Great Northern City (Leeds)

Member Name: sstephenson

Product:	Leeds
Date:	07/01/09 (37 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots to do, good transport links

Disadvantages: Can be busy during peak times

I've spent the last 20+ years living in Leeds, it's where I grew up so I figured I'd be able to write a decent review ;)

Introduction
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Leeds is a major city in Yorkshire and is situated on the River Aire and is one of the bigger cities in England.

Getting there
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Leeds has a central station which has direct lines to Manchester, Blackpool, Edinburgh, Scarborough and London. There's also local trains to neighbouring boroughs such as Morley, Cross Gates, Bradford and Halifax.
Leeds also has a large bus station that also caters for various regions round the country.
In the city itself First Bus and Arriva operate services to the local neighbourhoods.

What to do
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There's the local art gallery and museum that's just up the road from the train station, there's also the library for the book fans.
There's lots of shopping to do as well! There's the Merion Centre which offers shops like the Works, Rymans, Morrisons, Peacocks and the former Woolworths.
There's also the St Johns Centre which offers sport shops, clothing outlets and many more.
There's also loads of other attractions out of Leeds and guides can be picked up from the bus station or tourist information at the train station.

Education
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Leeds has three universities, there's Leeds Uni, Leeds Met and Trinity and All Saints. They all offer a range of degree courses and have been held in high regard for a number of years.
There's also a great range of high schools to choose from and primary schools for the youngsters.
There's also a range of colleges that offer short courses and social activities.

Dining out
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There's a range of restaurants to choose from in the city, there's bars like Wetherspoons and Sports Bar, there's also the hip NU bar amongst others. There's also places like Nando's, pizza restaurants and indian and pakistani places. There's also a choice of fast food places as well but mostly Macdonalds as the Pizza Hut on Briggate has shut down and Burger King can only be found in the train station.

Entertainment
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The local cinema is in the Light which is on the main street (The Headrow), it offers the latest films, and also has a gym on site mixed with some boutique shops and restaurants which makes for a good day out.
There's a bowling ally in the city and swimming pools can also be found in the surrounding areas.

Shopping
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Main centres in the city:
- The Merrion Centre
- The St Johns Centre
- The Light
- Headrow
- Eastgate
- Briggate
- Vicar Lane
- Boar Lane
and so much more!

Overall I would say that Leeds makes a good city break, there's plenty of hotels to choose from and lots to do to keep you busy.
It's not a bad city to live in either, there's a good choice of work to choose from and enough to keep you busy and the suburbs offer a nice pace of life if you're looking to settle here.

Summary: Good city to a visit