Coventry has rebuilt itself more than once, and you can still see the joins. The Cathedral ruins stand beside the new cathedral. The post-war ring road cuts through a city centre that is still finding new ways to bring people back. The old industrial city survives in stories of cars, aircraft, machine tools and music, while Coventry University, FarGo Village, Friargate and the city’s transport projects keep adding new layers.

The past here is not kept at a polite distance. Coventry Cathedral’s ruins and the new cathedral carry the memory of the Blitz, but also the city’s language of peace and reconciliation. Lady Godiva remains in Broadgate. Spon Street keeps medieval timber-framed buildings close to the everyday centre. The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry Transport Museum and Belgrade Theatre give the city different ways to look at its own history — through art, engineering, performance, memory and making.

Coventry is also a working place. Coventry University occupies the middle of the city and connects directly to Far Gosford Street, student life and the central businesses. The University of Warwick sits on the southern edge of the city in a Coventry–Warwickshire border context. Automotive, aerospace, rail, advanced manufacturing, robotics and digital work sit alongside health, education, retail and small independent businesses. Walsgrave and University Hospital Coventry have their own geography; so do Green Lane, Whitley, Foleshill, Radford, Hillfields, Earlsdon, Canley, Tile Hill, Stoke, Wyken, Binley and Cheylesmore.

The city has a soundtrack as well as a skyline. Two-tone, The Specials and Coventry’s independent music history are part of the place, but they do not explain everything about it. A match at CBS Arena, a meal on Far Gosford Street, a walk by the River Sowe or a Saturday in Coventry Market can tell you just as much about how the city is living now.

coventryguide.co.uk is for finding what is happening, where to go, which services are useful and how to look at the city through what it has actually built, lost and rebuilt.

What we cover

We cover:

things to do, exhibitions, performances and family days out;
local events, festivals, music and community activity;
food, drink, shopping and independent businesses;
practical local services and straightforward explainers;
neighbourhood guides and everyday lifestyle;
rail, bus, road and getting-around information;
Coventry’s industrial, automotive, cultural, sporting and civic life.

A page might be about Coventry Transport Museum, a performance at the Belgrade Theatre, a match at CBS Arena, a walk through the Cathedral Quarter, a business near Far Gosford Street, a university event or a city-centre regeneration project. The right detail is usually more useful than the broad claim: which authority, which campus, which stadium, which route and which phase of a project.

Coventry, Warwickshire and the West Midlands

Coventry is a metropolitan city and local-authority area. Warwickshire County Council covers surrounding county geography and services; it is not Coventry City Council. Warwick, Kenilworth, Leamington Spa, Nuneaton, Birmingham, Solihull and the wider West Midlands are connected to Coventry in different ways, but they are not Coventry neighbourhoods.

The University of Warwick is on the southern edge of Coventry in a Coventry–Warwickshire border context. Birmingham Airport is nearby and useful to the city, but is not inside Coventry. Coventry Very Light Rail is a project and innovation field whose status must be described according to current evidence, not assumed to be a completed city-wide network.

Useful details, not just landmarks

Rail services, station access, roadworks, ring-road arrangements, event-day traffic, football fixtures, opening hours, hospital departments, museum programmes and regeneration or transport projects can change. We aim to keep practical details current and point readers back to the relevant organiser, operator, venue, council, hospital or transport provider when a final confirmation is needed.

coventryguide.co.uk is published independently. Recommendations are kept separate from advertising, paid listings and affiliate links. A listing or link does not mean that Coventry City Council, Coventry Cathedral, Coventry Transport Museum, Coventry University, the University of Warwick, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Coventry City Football Club, a venue or another named organisation endorses the site.

For corrections, accessibility feedback, partnership enquiries or local suggestions, contact [email protected].

Contact details

Email: [email protected]
Address: West Orchards Shopping Centre, Smithford Way, Coventry, CV1 1QX

Document date

Last updated: 1 October 2026