As an international student, going to university abroad may be something similar to playing the lottery: you may or may not hit the jackpot. By that, I mean that you will probably either love or loathe the university that you go to because you don’t really have a clue of how it’s going to be.
Fortunately for me, I loved Worcester from the very first sleepy glance while heading towards the campus on the coach.
Since then, it’s been 4 years and I still love it, so I have decided to share with you some of my favourite spots in town. This is how a nice sunny weekend day would look for me:
- First things first: Coffee! My favourite coffee and breakfast spot: Papa’s café, on New Street. I think they’ve got the best coffee in town and the most amazing fruit and Greek yoghurt pancakes (yum!). My boyfriend and I are regulars – everyone knows us there!
- After a hearty breakfast, there’s nothing like a walk in the sun. If you go down Friar Street – one of the oldest streets in Worcester, with lovely historic houses – you can easily get to the Cathedral. I love going to the Cathedral as it’s such an impressive building with such a great architecture and historic heritage.
- As you come out of the Cathedral, walk down to River Severn’s bank. You can sit on a bench or feed the swans or you can walk further up to the Diglis House Hotel – they have the only riverside beer garden in town. You can enjoy a cold drink in the sun or maybe have some food if you’re feeling peckish – they have the best burgers and antipasti platters.
- Once you’ve had your little break, head up to the Diglis docks where you can see all these lovely, colourful boats and keep going until you reach the Worcester canal. This is full of greenery and makes for a lovely walking and cycling route – unless you’ve got hay fever, in which case take some strong antihistamines with you (every single time!).
- As you walk down the canal, you’ll notice that there are plenty of bridges and exit paths. I usually like to exit from the canal somewhere quite close to ASDA so that I can go to Mealcheapen Street where the Reindeer Court is. This is a nice little courtyard with beautiful independent shops which I love! My favourites are: Fuel clothing (funky brands like Desigual for less), Rock Follies Vintage (as you guessed a vintage shop) and Monkee Business (for all you geeks out there: comic book and memorabilia shop).
- To come back full circle, as you exit Reindeer Court on New Street, you’ll find my favourite Mexican restaurant opposite Papa’s café – it’s called Chesters. End the day with some scrumptious Mexican food (careful though, it’s very hot!).
Worcester Student Life 