Why Aberystwyth should have been your first choice

It’s widely accepted that Cardiff is the top university in Wales. But this couldn’t be further from the truth.

The rough diamond of our country is Aber uni, the undervalued and overlooked hub of everything that makes Wales great. There are so many reasons that make Aber great, so why shouldn’t we be seen as the best in Wales, if not the world?

The Sunset

Let’s get this one out the way first: an Aber sunset just isn’t comparable anywhere else in the world. On par with the Northern Lights, there is just no replicating it. With beautiful hues of purple, red, orange and blue it’s breathtaking and oddly satisfying to watch.

The best place obviously being at the viewpoint over at the PJM woodland, somewhere that many of you know and love, and somewhere the others of you will come to love.

Penglais Hill

In Bangor they have a hill that they refer to as ‘Bitch Hill’, and that’s quite simply because everyone that goes to uni in Bangor is, well, you can probably get the idea? We may all sigh at the thought of a 9am and having to trudge up the hill, but it’s like it’s own little micro-world.

Sure, you may bump into the awkward one night stand victim or just sweat the same amount that Aber gets in rainfall, but we’re troopers, we keep going and we don’t complain about the free cardio and as a result everyone in Aber has buns of steel and toned leg muscles.

Old College building

The Old College is iconic and plastered all around the uni and town. Who cares that oxford is pushing towards 1,000 years old when our Victorian architecture is way more pretty than anything they have.

The Beaches

At Aber we are blessed in that for a small town of only 20,000-odd people, we have not one, not two but three stunning beaches. Are lectures too hard or did bae only send you back a ‘k’? Fear not as watching a sunset on any one of these beaches will make you forget just about everything in that moment.

Pen Dinas and Nod

In what other uni town do you have stunning walks with yet more incredible scenery, a short 15 minute walk gets you up Pen Dinas to a memorial that if we’re all honest, no one really knows what on earth it’s for? Like seriously, what is that thing?

Campus Halls

Why on earth would anyone go to a uni that wasn’t campus based? It’s the dream really, Freshers week all the accommodations are no more than a two minute walk (unless you lived in Bryndewr then unlucky mate). That means living in halls, you are literally only two minutes away from a party? If that’s not living the dream is then what is?

All of your friends are no more than a 10 minute walk

Literally, unless you’re going up or down Penglais, all of your friends live no more than a ten minute walk away except for Penparcau and no students live in Penparcau, it’s grim and the only student free zone for the locals. Imagine going to a crappy city uni and having to catch a bus just to get to predrinks? Nah mate.

EVERYTHING is a 10 minute walk

There are somewhere in the region of 40-50 clubs, pubs and bars in Aber, and all of them are no more than a ten minute walk. We may be a small town but when you’ve gotta get from Cambrian to Downies before last orders, your glad then that this town is pint sized.

Who needs more than Yoko’s?

People can often be heard whining that there should be more clubs in Aber, and yes sure there’s Pier Pressure (only open three times a week and super expensive all the time) but Yoko’s for all our complaining that it’s too small is the one hotspot on a nightout.

Every group of friends will go to Yokos on a night, it’s like an unwritten rule. Yokos may be a shithole sometimes, but it’s our shithole and we wouldn’t want it any different.

We have the most pubs in UK

While no official stat can be found, it is widely regarded and speculated that Aberystwyth is home to the most pubs per square mile in the UK with a ridiculous 53 or so. Did we mention these are only a ten minute walk away, yeah?

Sophie’s breakfasts

There are many options for the post lash hangover breakfast, but when you forced yourself into A12 with alcohol shakes for your 9am, and your housemate messages saying “wanna get breakfast”, it’s gonna be Sophie’s or you’re just doing everything wrong.

What’s not to love about a ‘Monster Breakfast’ large enough to look like they basically served an entire pig on your plate just in various forms? Sausage, bacon, black pudding, beans, fried bread, toast, fried eggs, tomato, mushrooms and hashbrowns… seriously, you do not mess with this breakfast.

The SU

The SU, well… so we don’t really have a proper SU in the sense of a party hub because, well, being at the top of Penglais Hill it’s just way too much effort for a mediocre at best night. Day drinking though? There is no finer venue to get a pint from 11am onwards, so if lectures are bad and your heading over to Hugh Owen for a seminar  not having done the reading, why not go for quick cheerful pint for some dutch courage and blag your way through.

Consti

As iconic as the Old College, consti is on every single one of your facebook’s somewhere and you know it. With all the colourful houses along the seafront you can’t help but wonder if they based Balamory of this quaint little town.

Lip Licking

As much an Aber institution as Yoko’s, the national library or even the uni itself, Lip Licking Chicken is an essential stop on any night out for tasty wings, delicious cheesy chips or a cheeky chicken burger. Sure, there are speculations that for a while they were serving seagull and not chicken, but did anyone actually care or stop noshing on crispy bird meat.

And the little guy in the cap, everyone knows him and loves him… but he’s not going to be seen anywhere other than Aber.

Conrads cabs

The taxi driver with a beautiful beard, great banter and a phenomenal Snapchat. Getting a taxi with Ows or Dragon cabs is alright, but the whole drive you’re just said that well, it not the main man himself, Conrad. Also, when did taxi’s start taking card as well?

Location, Location, Location

Given that Wales never really developed roads or train tracks or any real infrastructure it makes getting in and out of Aber a ballache. It was only until recently that trains started running hourly and this is meant to be ‘big town’. On the plus side though it makes visits from family a scheduled and thoroughly planned event meaning no surprises from mum and dad when your room is full of bongs and beer bottles. Not something you could have in Cardiff or Swansea with actual public transport.

Dolphins in Cardigan Bay

Yeah… this little welsh seaside town has great views of dolphins… in the UK. Enough said, really.