I have lived in Guildford nearly all my life and like most other people I find my home-town boring, with nothing to do, but after reading this review this should hopefully make your mind up whether you'd like to move here, have a day trip shopping or just go for a night out here.
Guildford is located in the south east of England close to the M25 (9 miles from Guildford), the major airports at Heathrow and Gatwick and a frequent rail service from London waterloo, ensures that Guildford and the surrounding area remains easily accessible to both leisure and business visitors. Guildford is a historic and vibrant county of Surrey, offering first class entertainment and shopping, surrounded by a wealth of gardens and historic buildings.
***SHOPPING*** I don't think Guildford is that great for shopping, as there aren't many shops I shop in here. There is a main shopping centre called The Friary which is located on a one way street called North Street and is a short walk from the train station (about 10mins). The Friary shopping centre has 3 floors one of which is a roof garden. The main lower floor has shops such as HMV, a café, TopShop, Madhouse, Pharmacist, Regis hair-dressers and about another 4-5 shops. On the middle level, there are shops like Clinton Cards, Disney Store, Ann Summers, PunkyFish, Barratts, Claires Accessories and a few more shops.
The roof garden has a large dining area which includes take-way and eat in food from McDonalds, Subway, Spud-U-Like, Hot Wok, Coffee Republic, Italian food and a juice bar. Sometimes especially at weekends it can be difficult to find a seating area and its quite cramped and the tables are quite close together.
There is a small walk-through centre called The White Lion Walk, which includes shops such as Vodafone, Millies Cookies, Next, Trotters and a few jewellers and shoe shops. This walk-through centre opens out onto Guildford
high street which is a Cobbled street which goes up towards to top of town on a steep hill. Shops up the high street are a bit more like boutique and more expensive shops, these include Ted Baker, Karen Millen, Waterstones, Whistles, Monsoon, Lush, Oasis, Links of London, House of Fraser, Boots quite a few jewellers and more shoe shops.
The one way street which one's parallel to the High Street (North Street) also has side streets which include shoe boutiques and French Connection. There isn't a huge amount of shop on North Street apart from a few more jewellers and shops like PaperChase, Cornish Pasty take-away, Lime Blue jewellery, Essential and Free Spirit.
***GUILDFORD MARKET*** The Guildford market is held on North Street and is there on both Fridays and Saturdays day time from about 8am - 5:30pm. They have some good quality fruit and vegetable stalls, a bakery stall, pet food stall, and other stalls such as flowers and plants. It always gets quite busy along here at these times and can get quite crowded.
***ACCOMODATION/WHERE TO STAY*** There are lots of Guest-houses, Hotels and B & B's just outside of Guildford. The largest hotels which are situated just outside the town centre is the Parkway Premier Inn and the Holiday Inn, which will take approx 10 - 15mins in a taxi.
***RESTAURANTS/EATING OUT*** There are plenty of restaurants in the centre of Guildford, you'll be spoilt for choice. These are mainly located at the top of town and is a short walk from the train station (about 15mins). Some examples of restaurants are Auberge, Zizzi, Olivio, RumWong, Thai Terrace, Nando's, Pizza Express, Pizza Hut, Giraffe, Loch Fyne and many more.
***THINGS TO DO/ENTERTAINMENT*** The Guildford House Gallery is a 17th century Town House with many original features including panelled rooms, a finely carved stair-case, decorative plaster ceilings and more. There are more places to visit such as creative work-shops and more museums but these are just outside the town centre and would be a short car journey.
***THE ELECTRIC THEATRE*** The Theatre is funded and managed by Guildford Borough Council with six full-time staff and a number of part-time employees. The Friends of the Theatre provide vital support, both financially and through volunteer work which includes providing ushers for every performance. The Electric Theatre has fulfilled its ambition to give hundreds of local amateur performers the chance to perform in a professionally run, state of the art theatre. It is also in demand from professional touring companies and local businesses. It is home to a thriving youth theatre as well as prestigious Guildford Festivals i.e. the Guildford Book Festival and the International Music Festival which alternates years with the Guildford Spring Music Festival. The annual Film Festivals show a variety of classic, art house and world cinema.
***ODEON CINEMA*** Guildford has an Odeon cinema which show all the latest films and new releases. This is across a bridge from the train station and is also situated next to old Orleans bar and restaurant.
***GHOST TOURS*** Experience the paranormal side of Guildford with the Ghost Tour of Guildford. Join your independent guide outside Holy Trinity Church (on the High Street) every Friday from March to October. No need to book. Tours start at 8pm.
***GUIL-FEST*** Guildford is home to Guil-fest, one of the most popular and fastest growing independently run music festivals in the country. With over 100 bands performing over the festival period and a huge variety of stalls, Guil-fest is an experience not to be missed.
