Haven't had a survey for nearly 3 months from ciao :(
Haven't had a survey for nearly 3 months from ciao :(
Member since:20.03.2007
Reviews:85
Members who trust:37
I was walking through one of Southampton's many parks today and had to admire it.
The gardens were well tended with beautiful scented tulips growing in dedicated beds surrounded by bright yellow flowers. This garden was in the centre of a walkway (which completes a circle) and is a fine feature.
I enjoyed my walk so much in the sunshine I decided to review the area.
I moved to Southampton three years ago when I started University at what was then the Institute but is now Southampton Solent Universiry and initially lived in the Oceans Village area down by the docks, in my second year I moved to the student area also known as The Polygon and into an abysmal student house, before moving home to the country for my final year.
I'm no lover of the city in fact I despise the noise, the small, the buildings etc etc.
Southampton though is somewhat different. It has green spaces and lots of them (50 recorded parks or "green open spaces") and they are right throughout the city centre. Whichever way you walk
into the centre you will walk through a park.
It wasn't until today that I realised how much I missed the lifestyle, the amenities, which are so close by, and calm which you do not expect from a city.
Southampton is a docks town and has LOADS of attractions
Nightlife:
There is an array of nightclubs, bars and pubs to suit all tastes, including Jumpin' Jaks, Bamboo Bar, Ikon, Jesters, Hogs Head, Yates, Academy, Orange Rooms, The Wine Bar, and Chaos.
Food/Eateries:
There are many good restaurants from fast food (TGI's, Burger King, McDonalds if that's your thing) to Belle Italia and other upmarket eateries, catering for all tastes.
Shopping:
The shopping areas offer hundreds of shops suitable for all bank balances including, Primark (yes student heaven), New Look, Game, Shoe Express, M&S, BHS, HMV, Jane Norman, The Tie Rack, Thornton's, Principles, Topshop/Topman, Republic, River Island, Boots and many more of your high street stores.
Southampton has 3 Main shopping centres and one smaller more deserted retail centre. West Quay is now the main centre for shoppers and popular stores alike, The Bargate Centre caters for the "skater" look with several stores including those that stock "Punky Fish," "Animal" and other brands, Marlands houses the shops which didn't quite make West Quay such as Poundland (Student again), Savers, Bay Trading, West One, Mark One, Adams and smaller independent outlets such as T-Shirt stores and one off clothing the walk way opens out onto ASDA Southampton's main supermarket.
Southampton is ideal for boutiques - if you wander away from the hustle and bustle of the main street and towards East Street - you will find independent stores and charity shops, smaller boutiques can be found nearer the East Street shopping centre (the abandoned one) where there is a lovely cheap but stunning jewellery shop.
Walking up the other end of town to London Road you will find an extension of the town with repeated shops - but by walking towards Bedford Place you will find lovely little Wedding Boutiques, Hair Dressers, Sandwich Shops and Remedial Therapies.
Interests:
Southampton offers 3 Cinemas including a 10-screen Odeon cinema at the leisure complex, several Casinos, a Bowling Centre at Hot Shots Sports Bar (again at the leisure complex) and Swimming pools. If you are interested in history there is a small museum documenting the TITANIC down by the main docks and Southampton has some fantastic ruined walls, which you can walk around. If you're interested in Art Southampton has a City Art Gallery, which spans 6 centuries of European History and attracts up to 90,000 visitors a year.
If your living in Southampton then why not travel slightly out of town to The New Forest which is only a short Bus journey (or car trip) away, sightsee in the Historic town of Winchester which is just north on the M3.
Parking and accessibility:
Southampton has various parking stations each with varying tariffs. West Quay and Marlands both offer Multi Storey car parks and the Retail Park offers free parking for 2 hours. Other areas such as the Swimming Pool offer free parking though limited but most parking stations and on street parking is limited to a set time frame and is managed in areas, this means you cannot return and park in the same area within a set period of time, so moving the car into the next street for free parking is a no - no.
Southampton is easily accessible from main roads such as the M3, A34 and M27 if travelling from the North of the city, A36 if travelling from the West or A27/M27 if travelling from the East. It also has an Airport (Southampton Parkway), which is accessibly by train from Southampton Central, which is a 5minute walk to the city centre. Finally if travelling by water there is a ferry which operates from Hythe every half an hour and you can also arrive from or to the Isle of Wight.
Sorry about the essay but it really is a place worth living/visiting whether it be for the history, education (the Uni's aren't bad either) the shopping, the sightseeing or even the football!!
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Mar 28th, 2007
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