Top 10 best things to do during reading week

Because you're never going to spend all that time reading, are you?

As half-term (ahem, "reading week") approaches, many students will have already booked the first train back home in preparation for seven days of fresh vegetables, quality toilet paper and central heating.

However, reading week can be a great opportunity to try something new and have fun; of course, that’s when you’re not catching up on seminar reading and researching for the thousands of words of essays due in before Christmas.

If you’re a fresher, there is even more reason to stay at university for the week, as if the extent you've explored your new city is anything like mine was in the first term (an open top bus tour in week one), there is certainly a lot more on offer, even on a student budget.

Click here to launch the gallery

Try having a museum and art gallery day; most of them are free. Enjoy a day out visiting a historical sight, like the ones your parents dragged you to as a child, as they often have concessions for students.

Even if you don’t feel like providing a boost to the local tourism industry, there are plenty of alternative ideas for ways to make you almost forget about all the homemade cake you could be eating on your comfortable sofa at home.