Moving to Chester for university? Whether you’re arriving from another part of the UK or moving to the city for the first time, your first few weeks can feel like a lot. There’s a new university, a new neighbourhood, new people to meet and a whole new city to figure out.
The good news? Chester is a relatively easy city to get to know. Once you’ve worked out your route to university, found your nearest supermarket and discovered a few favourite places to eat, study and socialise, it won’t take long before the city starts to feel like home.
This student guide to Chester covers some of the practical things worth knowing when you’re living in Chester as a student, as well as some helpful tips for freshers.
1. Get to Know Your New Neighbourhood
Before you try to explore the whole of Chester, start with the area on your doorstep.
Spend your first few days getting familiar with the streets around your home. Find your nearest supermarket, pharmacy, cash machine, bus stop and places where you can grab a coffee or something to eat.
It’s also worth taking a walk around your neighbourhood during the day so you can get your bearings without relying entirely on Google Maps.
Chester has plenty of areas for students, each with its own character. Whether you’re living on campus, in the city centre or around the Garden Lane area, getting to know what’s nearby can make settling in much easier. You might even discover your new favourite local café, takeaway or park within your first week.
2. Work Out How You’re Getting Around Chester
One of the first things to know as a student in Chester is how you’re going to get from A to B.
Chester has several transport options, including good taxi services and bus links. However, the city itself is relatively small compared to other UK cities, so most places are easy to reach on foot.
Before your first week of lectures, work out:
- How you’ll get from your accommodation to university
- Where your nearest bus stop or station is
- How long your journey actually takes at different times of day
- How you’ll get home if you’re staying late on campus
Don’t just check the route once. If possible, do a practice journey before your first day so you know where you’re going and don’t have to work it out while rushing to a 9am lecture.
3. Find Affordable Places to Shop
Student life can get expensive quickly, so knowing where to shop can make a real difference to your weekly budget.
Chester has plenty of supermarkets, corner shops and larger stores, so have a look at what’s available around your accommodation before automatically relying on the nearest shop.
For a bigger food shop, supermarkets such as Aldi and Tesco offer more choice than convenience stores, while local shops can be useful when you’ve forgotten one or two essentials.
Don’t forget about the other things you’ll need when moving into a new home, either. Your first few weeks might involve buying everything from washing-up liquid and laundry detergent to storage boxes, kitchen equipment and toiletries.
Top tip: Don’t buy everything at once. See what your accommodation already has, speak to your housemates and make a list of what you actually need before blowing your budget at B&M.
4. Register With a GP
This is one of those jobs that’s easy to put off when you’re busy settling in, but it’s worth sorting early.
Look for a GP surgery that accepts patients in your new area and check what you need to do to register. You can also make sure you know where your nearest pharmacy, dentist and other healthcare services are.
Take our word for it, you don’t want to wait until you’re suffering from freshers’ flu to have to figure this out.
Having these details sorted means you’ll know where to go if you do need medical advice later in the year.
5. Check Your University Timetable and Buildings
Your first week of university can involve a surprising amount of getting lost.
Universities often have multiple buildings and campuses, and your timetable might not always have you in the same place.
Before teaching starts, check:
- Your full timetable
- The location of each class
- Which university buildings you’ll need to visit
- How long it takes to walk between buildings
- Where your department or school is based
- Where the library and other important facilities are
If you’re unfamiliar with the campus, give yourself extra time during your first few days. There’s nothing wrong with arriving ten minutes early while you’re still learning where everything is!
6. Find Your Favourite Study Spots
Your university library isn’t the only place you can study, although the University of Chester has a great library at its main Parkgate Campus.
Once you’ve settled in, try out a few different study spaces and see what works for you. You might prefer a quiet library desk when you need to concentrate, a café for lighter work or somewhere like Storyhouse when you’re working with friends.
It’s useful to have a few options rather than relying on one place, particularly during busy periods when it can become much harder to find a seat in university libraries.
One of the great things about Chester is the abundance of independent cafés that can make a change from studying in your bedroom.
7. Join a Club or Society
One of the easiest ways to meet people when you’re moving to Chester for university is to get involved with something you already enjoy.
Universities have societies covering everything from sport and music to gaming, performing arts, volunteering, politics, languages and hobbies you’ve probably never considered before.
You don’t have to join ten societies during Freshers’ Week. Pick one or two that genuinely interest you and give them a try.
And don’t worry if you don’t immediately find your group. University is full of people in exactly the same position, and friendships don’t always happen in the first few days.
8. Don’t Just Stay in the Student Quarter
Being a student in Chester doesn’t mean you have to stay in the student areas. Chester has plenty to keep you busy, with a variety of independent cafés, bars and restaurants. Not to mention there are some great walks and plenty of places to explore.
Once you’ve settled in, explore some of Chester’s different neighbourhoods.
Visit Grosvenor Park, enjoy dinner at Chester Market or take a stroll down the canal. Check out some great lunch spots on Northgate Street. Spend an afternoon on the riverside. Try somewhere you’ve never been before.
One of the best parts of living in Chester as a student is having an entirely new city to explore outside of your university campus, full of history and character.
You don’t need to spend a fortune either. Some of the best ways to get to know Chester are completely free.
9. Sort Out the Practical Admin
There are a few boring jobs that are much easier to forget when you’re busy meeting new people and starting university.
During your first few weeks, make time to:
- Update your postal address where necessary
- Make sure your bank and other important accounts have your new address
- Check your university email regularly
- Download any university apps you need
- Save important university contacts
- Collect your student ID
- Familiarise yourself with your rent and tenancy information
- Make sure you know who to contact if something goes wrong in your accommodation
It might not be the most exciting part of moving to university, but getting these things out of the way means you can concentrate on enjoying your new city.
10. Give Yourself Time to Settle In
Perhaps the most important thing to remember when moving to a new city is that you don’t have to figure everything out immediately.
You might get lost on the way to your first lecture. You might take the wrong route home. You might spend too much money in your first week. You might not immediately find your friendship group. That’s all part of settling in.
Give yourself time to work out what you like about your neighbourhood, find your favourite places and build a routine that works for you.
Before long, you’ll stop checking Google Maps every five minutes and start giving directions to tourists instead.
Your Local Chester Student Support
Moving to Chester for university is a big change, but having the right support around you can make settling in much easier.
At Chester Student Lets, our team has more than 20 years’ experience helping students find their perfect home in Chester. As a local student lettings and property management company, we know the city and the areas students choose to live in, as well as the practical questions that can come up during a tenancy.
Whether you’re looking for your next student home, have a question about your current property or simply need to know who to contact when something goes wrong, our team is here to help.
So, if you’re new to the city, our biggest piece of advice is to take some time to explore, get involved and make the city your own. Before you know it, Chester won’t feel like somewhere you’ve moved to for university. It’ll feel like home.
Looking for your next home? Browse our available student properties in Chester today.