Nottingham, GB

Modern British tasting menus served under the red-brick arches of a converted Victorian coach house. The kitchen leans hard on sustainable, locally sourced produce and an open pass you can watch from your seat. This is the one for a special dinner where the meal is the evening, not a stop before something else.

Nottingham's two-Michelin-star room, tucked on an unglamorous lane south of the city with its own garden and bees. It's a long multi-course tasting experience built on seasonal modern British cooking, with the option to stay over in the attached rooms. Save it for an anniversary or a once-a-trip blowout.

Spanish-rooted small plates with detours into Asian and world flavours, served under the brick vaults of a 15th-century gaol below the Lace Market. It's been a city benchmark for tapas for years. Good for a group who want to share and graze rather than commit to one big plate each.

A long-running fine-dining Indian on the western edge of the centre, doing polished, modern cooking rather than the usual curry-house list. Big room, full bar, signature tandoori plates that go beyond the standard menu. This is the one for a proper sit-down Indian dinner with a bit of occasion to it.

A modern izakaya doing inventive Japanese-leaning small plates and skewers, not a sushi-conveyor sort of place. It picked up national press for the creative kitchen and fair pricing. Good for two or three people who want to order a stack of plates and a few cocktails.

A small, long-established vegetarian kitchen in Beeston where the chef pulls from Persia, Sri Lanka, Cuba and beyond on a menu that changes every month. Mostly vegan-friendly and far more ambitious than the usual meat-free fare. Worth the short trip out of the centre even if you're a committed carnivore.

A jazz club, bar and kitchen rolled into one, with a Lebanese and North African meze menu and live music most nights. The food holds its own, but the point is to book a table near the stage and make a night of it. Strong vegetarian and vegan meze selection too.

An independent taqueria in a glass-fronted old lace building in Hockley, from the same crew behind Iberico. It's tacos done properly rather than a burrito factory, with a tight menu and a good agave list. Casual, quick, and a solid lunch or pre-night-out stop.

The city's agave specialist, a small mezcal-and-tequila den tucked in a courtyard off Pelham Street, with tacos and Mexican snacks alongside the drinks. Knowledgeable bartenders walk you through unfamiliar mezcals without snobbery. This is a cocktail-first spot, best later in the evening.

A chippy that takes fish seriously, the original Wollaton branch of a small local group with national fish-and-chip awards behind it. Beyond the standard cod there's a counter of 20-odd fresh fish you can have battered, grilled or baked, plus oysters and seafood plates to eat in. Go for sit-down lunch, not just a takeaway.

An independent all-day brunch spot in the middle of Hockley, the kind of place locals default to for eggs and a proper breakfast. Plates run from sweet-potato hash and avocado toast to smoked salmon and eggs, with vegan swaps across the board. Easy, friendly, good for a slow morning before wandering the lanes.

A Sicilian cafe and patisserie in Beeston run by an Italian couple, strong on arancine, cannoli and proper Sicilian sweets alongside simple savoury plates. It's a neighbourhood spot rather than a destination dinner, but the baking is the real draw. Good for a coffee-and-cake stop or a casual lunch.

The easy lakeside loop around Wollaton's deer park, flat and pram-friendly, circling the hall, the avenues and the big lake. Red and fallow deer roam free and often graze close to the path. The default city-edge walk when you want greenery without leaving Nottingham.

A flat, easy park walk around a boating lake beside the University, with views across to the grand Trent Building. Plenty for families, with a playground, crazy golf and boat hire in season. A short, low-effort green stroll close to the centre.

A wetland reserve of flooded former gravel pits laced with paths, one of the area's best spots for birdlife with hundreds of species recorded. The main circular is easy-to-moderate and flat, with hides and a lakeside nature centre and cafe. The pick for anyone who likes birdwatching or a quiet water walk.

The city's set-piece riverside walk, a wide tree-lined promenade along the Trent with a listed bandstand and memorial gardens. Flat and easy, it links the city to the river and the cricket and football grounds across the water. A good evening or lazy-afternoon stroll close to the centre.

A flat country park of lakes and Trent-side paths just east of the centre, wrapped around Colwick Hall. The lake circuits are easy and semi-paved, with benches, birdlife and water-sports on the bigger lake. A relaxed local walk that rarely feels crowded.

