Sanny has covered it pretty well. There’s a gig on at Fruit tonight (Petrol Girls) if that’s your thing, and there’s a bunch of little galleries dotted around. The main (Ferens) gallery is shut for refurbishment though. There’s a load of photography exhibited in Princes Quay including a few friends work.
If you want something nice to eat head to Princes Avenue or Newland Avenue – there is literally tons of choice. Lots of nice foodie bars, really good Thai and Malaysian places, Marrakech is delicious, Henry Yeast is awesome for Sunday dinner, there’s a lovely veggie cafe called Zoo… There really is loads. I don’t often eat in the town but old town is probably your best bet there. Hitchcocks is an awesome veggie restaurant if it’s open but you need to book in advance.
If you’re at Castle Hill then Cottingham itself is quite pleasant and you could head out onto the Wolds for a walk though it might have melted back to a big now. Plenty of little village pubs to choose from.
If you fancy the coast Brid or Hornsea are closest but not great apart from the sea and decent fish and chips.
Feel free to drop me an email for more info 🙂 willslater(at)gmail(dot)com