Advice on Nottingham

DrPhil

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I'm heading to Nottingham at the end of September for a fight. I know East Midlands Airport is the closest to fly into, but there are no flights from my local airport to there. I would have to drive to Dublin (3-4 hours) for cheap flights to EMA. Belfast is closer but the flights are expensive.

So my other option is to fly from Derry Airport (30 minutes away) to Liverpool and then hire a car. There's 2 of us travelling so the car hire wouldn't be too pricey when split up. It would also make life easier as we wouldn't have to try and find accomodation close to the venue for the weigh ins and the fight.

So I'm just looking for some info on Nottingham.

  • What is Nottingham like to drive in? I have a decent sat nav on my phone and I'm a confident enough driver but I've never been to Nottingham

  • The venue for the fight is the Capital FM Arena on Saturday the 29th. The weigh ins etc will be on the Friday around 10am, not sure of the venue yet but it's usually in the same place.

    Is this an easy place to find? What's parking like? I'll be needing to park there from about 10am til about 3pm on Friday and from about 4 til 11pm on Saturday. Don't want to run up a fortune in parking costs.

  • Any recommendations for accomodation? Cheap and cheerful is the order of the day, happy with a B&B outside town rather than a hotel if it's cheaper.

  • PS, Forest vs Derby is the next day, Sunday 30th. Might try to take that in too. Anyone know where best to get tickets? I know that's a big derby game so will it sell out or anything?
 
I'm wondering if it might be easier to stay in a City Centre hotel near the venue and fly to East Midlands. I personally hate driving in Nottingham due to all the one way systems :D There are buses that run from East Midlands to Nottingham which are cheap or you could get a taxi.
 
JohnG said:
I'm wondering if it might be easier to stay in a City Centre hotel near the venue and fly to East Midlands. I personally hate driving in Nottingham due to all the one way systems :D There are buses that run from East Midlands to Nottingham which are cheap or you could get a taxi.

Problem is the 4 hour run each way to Dublin, fuel costs, airport parking etc.

Plus I tend to get accommodation as cheaply as possible when I go to fights and city centre isn't cheap!!
 
You could look for somewhere around Junction 25 of the M1 as I think there are a few cheaper hotels around there. It would be a 20 minute drive or so depending on the traffic or you could get public transport into Nottingham.

If you are going to get a cheaper B&B just outside the City Centre it might be worth checking the location here first because there's quite a few areas around the centre that I wouldn't want to be out in at night time.
 
Once you're out of the city (changed a lot in the last decade re one way systems, car free zones etc etc) centre, it's an easy run to EMA from post places on the western side of Notts.

There's a few large car parks relatively near to the Arena so you could park in one and walk 5-10 mins.

Parking was around £1-£1.50 an hour last time I was down there but I tend to only go to the city a couple of times a year now when I really have to so no idea on the up to date costs.

Probably be 25K + at Forest/Derby but I can't imagine they'll be turning peeps away at the turnstiles but who knows.

:laugh: at JohnG's last para.
 
JohnG said:
If you are going to get a cheaper B&B just outside the City Centre it might be worth checking the location here first

Yeah will do.

I'll be booking flights this weekend after pay day so I'll start looking into accommodation then.

Any names/areas to avoid. In particular?
 
domtheone said:
Once you're out of the city (changed a lot in the last decade re one way systems, car free zones etc etc) centre, it's an easy run to EMA.

Chances are I will be driving over from Liverpool or Manchester. EMA is a balls to fly to from the NW of Ireland.
 
Any names/areas to avoid. In particular?

I'll go first with St Annes:D Not that you'll be staying there for sure. Doubt there's a hotel there anyway.

Depends what you're up to at night (walking around etc etc) but you might want to avoid other places like The Meadows, Radford, Sneinton.

If it were me i'd stay right in the centre or a bit outside and commute. Couple of Travelodge/Inn close to the centre which are probably around £50 ish. Probably closer to £100 for the main hotels near to the Market Square (town centre).

edit: Driven Manc-Notts are few times. About a 2 hour drive give or take depending on what route. Easiest is prob Down the M6/A50 Stoke across to South Notts then up. Alternatively the prettiest route is across the Peak District. A good 20 miles shorter but still takes a bit longer.
 
At night all I'm after is some decent grub and maybe a cinema on the Friday.

Will arrive Thursday evening, eat and not much else as we'll get in late. Friday is weigh ins and various fan club events, done around 6pm so food and the cinema then.

Saturday we hit the fights around 5 and that takes us to 11ish. Will probably just head back to the hotel.