Nominated as best family and medium-sized festival for the past two years, Guil-Fest caters for all ages with its relaxed atmosphere and vibrant mix of music and entertainment. A three-day event, festival goers can visit for the day or stay the whole duration in the nearby campsite.
***GUILDFORD CASTLE*** Guildford castle is just a few minutes walk from the High Street and it is surrounded by beautiful gardens. It was founded in Saxon times, re-built after the Norman conquest in 1066, and captured by the Dauphin in 1216 along with Reigate and Farnham Castles. Today only the Norman keep and Castle Arch remain, standing high on the castle mound above the town. It is surrounded by beautifully kept castle gardens which is truly a beautiful place to be in the summer months.
***THE RIVER WEY*** The river wey is a beautiful river which runs through the heart of Guildford past pubs and other countryside. It makes a beautiful walk in the summer and there is plenty of seating along the river, so you can watch the boats drifting by.
***GUILDFORD SPECTRUM*** The Guildford spectrum is a leisure centre for people of all ages and is a short walk/car journey from the town and is also situated next to the premier travel innhotel. The Guildford Spectrum offers Ice skating, Swimming, Ten Pin Bowling, Aerobics, Crèches, their own Gym and much more. For more information their website www.guildfordspectrum.co.uk.
***NIGHTLIFE/CLUBBING*** Guildford have once main street with a majority of the bars/clubs are on. This is on bridge street which runs directly down from Guildford train station.
There is a Flares club which plays 70's and 80's music and is open most nights of the week. Bar Med is a great bar to chill out and has a pool table upstairs and large screens when it's the football season. There is a Lloyds bar which is a nice chilled out place although I tend to find that talking drowns out the music a bit too much.
Bar Mambo and Harpers are situated on the bottom corner of Bridge Street and open most nights of the week. Harpers nightclub and Voodoo Lounge is strictly over 18's and is open until 3am Fri and Sat nights, its great for a night out, but is quite pricey, although they do normally have offers and promo staff giving out vouchers, etc.
Dusk nightclub formally known as Time is situated in North Street underneath TGI Fridays. This is again open most nights of the week and is better for a cheaper option but tend to get a lot of trouble in this club. Its great to go for a boogie and you can hire one of their VIP booths out for £300!!
The Legion is a 3 floored club/bar. On the lower level there is a dance-floor, which play different types of music different days of the week. The middle level is a bar and chill-out area and the third level is a snooker lounge. I haven't been here so I can't comment on what its like, although it does seem to be quite popular.
Some other great popular bars include Five & Lime and the HaHa bar which are also on North Street and Old Orleans which is situated near the Odeon cinema.
***LOCAL TRANSPORT*** The Arriva bus station is located on North Street next to the Friary shopping centre and has regular buses going all over the country. Although I find that the buses can be pricey, and it costs me £3.20 to get to and from work every-day which is a 15min bus journey. The buses aren't 100% reliable either, and their information system doesn't give you updates on how long the bus is delayed or if its been cancelled. On Sunday's most of the buses run 1 every hour or 1 bus every 2 hours.
Taxi ranks are situated at the bottom on North Street at the back of the Friary Centre and there is also a taxi rank at the train station which I sometimes find much more reliable. It can get very busy here at the weekends, so its worth looking up local taxi companies and booking your taxi in advance.
Train station is a short walk from the town centre and has regular trains going all over the country. These are normally very reliable and I always feel comfortable getting the train as there's always someone on the platforms to help if you are unsure of anything.
***FURTHER EDUCATION IN GUILDFORD*** Guildford have a large University which is within walking distance to and from the town, which also has a frequent bus service until late at night, its also cycle friendly for those who which to use pedal power!
Guildford has a large college which is situated just outside the town in an area called Stoke Park. This is about 10mins walk from the town centre and has a large field and a park next to the college.
***BUYING/RENTING*** Guildford has some beautiful areas with some amazing countryside and sights to see but renting or buying is not cheap. Obviously the further into the town you go the more expensive it becomes & it does have quite a noisy night-life when the clubs and bars kick out at the weekends.
***OVERALL OPINION*** I guess Guildford is a nice place to visit if your not one for designer shops, or your not planning a huge night out. I'm bored of Guildford, but then I have lived here most of my life. The night-life bores me and the shopping bores me and I could never afford to live in Guildford, or outside of Guildford . . Not on my own anyway! Its worth a look if you are into your historical features and you enjoy walks and beautiful gardens but me personally can think of better places to go!
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Advantages: Lively, prosperous, full employment for now, fine for shopping Disadvantages: expensive, agressive, impersonal, not a place to put down roots
Jul 18th, 2008
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