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

Market Square, off Greengate Street, is a piazza-style shopping experience. Home to Boots, The Body Shop, River Island and various banks, it is also an access point to the Guildhall Shopping Centre (open Mon to Sat) which has more than 40 shops, including Topshop, HMV and top designer fashion in Ms Busybody's and Rig Out. Co-Op runs Stafford's two-storey department store on Gaolgate Street where Marks & Spencer is also located.

For one-off arts and crafts shops, wander St Mary's Mews, Church Lane, Mill Street and Bridge Street. Paperhouse on Greengate Street has good gifts.

St John's Market, adjacent to the Guildhall Shopping Centre, is a lively market (open Tue, Thu, Sat and Sun) with more than 70 stalls selling fruit, vegetables and bric-a-brac. Market Square also hosts speciality markets from time to time.

Shopping hours are 9am-5.30pm Monday to Saturday. Some shops open on Sunday 10am-4pm.

Items to take home include Tutbury crystal glassware and the quality china for which the region is famed - look out for Royal Doulton, Spode and Wedgwood - sold at the factory shops around Stoke-on-Trent and in Stafford's Hadleys on Gaolgate Street and Dunoon's in the nearby village of Stone.

Piazza-style shopping in Market Square, quality china in Gaolgate Street

Greengate Street is lined with pubs. There are a few chain names (Wetherspoons, Chicago Rock, New York New York) but Stafford's pubs are mostly individually owned or run by small breweries. Some pubs have a late licence (until 1am) such as The Surgery on Crabbery Street.

Stafford Gatehouse Theatre is Stafford's only theatre with a changing programme of home-grown and touring theatre, music and comedy talent. The Apollo Cinema on the corner of Newport Road and Lichfield Road has several screens, and shows the latest big-budget releases. Live jazz comes to Granville's while The Grapes on Bridge Street is a major live music venue with regular acoustic, rock and jam nights.

A tasty local ale to try is Banks' Bitter brewed in nearby Burton.

Banks' bitter at The Surgery until 1am, live music venues in Bridge Street

Almost all the pubs serve food - The Sun Inn and The Swan serve some of the best pub grub in the town centre - while the Hollybush Inn in the nearby village of Salt is the oldest licensed pub in the area and features in the Good Pub Guide.

Home-baked cakes are a Stafford speciality - for a cosy tea-room experience visit The Soup Kitchen on 16th-century Church Lane or The Grove Coffee House on St Mary's Grove, a historic alleyway off Market Square.

Expect to pay around £10 per head on a curry/pizza and up to £25-£35 per head for a three-course meal with wine in more upmarket places. Most restaurants open daily.

Housed in a 15th-century moat house beside the canal, the recently refurbished restaurant uses the best local produce to serve British food with a Mediterranean twist. Choose from the traditional Brasserie Bar or dine in style in the Conservatory Restaurant, winner of the AA regional award.

A bustling, contemporary bistro serving good-value, three-course lunch and dinner menus. Modern European dishes dominate the menu, but Asian and traditional British influences get a look-in too. Try the char-grilled tuna kebab, apricot and ginger risotto with crispy duck and chocolate cookie tower.

9am-5pm Monday to Friday

IT and creative industries

University district (IT industries)