Sunday (possibly) the Forest vs Derby game and then back to the airport.
 
There's a multiplex (Cineworld) in Notts centre. Lot's of bars restaurants on site/around the area. It's a 5 min walk from the Old Market Square (centre) so if you're based in the centre you can walk to easily.

Prob 10-15 min walk to the Arena (max) too.

There's a Premier Inn if you want night on City Centre on Goldsmith street. It's not too bad down there I think and you can walk to the town centre, Arena, cinema easily from there.

Alternatively, there's a few hotels (more pricey) on Maid Marrion Way. Again, all places you mentioned within 10 mins ish walk.
 
Not sure if you're on O2 but if there's a Holiday Inn in the area O2 have got a 35% discount on Holiday Inn stays via their Priority Moments app. I used it when I stayed in Exeter recently. Just a thought.
 
My missus went to the Arena earlier in the year & stayed at the Park Plaza. She said it was very noisy into the early hours being that close to the square. Maybe find a hotel with parking a little further out & bus/taxi to the venue.

Attendance at the last Forest v Derby game was only a couple of thousand below capacity & that may well have been decreased anyway to allow for extra segregation.
 
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Not sure if you're on O2 but if there's a Holiday Inn in the area O2 have got a 35% discount on Holiday Inn stays via their Priority Moments app. I used it when I stayed in Exeter recently. Just a thought.

I'm on 3...

The Premier Inn in the centre (Goldsmith Street) is booked up. The ones at Nottingham North (Daybrook) and Nottingham West (Nuthall road) are both available though, and only £125 room only for the 2 of us for 3 nights.
 
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Just looked back through the booking & we found the best deal through Expedia. That was also a busy weekend due to Dancing on Ice. May be worth seeing if Expedia can do a deal on flights & hotel combined?
 
I'm on 3...

The Premier Inn in the centre (Goldsmith Street) is booked up. The ones at Nottingham North (Daybrook) and Nottingham West (Nuthall road) are both available though, and only £125 room only for the 2 of us for 3 nights.

Not 100% on the Nuthall one but the Daybrook one is in a so so area. Not bad really but nothing there save for a Big Sainsburys around the corner. You're looking at about 3.5 miles into the centre.

It is close to a bus route though so they'll be a bus (maybe the one line but possibly a couple) that goes straight into the city. Tis an easy run, follow same road all the way to the city by car too. Taxi probably £7-£10 ish.
 
domtheone said:
Not 100% on the Nuthall one but the Daybrook one is in a so so area. Not bad really but nothing there save for a Big Sainsburys around the corner. You're looking at about 3.5 miles into the centre.

It is close to a bus route though so they'll be a bus (maybe the one line but possibly a couple) that goes straight into the city. Tis an easy run, follow same road all the way to the city by car too. Taxi probably £7-£10 ish.

I think we'll almost certainly be hiring a car so 3 miles out is no problem. As long as it's not a hole or I'm likely to get mugged etc!
 
The one way system is pants, designed by a chimp with a crayon, most maps probably wont reflect the recent chages - check.

Derby v forest tickets - unlikely as its a big rivalry match, be a good buzz around town though, you could try and chance it on the day, you never know.

Parking around town isnt to bad, they have pleanty of events taking place in the area so will accomodate the influx of vehicles.

not sure about digs, stay in town and go for a few beers, always busy as its got a massive student population.
 
I'm heading to Nottingham at the end of September for a fight.

Nottingham city centre should accommodate you nicely on a Friday night :D.

Driving in the city centre is a real pain, I updated my sat nav maps to march 2012, and they still don't match up the road layout/1-way system in the city.

The Premier Inn at Nuthall is not in a bad place at all, but there isn't anything close by to walk to either. The good news is its right next to the tram terminus, so getting into & back from the city centre will be really easy (I use that stop when I go into Nottingham, as it's easier getting the tram rather than navigating, then paying to park in the centre).
If you have a car, a 15 minute drive will take you to a few nice pubs/restaurants, but there is plenty of choice in the city centre.

As for the Forest/Derby I think you might struggle to get a ticket, as it's always a sell out, and now that Forest have new rich owners, there might even be a few Forest fans there :D .

No, seriously, I think you'd be lucky to get tickets, but you'll be buying early, so you might be lucky, and it's always a good atmosphere.
 
Probably best not bothering with the town centre then.
 
Definitely Irish...

I'm just not interested in pubs/clubs. Especially in another city, with a load of plastered students!

Actually if it was just full of plastered students it might be a much safer place to visit :rotfl:
 

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