Student life in town

A short walk away from our picturesque campus, you will find our historic Loughborough town. We've put together a guide on some of the fantastic things you can get involved with and provide you with an insight into the wide range of shops and cuisines available in town.

There's plenty to do in your spare time off-campus in Loughborough!

To relax... Queen's Park is a great place to relax, take a picnic and walk through the pretty garden. Here you can visit the on-site Charnwood Museum and Carillon Tower, and say ‘hello’ to the colourful birds in the aviary.

To have fun... There are two cinemas in town, ODEON and Cineworld, and the Loughborough Town Hall has comedy nights, theatre productions and dance performances to watch with your friends. There is always something happening or something new to see.

If you're feeling a bit more active, Loughborough's trampoline park Jump Giants just outside of town is well worth a visit for a fun-filled outing, or you can visit Loughborough's indoor climbing centre near the train station.

To play a game... Battle it out with your friends at the local laser quest to see who the ultimate gaming champion is, or work together completing puzzles in an exciting escape room challenge.

To enjoy a bit of culture... At the Great Central Railway you can take a trip on a steam train, enjoy a five-course meal on board, or even drive a locomotive.

To volunteer... Action is the volunteering section at the Students Union. They offer a range of fun projects like dog walking, working with alpacas and gardening.

Loughborough offers a wide range of choices for grocery shopping to suit all budgets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Marks and Spencer Food, Lidl, Iceland and Morrisons. There is also a great choice of local food shops for those who wish to purchase health-related foods and organic produce.

Loughborough has a range of international cuisines available in cafés, restaurants and grocery shops. There are also specific requirements to meet your needs, such as a halal butchers.

The famous twice-weekly Loughborough market offers a wide range of fresh produce, household items, clothing and more at great prices on Thursdays and Saturdays. Loughborough has also played host to many speciality European markets.

Loughborough and the surrounding area boasts a wide variety of great food. We have Indian, Chinese, Australian, Mexican, Thai, Italian, English and Malaysian restaurants as well as independently owned gastro pubs, cafés, delis, national chain coffee shops, fast food outlets and restaurants.

Some of our student favourites are The Basin and Peter Pizzeria. At The Basin, you'll find a delicious blend of Chinese, Thai and Japanese flavours set in traditional restaurant-style surroundings, and Peter Pizzeria is a great option for authentic Italian tastes with a twist.

Loughborough town has all your shopping needs covered, with independently owned boutiques to national chains such as Next, New Look and Boots. For a larger choice of shopping, Nottingham and Leicester are both within easy reach of Loughborough.

If you feel like you want to decorate your room, there are homeware shops like Dunelm and Primark which have a huge variety of home furnishings, cushions and photo frames available to buy.

Our location is ideal for exploring the cities of Nottingham, Leicester and Derby. Plus, London is only an hour and a half away on the train or a coach trip away from our dedicated National Express bus stop on campus!

We are also close to a variety of tourist attractions such as the Peak District National Park, Sherwood Forest and the National Space Centre. With Charnwood Forest next door, the beautiful countryside is never far away from you.

We are also ideally located for the motorway network and a short drive will take you to the East Midlands Airport, opening up Europe and beyond with accessible low-cost flights.