Leicester: How it stacks up, Part II

OK, now the second part on how Leicester compares to the other unis you might be thinking about going to. Again, nothing compares to seeing them for yourself, but hopefully this should help a little.

Nightlife:

Leicester is pretty good for nightlife. It is in fact the tenth largest city in the UK and I think, for whatever reason, people often underestimate it’s size, so it really does have the potential to have a good range of nightlife.

First of all though a quick pointer. If you really, really want big city student nightlife and you have an offer from Manchester/Leeds/Birmingham then you’re probably best going there, Leicester does have great nightlife but it simply isn’t on the scale of those places. However, it can hold its own against pretty much everywhere else in my opinion, certainly places like Nottingham, Sheffield, Exeter and Southampton, which are similarly sized student cities.

In terms of the main student nights you can go out pretty much any day of the week other than Sunday, which is more than enough for most people! Monday is at Republic, a big club in town and is particularly popular with Freshers; Republic has 5 different rooms so there’s plenty of choice music wise. Tuesday is at either Liquid, a more mainstream, bigger club, or Mosh, as the name suggest a more indie place. Wednesday is the first night of the week at the SU and it’s Red Leicester, the official sports and societies night and cheese central; think lots of people dressed up and yelling along to Don’t Stop Believin’. Thursday gives you the choice of two slightly smaller clubs in town, Chill Whites or Sosho. Friday is Shabang at the SU, probably the biggest night of the week, playing mainly charts music and followed by Late Lounge until 6. Saturday is Propaganda at the Union, but this event is run by O2 not the Students’ Union. Sunday is set aside for a big day at Bed for Sleep if you’ve somehow managed all of the above!

The City:

Leicester is a brilliant city in my humbly correct opinion! There’s so much going on for students, it really is fantastic. In terms of standard stuff Leicester centre is pretty well equipped for shopping, particularly with the Highcross shopping centre. If you’re a serious shopaholic and have cravings for something bigger every once in a while you can hop on a train to Birmingham for less than a tenner with a railcard and I have managed to get from campus to the bull at the centre of the Bullring in under an hour.

There’s also a wide range of cultural delights with the Comedy Festival every year; the Curve Theatre hosting big name productions; several cinemas, including the independent Phoenix which does an incredible full English and film deal for only £8 on a Sunday morning; De Montfort Hall which hosts lots of big name acts in comedy and music; and, of course, the 02 academy on campus which has lots of big gigs.

Leicester also has a good range of restaurants (3 Nando’s!), highlighted by the curry houses on London Road and the Golden Mile.

There are also one off events such as Diwali, the Leicester Marathon and Bonfire night which get plenty of attendance from students.

If you’re looking for a student city I don’t think you can go far wrong here, unless you have a particular desire to go to a really big city.