The Ups and Downs of Leamington Spa

Having just moved into Leamington Spa as a second year, I’ve felt both joy and at times, regret for deciding to live here. I’ll be sharing my experiences in today’s blog post, and taking you through the pros and cons of choosing this as your first home outside of campus.

Having fun

From the very beginning of the house hunt, Leamington Spa is marketed as the ‘place to be’. A hub of happening, if you will. Known to be a student town, we were told that our lives would never be dull again. This is definitely true, the town can be both very happening and dull at the same time, depending on where you choose to live. North Leamington is for the sights, the ambience, and a very aesthetic life. South Leamington gets a bad reputation, but is the liveliest for nightlife and good student accommodation, with other benefits I’ll explain further. If you’d like to achieve a good balance with university, and have what is considered by many to be your last year of truly going all out, this is the right place to be.

Living and Expenses

While rent varies across the town, living expenses are essentially decent. That is, if you don’t count the extra expenses from the ‘leamington life’. As I live close to the parade, walking by the most wide variety of cozy coffee shops and restaurants, you are bound to spend more than you expect. Along with that, going out also adds a good weight on your wallet. Overall however, Leamington Spa does live up to it’s student town expectations, with many outlets offering student discounts and great deals.

The commute

This is something I’d been dreading since my first term. Taking a 25 minute bus may not seem too bad, but bridging the gap between campus life and living here is hard. If you live down south, you may have it easier, as the bus going towards the university comes to these stops first, moving its way up north. This is what I meant when I referred to the ‘other benefits’ of South Leamington. I bear the brunt of living close to one of the last stops on the bus’s route, this means crowding, missing buses as they are already full, and having to wait at least half an hour in peak times. In my first two weeks of term, this has been the only factor that has sometimes made me regret choosing to live in this location. However, it surely will get easier as the weeks go by and people begin to lose the enthusiasm that brings them to attend lectures all week. Either way, it is a routine that will take some getting used to.

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Overall, I am enjoying my new home in second year thus far, while finding some aspects of it difficult. However, time will tell if my feelings will eventually subside as I settle into this new routine. I’ve taken it as a learning experience, and I hope to keep learning more as I navigate second year. Everyone’s experience is different, so as for anyone considering living in this town in their second year, see this as the retelling of a story rather than advice, and take from it what you will.

Until next time!