Where to Stay in Nottingham, England

What is Nottingham known for?

Nottingham is known for Nottingham Castle and its long association with the legend of Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham. The city built its wealth on trade. Lace, bicycles, and tobacco made its name across the East Midlands, and it later became a UNESCO City of Literature.

Cultural anchors such as Nottingham Contemporary and the National Justice Museum sit among older churches, including St Mary's Church and St Peter's Church in the historic core.

What are the main landmarks in Nottingham?

Nottingham's landmarks gather around the castle rock. Nottingham Castle crowns its sandstone bluff, riddled beneath with caves, while the National Justice Museum occupies the former county gaol and courthouse nearby. Modern art fills the edge of the Lace Market.

There Nottingham Contemporary stands close to St Mary's Church, which rises over the old warehouses, and St Peter's Church and the grand Willoughby House complete the historic centre.

What is the history of Nottingham?

Nottingham began around 600 as a settlement on a sandstone bluff above the valley in what is now Nottinghamshire. The rock shaped everything. Generations dug cellars and dwellings straight into the soft stone beneath the town, and after the Conquest the Normans set Nottingham Castle on the highest crag, the stronghold that fixed the city in the tales of Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham.

St Mary's Church rose in the merchant quarter below. Trade and industry made the modern city. Nottingham grew rich on lace, and its bicycle and tobacco works drew labour into the East Midlands, filling the Lace Market with tall brick warehouses around St Mary's Church.

The town received its city charter in 1897, and in later years the old gaol became the National Justice Museum while Nottingham Contemporary brought a modern gallery to the edge of the old quarter. Recognised as a UNESCO City of Literature, the city still wears its industrial and legendary past together, the castle rock at its centre.

Where is Nottingham?

Nottingham stands on a sandstone ridge in Nottinghamshire, England, south of Sheffield and north of Birmingham in the East Midlands. A river runs through the valley below the town. The old core sits on higher ground where Nottingham Castle caps its crag, its soft rock hollowed by centuries of cave-cutting, while the Lace Market and the modern city spread out across the slopes and the flatter ground toward the water.

What is the climate of Nottingham?

Nottingham has a mild, moderately damp inland climate typical of the East Midlands. Summers are warm and changeable. Winters are cool and often grey, with frost common on clear nights and snow falling only occasionally over the sandstone ridge, while rain is spread evenly through the year.

The valley below the town can hold mist on still autumn mornings before it burns off toward midday.

How do you get to Nottingham?

Getting to Nottingham is straightforward. Trains run from London to its central station, close to the castle and the Lace Market, and the city sits between Sheffield and Birmingham on the East Midlands rail network. Motorways feed in from all sides, and an airport lies a short way south.

In the centre a tram network and level streets make Nottingham Castle and the old town simple to reach on foot.