By night Middlesbrough has a vibrant, buzzing atmosphere and is pretty damn good night out. In terms of the mass student population most of us start off in The Dickens Inn right opposite the Union building on Southfield Road.

From there you can either head off to The middlesbroughle - a pretty big pubby-type place at the top of Linthorpe Road with live music some nights. This place is quite handy as Linthorpe Road runs straight into town, popping into The Crown first and then places like Bar Zantia (big clubby-pub avec DJ's especially on the weekends), Flares Bar which is all decked-out in Seventies-style, the new Rat and Parrott and other such bars currently sprouting in all different directions. Plenty of cheese to go around in Yates' and The Oak but also a bit more "upmarket" in Spenceley's (avec DJ's) and The Cornerhouse (likewise); bear in mind that The Cornerhouse charges after 10.30 on Saturday nights but stays open late. Don't worry about finding your way around - once Linthorpe Road has brought you into town all the pubs are within spitting distance of each other.

Club-wise there's plenty - The Empire and The Arena get the biggest DJ names in the town centre, The Underground plays heaps of School Disco material and Bar Fresco kind of doubles up as a bar and club but can get a bit over-crowded and they should learn to control the old speaker system perhaps within some sort of health and safety guidelines. Outside of the centre, on Teesside Park, there's The Milennium with plenty of cheap drinks, cheap cheese, and cheap aftershaves but a laugh nonetheless - free buses run you out there from outside Bar Zantia. Further out, near Yarm (click HERE for Yarm pubs) there is Tall Trees - massive clubbers' club - holds 8,000 with a hotel as part of the complex; one night a month is Retro which is the best Saturday night in the UK bar none. No free buses though.

For eats there's plenty of the usual takeaways - major plug for The Massala in terms of curries for their amazing loyalty reward scheme; check it out for yourselves. For posh nosh take the ladies to the Purple Onion; just off Linthorpe Road and near The Odeon Cinema. There's a cellar bar at the restaurant, too, which is pretty mmmusical and quite welcoming. Do take your credit cards though. Mind you you could always pop into The Odeon instead for a cheap cinematic evening; the VIP arm chairs cost about £2. The more upmarket option would be the cinema on Teeside Park but can't remember it's name - you can't miss it as you come staggering out of The Milennium on a Saturday night.

I'm not what you would call a sports fanatic but I am aware of the local football club and there's usually spare tickets going. If getting out and about is your thing then you can't beat the surrounding area for hills and coastline; try out the walk from Staithes to Whitby - make it in time for lunch and the best fish and chips going.