Reading NIGHTLIFE.. Is it half decent?

Hey there,

I've heard a lot about Readings nights out.. but mainly about how expensive it is compared to other places as its quite close to London..

I was just wondering if anyone could shed some light on what its actually like and if its half as good as London..

Cheers United.

Reply 1

i Pav i

OP

..

Reply 2

ByronicHero

20

No, it's 2/3 okay.

Any answer would be highly subjective. There are numerous clubs and bars which you can either go to or not go to which will always be reasonably well attended by both students and other residents much the same as any other large town.

Reply 3

i Pav i

OP

Original post

by paddy__power

No, it's 2/3 okay.

Any answer would be highly subjective. There are numerous clubs and bars which you can either go to or not go to which will always be reasonably well attended by both students and other residents much the same as any other large town.

Ahh, hmmm okayy - You must go to Reading Uni or *have studied at..

Whats it like? Is it very modern etc? Is the Science department good?

And whats the nightlife like compared to somewhere more Student dominated .. e.g. Oxford.

Reply 4

i Pav i

OP

Original post

by Claire_Spoon

PURPLE TURTLE.

That is all.

I take it.. that Purple Turtle is a nightclub? is it good? expensive :/ ?

What was your freshers like at Reading?

Reply 5

Fizzingwhizbee

7

I live nearish, don't go to uni there.
Not too bad tbh, some biggish clubs, plenty of bars, has a revs. Enough to keep you busy!
Nowhere near on the level of Manchester, London, Leeds, Birmingham etc.
It's not a huge city so it's what you'd expect. It all depends on what you want out of uni, student night pretty cheap but not ridiculously cheap like say Leeds Union. Weekends are more expensive.

There's lots of shopping, you're near to some other cities too.

And you can't beat Reading festival

Reply 6

ByronicHero

20

Original post

by i Pav i

Ahh, hmmm okayy - You must go to Reading Uni or *have studied at..

Whats it like? Is it very modern etc? Is the Science department good?

And whats the nightlife like compared to somewhere more Student dominated .. e.g. Oxford.

Oxford, with regard to student life, is probably far more vibrant due to the vast array of comedy clubs and such as well as the normal boring clubs. The above poster sums it up though: it is as good as you are going to get outside of larger cities.

Reply 7

RocketSkates

Original post

by Claire_Spoon

PURPLE TURTLE.

That is all.

Turtle has been involved in many a crazy night of mine. 2 for 1 cocktails ftw! Also, Propaganda on thursdays at Q bar :biggrin:

A night out in Reading isn't overly expensive I think.

Most of all, a lot of it is what you make of it :smile:

Reply 8

Itch

I'm a Student at Uni of Reading atm,
started in October and I am from London
Nightlife is really really good,
Theres somewhere to go every night plus its ALOT cheeper that London, do not know where you heard that from. £3-5 to get in (cheaper if you can find a flyer/leaflet) and drinks are usually £1.50-£2

Lola Lo's
Q bar
Sakura
Walkabout
Yates
Rewind
Vodka Revs
Dogma
The Student Union - is on every wednesday and saturday and they are both QUALITY nights out.
Mangos
and there are a lot more pub/club places to visit
Honestly I was a bit apprehensive about the nightlife, turns out to be awesome

Reply 9

Rekkiem

I'm in my first year too and the nightlife in Reading is a lot better than i thought it would be. I've been out a fair bit and the best places, in my opinion, are Q Bar (Propaganda on Thursday is a quality night out) and Sakura (Rock Night on Monday is another good choice). I've been to most places in the city by now and Walkabout, Dogma, Revs, Rewind, Purple Turtle and Bar Mango are all well worth a visit.

They've just opened a Lola Lo which has an amazing smoking/outdoor area, but isn't that great otherwise. Yates has just been refurbished as well but again, we weren't too impressed when we visited. Get down there and form your own opinion though! Your JCR will organise a TON of socials for you in the first few weeks so you can get well acquainted with most places in the city.

Union on Wednesday can be a bit hit and miss, but Saturday is always a quality night out. Even when i've ended up on my own, everyone is so approachable. I'm not the most confident person but still, its incredibly easy to talk to new people and come out with a new friend!

Reply 10

staring.space

11

I'm a second year and I don't think the nightlife is that bad. I come from Sheffield, so the scene in Reading (in town) is a LOT smaller than it is in a big city which can put people off - but as long as you don't exhaust it then the places are pretty good. I enjoy going to the union more than town if I'm honest, as it's a good meeting place and cheap drinks also - the music isn't that dire either :wink:

. It's also a great venue and the dance floor is much bigger than most of the clubs in town.

