing.
But, after a few weeks of exploration, I found myself content with occupying a city; which I honestly didn’t expect. My knowledge of Nottingham is far from extensive, and I haven’t yet been to all the places that interest me, but four of the locations I’ve visited have had an amazing impact on curing my homesickness and my city-life paranoia.Â
If you’ve been putting off paying these spots a visit, I promise they are very worthwhile!
- Highfields Park Lake (the loop walk) – NG7 2RD
This probably seems like the most obvious and generic suggestion I could’ve put out there, but already this place brings with it a sense of comfort. It’s the kind of place you wouldn’t expect to find in a bustling city, which was a pleasant surprise; I took one walk around the lake during freshers week, and knew I’d want to come back whenever I felt like I needed a break from academics.Â
The west side of the lake is by far my favourite side. It reminds me very much of the quaint, public park back home, and was the first place that came to mind when asked to complete a poetry task as part of my creative writing module: we had to go to a public place, write down everything the five senses picked up in ten minutes, and condense this into a small poem. Needless to say, the peaceful environment‒ with the stepping stones across the water and the mini waterfall‒ made it an easy task to complete.Â
- Victoria Centre – NG1 3NE
If you haven’t already visited the shopping centre, I would honestly be surprised (and slightly jealous of your financial self-control). My hometown doesn’t have a shopping centre, but being in a place like this reminded me of getting on the train to nearby cities for the day, just to splurge at Urban, Waterstones, Hollister… so on and so forth (and a cheeky Wingstop trip if we were feeling greedy, which was more often than not).Â
This shopping centre in particular has two floors, and the only downside to this place is that, despite having every other shop you can possibly think of, there is heartbreakingly NO Hollister. There was a red and purple striped Henley that was calling my name, but it doesn’t sell online (I snatched it up on Vinted, though).
As well as the inside, there are plenty of places to shop surrounding the mall as well, including vintage charity shops as well as bigger chains such as Zara. I managed to snag a gorgeously beaded vintage dress from Glass Onion, so I heavily recommend it! It feels illegal not to mention the four-floor Waterstones (cafe included) just five minutes down the road. Walking into this familiar bookstore always feels like a huge sigh of relief.
- Wollaton Hall & Deer Park – NG8 2AE
I put off taking a walk here until about two weeks ago, but I’m glad I waited‒ this park was exceedingly beautiful, especially painted with the autumn hues of the leaves. I can definitely imagine myself taking a stroll around the whole area: the forest paths, the huge field overlooking the horizon, the loop around the lake; before finding a cosy spot in the cafe on-site and opening a book. I’d also be very interested in exploring the inside of the spectacular Wayne Manor (Wollaton Hall) at the centre.
The enchantment of this place made me forget I was in a city, and was more than sufficient compensation for being away from the sea. If you have one, it’s worthwhile bringing a digicam to capture the allure of the landscape (and hopefully some deer, too).
- Coco Tang – NG1 2GN
My hometown didn’t have any fancy restaurants, or outstanding pubs, or rustic jazz clubs to have a sophisticated evening in, so I was more than excited to visit Coco Tang when HerCampus had its first social of the year there for the new writers! This cocktail bar (as it is advertised) was everything I had imagined: vibrant, authentic, atmospheric, and in some ways quite moody. Lighting really makes a venue, and these lights were turned down low to allow the lanterns to glow.
This was the atmosphere of happy hour, anyway. As the moon goes on shining, the vibe transitions into a disco/club, with a girl-dominated cohort of partygoers and a thriving ambience. When I went to the social event, I had to leave early for a 10am, so I unfortunately have no experience with this spot when it transforms! I have heard there is live sax, though…