Enjoying Essex : days out

Colchester Campus - Southend Campus

Colchester Campus

The Colchester Campus is situated just outside of Colchester town which means there are loads of fun things you can get up to during your time at uni both in the town and the surrounding area. Watch a short video about Colchester town by clicking here.

Chill out

The Colchester Campus is located just a couple of miles away from the quaint village of Wivenhoe (where a lot of students live in their second and third years). There is a selection of village pubs to choose from. The most student-friendly is the Rose and Crown, located on the waterfront, which offers home brews as well as the usual big-name brands. Most of the pubs serve delicious home made food; catch of the day is always a favourite! The food is always fresh, sold at reasonable prices, and is delivered with a friendly village smile. If you're feeling more active you can walk the Wivenhoe Trail. This begins next to the train station and takes you through the Salt Marshes, across to the University (1½ mile walk) and on into Colchester Town. The Trail is littered with trees, old buildings and wildlife, that is guaranteed to make it look like you are in a remote country location (when Colchester Town is really only a couple of miles off).

Relive your childhood

A popular student activity is a visit to Colchester Zoo, one of Europe’s finest zoos. Don’t sit there and think you're too elephant old to go to the zoo – being a student gives you the automatic right to enjoy all the things you did ten years ago (dressing up, playing silly games etc)! So go along, push your way to the front so that you can feed the elephants and giraffes (just be careful you don’t hurt any small children in the process - their mum's may not be too happy) and enjoy the penguin show. You can use your NUS card to get a discount and taking a picnic can help you save money when you get there.

Enjoy the outdoors

One of the great things about the Colchester Campus is that it's not too far from the coast. And remember it doesn’t have to be baking hot to go to the beach! Obviously the sunshine means you can sunbathe and play in the sea (and not freeze when you get out)! But if it is a bit cooler you can still play on the amusements, eat fish ’n’ chips, and even go for a walk if you're feeling brave (and you're wrapped up very warm)!

Get fit, have fun or relax

Colchester also has a great leisure centre for the fit and active! There is a fitness pool for all of the keen swimmers, but if that seems like too much hard work then the leisure pool is a lot of fun! Two fairly big flumes (well, maybe for the ten year olds), rapids and a wave machine can keep you occupied for hours. If even this sounds like too much energy exerting then you may want to opt for Aqua Springs. Spend the day relaxing in the spa pool, take a sauna, enjoy the steam room and hydrotherapy spas, and revitalise with a swim in the cool pool or a very quick dip (that is probably as much as you can stand) in the ice cold plunge pool!

Go shopping

The range of shops in Britain’s oldest recorded town is pretty awesome. What with it’s historic background, Colchester is brimming with quirky little boutiques, specialist food stores and colourful market stalls, as well as the big High Street names. Colchester also has some great shops which are really reasonably priced. These include Peacocks - so why not take some inspiration from Gok, get out the scissors and add some of your own style to make sure you stand out from the crowd! If you do fancy a change of shopping environment, then Ipswich and Chelmsford are nearby, and most importantly - don't forget you are only 50 minutes away from London!

Southend Campus

The Southend Campus is lucky enough to have the combination of being located in the largest town in Essex and also right by the sea. The great thing about this is that there's always plenty of things to see and do!

Go to the beach

The favourite haunt of Southend’s students is the beach. You can’t beat making the most of a warm summer day (we don’t get many in England!) by getting your flip-flops out, grabbing a gossip magazine and some summer tunes, and heading down to the beach. Once you're there you have lots of choices of how to spend the day; you can sit and do nothing, you can play in the sea, chuck a frisbee around, try some water sports, play mini golf…..the list is endless! If you are feeling lucky you can even try and make a profit by winning on the arcade machines, but remember, these things can be addictive! The best way to finish the day is with some chips out of their paper (everyone know they taste so much better by the sea)! While you're there, make sure you check out the pier! At 1.3 miles long, it is the longest pier in the world.

Have a picnic

Take a trip to Priory Park for another fun but cheap day out! You can have a picnic within its beautiful parkland, take a walk around the lake, get lost in the maze, and visit the museum, and you can do this all for absolutely nothing!

Scream at a theme park

The infamous Adventure Island, located on the beach, is well known to be the driest theme park in the country. It's location, right in the east corner of the UK means it escapes much of the rain that the rest of the country gets soaked by. Grab yourself a wrist band and try every ride from the Rage, to the Scorpion, Sky Drop and Tidal Wave. It also regularly offers student discounts. One of the other great things about Adventure Island is that you only pay if you want to go on the rides, admission to the actual park is free. So if you want to go along with your friends but you don’t want to play you can!

Play sport or be pampered

For those people who want to burn off some energy there are several sports and leisure centres, while those who want to do the opposite and need to be pampered can visit the Island Sanctuary spa. As a student, you probably couldn't afford to do this every week, but it's a great treat if you have a big party or ball coming up! The Sanctuary Spa offers pools, a steam room, sauna and aroma rooms as well as loads of luxurious and restorative treatments, and will leave you feeling relaxed and detoxed.

Get cultural

If you want to explore the local area then there is an impressive castle ruin at Hadleigh where you can take a walk across the downs and take in the beautiful scenery. If this isn't enough history for you, then there are additionally many museums, galleries and exhibitions all around Southend.

Shop 'til you drop

For all of those keen shoppers out there Southend has the full range high street shops including a Primark! This has to be one of the best inventions for students – clothes which are very similar to TopShop, but cost a quarter of the price. If you’re feeling brave you could even try to pass it off as a TopShop purchase! There are also two Shopping Centres – the Royals and Victoria Plaza. If you are looking for something a bit different then Leigh-on-sea offers loads of independent trendy boutiques. So hop on the train for five minutes and get those original items no one else has! When you’re all shopped out, pop down to Old Leigh for a drink by the estuary, or the many pubs, restaurants and bars in Leigh Broadway.

Get away

Finally, if all of the above is not enough, Southend has excellent public transport links, with Chelmsford, Basildon, Lakeside and Bluewater all easily accessible. If you feel like leaving Essex for a weekend and experiencing our capital, a train ride to London only takes 50 minutes. If you fancy somewhere a bit further a field, and have some spare cash lying around then there are also a lot of cheap flights to the continent from Stansted Airport (just over an hour away).

News - News - News

Don't forget that you're welcome to attend one of our Open Days throughout the year. If you want to get a feel for the campus, speak to some of the teachers or check out the accommo- dation on offer then it is a great idea to come to our campuses in the summer or autumn when we'll be running an Open Day. Please click here to have a look at our website which gives you all the details you'll need to find out some information about our Open Days.