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Smithdown Road Student Area Guide

Smithdown Road is a popular area with students. The road has a little bit of everything and is ideal for student living. This guide examines the pros and cons of this popular student area.

Published on: 22 Jan 2024

Smithdown Road Student Area

Smithdown Road is a well known student area in Liverpool. Located southeast of the town centre, the road has a little bit of everything and a great place to spend time while studying in the city.

We would say Smithdown Road is a great place to visit and hang out but is a little far from the city centre to live.

It’s a short distance to most universities so it isn't the most convenient. There are plenty of buses to take you there and back though.

Smithdown Road

Smithdown Road is southeast of Liverpool city centre where Upper Parliament Street turns into the A562. It’s a long road that goes through Toxteth until it meets Queens Drive and turns into Menlove Avenue.

There’s a lot going on for a single street.

There are three supermarkets, an Asda (The Asda), Aldi and Tesco Express, smaller shops, takeaways and restaurants, The Brookhouse, Kelly’s Dispensary, Craft Taproom, Handyman’s Supermarket, Friends Kebab, The Tavern Co, TriBeCa, Christakis, Dafna’s Cheesecake Factory, Spitroast and a number of other amenities.

The Brookhouse is one of the largest student pubs in the city and regularly offers £1 per pint during the week.

It’s not perfect, though. It’s a 45-minute walk to Liverpool Hope University, 35-minute walk to the University of Liverpool and 40 minutes from Liverpool John Moores University.

Buses, cycling and driving will obviously be faster, but for a student area, it’s not exactly convenient for class!

Living on Smithdown Road

Buses run regularly, the 86 and 699 buses take you into the city centre and the 86 currently runs all night, which is a bonus but not more convenient than living in the city centre.

Smithdown Road has a limited number of eateries. There’s Evil Eye Burrito, Dafna’s Cheesecake Factory, Friends Kebab, Little Furnace and The Tavern for starters.

If music is more your thing, Kelly’s, The Brookhouse and the Willowbank have you covered. Each features a wide range of live music and entertainment, with some of the best live acts in Liverpool making the rounds there.

Then there’s the Smithdown Road Festival. Every year, the road features an exceptionally popular festival with live music, comedy, cinema, theatre and entertainment.

Depending on the year, there can be up to 180 bands playing live across several stages over two or three days. That’s a definite highlight of living here!

Student accommodation on Smithdown Road

Student accommodation on Smithdown Road is a mix of styles but mainly converted Victorian houses.

There’s a genuine mix of sizes, styles and qualities like there is anywhere, so you definitely need to visit before you commit.

Rents are reasonable and kept in check by competition.

There are literally hundreds of properties along Smithdown Road and the streets off it, so rents have remained reasonable despite everything.

That said, with the cost of living going up, private landlords are increasingly passing on rising energy costs to renters in the form of rent hikes.

With this in mind, you may want to reconsider accommodation in Liverpool with bills and utilities included at a fixed price. There is often a minimal difference in price when factoring in the latest rent hikes and you’ll often find yourself in a more favourable city centre location, which further saves on transport costs.

As we said earlier, Smithdown Road isn’t as popular as Kensington or living in the town centre, but is worth visiting if you want a cheap night out.

Getting to and from Smithdown Road

Smithdown Road is a short distance southwest of the city centre and is easy to navigate.

Buses run along the road from the city and will take around 15 minutes to get to Liverpool Hope University, 30 minutes to the University of Liverpool, 20 minutes to Liverpool John Moores University and 15-20 minutes to get to LIPA.

That’s not bad considering this is a city.

Those same buses can take you to Liverpool Lime Street railway station if you want to travel further afield.

You can obviously cycle, Uber and drive everywhere from here too.

Is Smithdown Road the best place for students to live?

So, the million-dollar question. Is Smithdown Road the best place for students to live?

As much as we like Smithdown Road, it wouldn’t be our first choice to live. It’s vibrant and there’s always something going on but it’s a little far out of town for our tastes.

It doesn’t have the vibe of Kensington or the convenience of city centre living, but it’s definitely close!

There are plenty of places to eat, drink and be merry. There’s lots of music, culture and places to hang out.

The main downside is the additional time and cost of travelling to and from the city centre each day. That becomes even more of an issue on a night out!

When weighing up the total cost and convenience of being based in Smithdown Road be sure to consider the more central accommodation offered by Sanctuary Students in Liverpool.

Besides the security of fixed price all-inclusive bills, you’ll also have the added convenience of being closer to class, the library and anywhere else you need to go in the city centre.

We don’t want to take anything away from Is Smithdown Road, as it’s a great place to hang out as a student. We had friends who lived there and they liked it.

They didn’t love having to get a bus everywhere, though, especially after a night on the town!

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