The essential guide to the best places to shop, eat and relax in Coventry. Find the best restaurants, cinemas and nightlife spots along with general need-to-know information including shopping hours and going out tips.

Cathedral Lanes shopping centre, adjacent to the Lady Godiva statue on Broadgate, has a Waterstone's bookshop among other high street names. Opposite Cathedral Lanes is Coventry's pedestrianised shopping precinct, designed by Donald Gibson and opened in 1948. One of the great sights of post-war Britain, it is composed of the Lower Precinct (Boots, H&M Hennes, Lush, Next), the Upper Precinct (Marks & Spencer, Wallis, Virgin Megastore, Monsoon), the West Orchards shopping centre, Hertford Street, Bull Yard, Market Way, Smithford Way and the Coventry Retail Market.

Designer fashion is found in the boutiques on Hertford Street (Wish, Seventy Two, Brains Leathergoods, Stomp) which is also home to HMV and Garb in Shelton Square. Top fashion brands are also found in the West Orchards shopping centre (Debenhams has Armani, Versace, FCUK, Jasper Conran, Blue Harbour). West Orchards also has the Terrace food court so shoppers can rest their legs.

Coventry Retail Market is the city's best market and the only circular market in the UK (open Mon-Sat). It has over 170 stalls selling fresh fish, locally sourced fruit and vegetables as well as crafts, clothes and gifts.

Shopping hours are 9am-5.30pm Monday to Saturday and 10am-4pm or 11am-5pm on Sundays. There is a Shop Mobility unit on Market Way in the heart of the shopping precinct.

Bull Yard, just off Hertford Street, is crammed with cafés and makes a good people-watching spot.

Window-shop in the precinct, find designer labels on Hertford Street

Coventry has a buzzing pub scene with hotspots including Bull Yard, Spon Street and the Skydome. Live sporting events are screened at the Orange House in the Skydome.

Belgrade Theatre (one of Coventry's 26 twinned cities) hosts touring theatrical productions, classical concerts, comedy nights, dance performances and pantomimes at Christmas. The Tin Angel in Spon Street is a café-bar where local musicians, poets and artists get a chance to shine.

The Jailhouse Inn on Much Park Street has live music from Wednesday to Saturday. Visitors should try locally brewed ales such as Rainbow, Church End and Frankton Bagby.

Plays in Belgrade Theatre, clubbing in Diva and Ikon

Restaurants cluster on the medieval (real and fake) timber-framed Spon Street and in Bull Yard in the shopping precinct area, while Gosford Street near the Cathedral Quarter also has many eateries. Thanks to the multicultural Coventry communties, cuisines on offer are diverse.

Try anything from traditional carvery (Leofric Hotel) to Italian (Pizza Express and family-run Ristorante Etna), Indian (Rupali - Real Curry Restaurant Guide winner 2002 and award-winning Turmeric Gold), Mexican (Caramba), Turkish (Ephesus) and Arabic (Habibi). The Coombe Abbey Hotel host medieval banquets and a younger crowd enjoy the DJ-led entertainment on hand at the Chicago Rock Café in the Skydome.

Expect to pay less than £10 per head for a pub lunch while a more upmarket three-course meal will set you back between £20-30 per head. Some restaurants close on Sundays and Mondays.

The diverse menu (fresh lobster, steak and kidney pudding) offers express menus for business lunches and good value family lunches on Sundays. The bar has comfy leather sofas and chrome bar stools, while upstairs the restaurant is light and airy with wooden floors.

1450 is a café/bar housed in a mid-15th century timber-framed building across two floors. Modern European cuisine (rib-eye, sirloin or fillet steaks, potato wedges or handcut chips) and 75 different world beers are yours to choose from. Specials change fortnightly.

9am-5pm Monday to Friday

Automotive and specialist engineering (London Taxis, Jaguar, Peugeot), insurance and education

Parkside (industrial areas), Warwick University (education)