A larger country park north of the city with woodland, the Mill Lakes and a former colliery winding house. Trails range from an easy lakeside loop to a longer, hillier woodland circuit, so you can pick your effort. The pick when you want a proper walk with more distance and gradient than the flat city parks.

One of the largest contemporary art galleries in the country, free to enter, in an award-winning building clad with a cast lace pattern. Exhibitions of international modern art rotate often, so there's always something new, plus a good cafe-bar to land in. A reliable indoor stop and an easy rainy-afternoon plan.

A crime-and-punishment museum inside a genuine Victorian courthouse, gaol and police station in the Lace Market. Costumed actors run tours through cells and courtrooms where people were once tried and sentenced on the same site. More theatrical and hands-on than a typical museum, and good with older kids.

The city's main large-scale venue, pairing an ornate Victorian theatre with a modern concert hall next door. Between them they cover touring West End shows, the big annual pantomime, classical concerts and pop. The place to check for an evening show during your stay.

A respected producing theatre that makes its own work rather than just hosting tours, with a strong run of new plays and revivals. The Anish Kapoor 'Sky Mirror' out front is a landmark in its own right. The choice for serious drama over a touring blockbuster.

The city's long-running independent live-music hall, open since 1980 and known for catching big bands on the way up. Multiple rooms cover gigs and club nights, and the standing floor gets you close to the stage. An evening-and-adult sort of night out, loud and unfussy.

The brewery tap for Castle Rock, the city's best-known independent brewer, a no-frills 1930s pub right by the station pouring their full range fresh. Brewery tours start and finish here. The spot for cask-ale drinkers who want the source rather than a themed bar.

A craft-beer taproom in the Sneinton Market arches, neon-lit and dinosaur-themed, pouring its own bold modern beers across a dozen taps. Rotating street-food traders handle the food. A younger, livelier counterpoint to the cask-ale pubs, best in the evening or on a market day.

The hilltop site that gives the city its Robin Hood story, now a Ducal Palace museum and art gallery after a major rebuild. Expect galleries on local history and lace, a Robin Hood adventure area for kids, and underground cave tours cut into the sandstone. The views over the city from the terrace are the quiet highlight.

A grand Elizabethan house on a rise above its own deer park, with a free natural history museum inside and red and fallow deer roaming the grounds. The museum is endearingly old-school; the parkland and lake are the real reason to come. Film buffs may recognise the hall as Wayne Manor.

A guided walk through part of the man-made sandstone caves that honeycomb the ground beneath the city. The 45-minute tour covers a medieval tannery, Victorian slum cave-dwellings and a wartime air-raid shelter, with guides doing the heavy lifting. A good rainy-hour activity that explains why the city is built on hollow rock.

A pub built into the sandstone at the foot of the castle rock, claiming a history back to 1189 and a spot among England's oldest inns. The draw is the building itself, with snugs carved into the cliff and a famously cursed model galleon nobody will touch. Go for a pint and the rooms more than a gastronomic meal.

The Victorian heart of the city's lace trade, a tight grid of tall red-brick warehouses now filled with bars, galleries and restaurants. It's a district to wander rather than a single sight, with St Mary's church and the National Justice Museum anchoring it. Best on foot, looking up at the old factory facades.

The civic heart of the city, a broad square fronted by the domed, lion-guarded Council House and used for markets, events and seasonal fairs. It's the natural orientation point and meeting spot, not a destination in itself. Worth a pass-through to see the Council House and the famous bronze lions.

The largest medieval building in the city, a soaring Grade I gothic church standing at the top of the Lace Market. The scale and the stained glass are the reason to step inside, and it's only minutes from the square. Quiet, free, and a good contrast to the bars that now surround it.

A restored black tower windmill on a Sneinton hilltop, built by the father of mathematician George Green and paired with a small hands-on science centre about his work. When the sails are turning it mills its own flour, which you can buy on the way out. A free, low-key stop that's good with kids.

Lord Byron's ancestral home, a medieval priory turned country house set in hundreds of acres of lakes, waterfalls and landscaped grounds north of the city. Inside are Byron's rooms and eccentric memorabilia, including a monument to his dog; outside is the better half, made for a long ramble. A half-day trip rather than a quick stop.