At the end of the day though, it's mostly down to the people you're with on whether you have a good night or not. I do wish we had a decent club in town though, with a few rooms. I think Reading needs one.

Reply 11

SoulfulBoy

18

Original post

by i Pav i

Hey there,

I've heard a lot about Readings nights out.. but mainly about how expensive it is compared to other places as its quite close to London..

I was just wondering if anyone could shed some light on what its actually like and if its half as good as London..

Cheers United.

No city gets closer to London. :wink:

Reply 12

Please Register

9

It's not too bad. Can get a bit chilly around 10pm. The sky becomes rather dark around that time too.

Reply 13

modgepodge

14

If you're in to sports, Wed night at the union is a good one as most sports teams play on wed and go out after. It's almost always a sell out. I have friends that weren't into sports and still went every wed though - they play good music (main club plays normal music you'd expect, plus lots of cheese on a wed), plus there's an r&b room and mojos which is just like a pub, no music i dont think. Sat night at the union is more club/dance music, still have the r&b and mojos though. Part of the reason it's so popular is that if you live in hall it's like a 5 min walk from your room!

In town there's a student night somewhere most nights. Q bar on monday (I left a couple of years back but ppl still went there last year...), Sakura or Dogma tuesdays, loads of places every night basically.

I don't come from a big city so to me it seemed amazing when I went there (my local "club" had a dance floor 6ft by 6ft square lol). It's obviously not as good as london (though that's only 30 mins on the train if you know people there), but it's a LOT cheaper than london. I would say nights out are very cheap, other living expenses e.g. rent are going to be more than in other places up North etc.

Reply 14

ellasmith

12

All i can say is skint mondays.

Reply 15

Randomized

8

Original post

by i Pav i

Hey there,

I've heard a lot about Readings nights out.. but mainly about how expensive it is compared to other places as its quite close to London..

I was just wondering if anyone could shed some light on what its actually like and if its half as good as London..

Cheers United.

It's not that bad! There is a student night on every night of the week but the most popular one is Propaganda at Q Club (thats the only one we really bother with). All the places mentioned above are worth a visit, only one i'd suggest avoiding is Dogma which from our experience is an overpriced sausage fest filled with chavs.

Union > city centre though, Saturday union is always a good shout :smile:

Reply 16

catoswyn

15

Original post

by i Pav i

Hey there,

I've heard a lot about Readings nights out.. but mainly about how expensive it is compared to other places as its quite close to London..

I was just wondering if anyone could shed some light on what its actually like and if its half as good as London..

Cheers United.

In my opinion the town suffers from being close to London as you can go to the capital for clubbing etc. It has an array of the normal pubs, small clubs however if you want to stay closer to home. I went there from Birmingham and was a bit shocked to be honest at the lack of venues but that was really due to the downsizing from big city to large town. HOWEVER Reading has some strengths too... as one of the biggest campus universities in the country it has its own built in excellent social scene on site, good gigs etc (so that keeps down costs) Secondly I found that the fact that the town's nightlife was a bit so-so means that Reading is very much a house party place. There were parties in people's houses all the time and pretty great ones at that! Then there's The Purple Turtle as someone else said..... and the annual Reading Festival of course....

It is worth going to Reading though for one thing though... The Standard Tandoori restaurant on the Caversham Road. It is an Indian restaurant run by Nepalese people and is quite simply the BEST in the country in my opinion and I have eaten in a lot of cities..... totally addictive. Then there is Sweeney and Todd the pie restaurant with lots of nooks and crannies and fabulous pies. Mmmmmm.....

(edited 14 years ago)

Reply 17

Frozenace

I really miss the beer from 0 degrees...

I live in London now, but I can't bother to go down to Blackheath.

Reply 18

Cyclo

1

I'm not too fussed on the club environment. Been there done that.

Any good bars/pubs where you can have a drink and actually take part in a conversation without having to lean in and scream inside someone's ear ?

Reply 19

KT9

2

Original post

by Cyclo

I'm not too fussed on the club environment. Been there done that.

Any good bars/pubs where you can have a drink and actually take part in a conversation without having to lean in and scream inside someone's ear ?

Seconded. There must be some half decent pubs, some of the societies have weekly pub nights so you'd hope so.

Reading NIGHTLIFE.. Is it half decent?

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