Nottingham

Nottingham is a city in England known as the "Queen of the Midlands".

Understand

Nottingham is a major city in the East Midlands of England, its prosperity historically derived mostly from the lace making industry little of which now remains. Nottingham has moved towards a more service-based economy.

Get in

By plane

• Nottingham East Midlands Airport lies south-west of the city and flights are available to many international destinations. A bus runs between the airport and city centre every 30 minutes 4am-11pm and hourly 11pm-4am.
• Birmingham International airport is approx. 40 miles from Nottingham and serves all major international destinations.

By train

Nottingham is on the main line out of London St Pancras. The cheapest tickets between London and Nottingham are available from Midland Mainline but must be bought well in advance. There are also regular connections to Birmingham, Derby, Leicester, Crewe, Sheffield, and Leeds. Note that trains from London to Sheffield do not stop at Nottingham.

Turn right out of the station for an easy 5 minute walk to the city centre.

The Nottingham Tram (NET) runs from Nottingham main line station through the city centre and out to Hucknall park and ride and Phoenix Park park and ride to the north of the city.

By car

From the south, travel on the M1 and exit at junction 24. From the North take the M1 junction 25 or 26.

By bus

Nottingham has two sizeable bus stations, Broadmarsh and Victoria, and bus operators offer services to most other UK destinations.

Get around

• The city has extensive bus services provided by two companies, trentbarton and Nottingham City Transport, as well as a tram system. An all day ticket for all buses and trams in the city is £2.50 and called a 'Kangaroo' for some strange reason.
• The city centre is best explored on foot.

See

• Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem Inn off Maid Marian Way - The oldest pub in Britain, the "Trip" traces its existence back over 800 years.

• Nottingham Castle is not nearly as good as it is in Hollywood (the original was made of wood and burned down) but has an excellent exhibition on the history of the city.

• The Galleries of Justice are well-worth visiting for a fascinating look at the sometimes rough justice meted out in years gone by.

• Wollaton Hall is a large mansion in a nice deer park, Wollaton Park. It has a natural history museum.

• The British Art Show 2006 will be in Nottingham from April-June 2006.

• Theatres include the Theatre Royal (Royal Centre tramstop), and Nottingham Playhouse (on Wellington Circus, near Derby Road).

• A nationally recognised independent cinema called Broadway is located on George Street in Hockley Village.

Do

• Go Ice Skating at the National Ice Centre
• In the summer you can hire a rowing boat on the beautiful grounds of The University of Nottingham.
• Clumber Park, about 30 miles north on the A614, is a vast area of parkland and woods owned by the National Trust, good for walking and cycling (bicycle hire available).
• Sherwood Forest is about 20 miles to the north off the A614, north of the village of Edwinstowe along the B6034, and can also be reached by bus (phone Traveline 0870 6082608). There is a visitors centre and you can see 'Major Oak', the tree in which legend has it that Robin Hood hid from his enemies.
• For keen walkers, Matlock and the Derbyshire Peak District can be reached in about a hour by car.

Buy

Nottingham has two large excellent shopping centres at either end of the City Centre "The Victoria Centre" and "The Broadmarsh Centre". The Victoria Centre is the more modern of the two, and has more shops & facilities. Broadmarsh is on the eve of a huge redevelopment which will more than double its size.

Eat

Budget

Mid-range

Splurge

• Hart's Restaurant
• World Service
• China China

Drink

Apart from Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem (allegedly built in 1189) which is below the castle and often on the tourist trail there are many good bars in Nottingham. A good place to start is the Lace Market area east of Market Square where you will also find many good restaurants.

Sleep

Budget

Mid-range

• Jury's Inn
• Holiday Inn Express

Splurge

• Hart's Hotel
• Lace Market Hotel

Stay safe

Nottingham has been highlighted by the media for gun crime, although the actual incidence in 2004/5 was 19 offences per 100000 population (compared to 50 for both Greater Manchester and London) =>. The reality is that Nottingham is not a dangerous city and provided you act sensibly you will be safe. It is best to avoid walking late at night through St Ann's (council estate north-east of the Victoria shopping centre) and The Meadows (between the railway station and the river), although the Victoria Embankment along the river is quite safe.

External links

• Nottingham student guide Student travel around Nottingham
• The Open Guide to Nottingham - another CC licensed wiki guide.
• Left Lion - community culture site, with forums.
• http://www.itchynottingham.co.uk/
• http://www.touchnottingham.co.uk/

This text of this article is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0. It has been slightly modified to fit the general design of this website. The authors of this document are Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel, Evan Prodromou, Wikitravel user Boosh, Wikitravel user Eeyore, snoopsy10@hotmail.com and the following WikiTravel users: Nzpcmad. The original version of this article can be seen at http://wikitravel.org/en/Nottingham.