Nightlife in Canterbury keeps a low profile - check what's happening in the free The Sticks listings magazine available at the tourist office.

Pubs to go for include the Bell & Crown, a cramped medieval hostelry on Palace Street; the even tinier and very popular New Inn, Havelock Street; or the Miller's Arms, good for a riverside pint in summer. At Alberry's wine bar, opposite the tourist office, and Simple Simon's, Radigund's Hall, 3 Church Lane, you can catch the occasional live music act.

Also in Northgate, the recently revived Penny Theatre presents local and global live music. The university puts on a good range of arty films, and also houses the Gulbenkian Theatre, a venue which shares the city's more edifying cultural events with the Marlowe Theatre in The Friars.