Life
Plymouth city life
Plymouth is a vibrant waterfront city that offers many attractions and entertainment options, catering especially for those who enjoy outdoor activities, coastal views, slow-paced settlements and welcoming inhabitants.
The city is mainly pedestrianised and has the highest concentration of cobbled streets in England! Plymouth is well laid out with a range of museums, art galleries, theaters, cinemas, restaurants, bars and clubs to suit all tastes.
Some of the landmarks and tourist attractions in Plymouth include:
- The National Marine Aquarium
- The Royal Citadel
- Smeaton’s Tower lighthouse
- The Saltram Park
- City Museum and Art Gallery
- Plymouth Arts Centre
- The Peninsula Arts
- Black Frias (UK’s oldest gin distillery)
You can bowl, ski, snowboard, ice skate, horse ride, rock climb on Dartmoor National Park, or surf, sail, scuba dive or explore the UK's first artificial reef with the sunken HMS Scilla. There are several glorious beaches within ten miles of Plymouth, and the popular north coast of Cornwall, home to Newquay.
Plymouth is the one of the largest centres for shopping in the South West and features many independent retailers, as well as national and international brands, in its varied shopping areas. Plymouth’s landmark shopping centre is Drake Circus.
International atmosphere in Plymouth
Plymouth is a small, but multicultural city, due to a large international student’s population gathering from over 100 different countries. Though most people living in Plymouth were born in England, there are also many foreign communities with citizens coming from Ireland, India, South Africa, China, Hong Kong and the United States. Adding up to the city’s cultural diversity, Plymouth attracts annually some four million visitors from all corners of the world to enjoy the brilliant sights and beaches of the city.
Some of the top foreign languages spoken in Plymouth include Polish, Chinese, Kurdish, Portuguese, Arabic, French, Romanian, German and Spanish.
Weather Plymouth
Along with the rest of South West England, Plymouth has a generally wetter and milder weather than the rest of England. July is the hottest month in Plymouth, with an average temperature of 16°C (61°F) and the coldest is January at 6°C (43°F). Make sure to have an umbrella or a rain coat with you, especially around December. August is the best month to visit Plymouth for sunbaths and swims in the sea.