Birmingham, UK, Teems With Tourist Activities
From Flowers to Motorcycles and Chocolate, City Has Much to See, Do
Jun 2, 2009
Birmingham, located in the West Midlands, is England’s second-largest city. Yet, amidst all this hustle and bustle, it retains a small-town atmosphere. Residents offer help willingly to visitors. Restaurateurs take the time to chat with diners, and may even offer them a complimentary brandy to top off the meal.
Birmingham Presents Variety of Activities
And there are so many things to see and do, travelers won’t have a chance to get bored. There are art galleries and a multi-story auditorium at Brindley Place which can handle up to 10 different performances and other events at the same time. Brindley Place also offers fine dining, boutiques and the opportunity to walk along one of the city’s many canals. Birmingham is said to have more canals than Venice!
Gardeners will enjoy a walk through the serene Birmingham Botanical Gardens, located a couple of blocks off Edgbastion Road. The 15-acre site offers traditional English gardens, as well as greenhouses full of tropical plants, cactus and Mediterranean blooms.
Black Country Museum Teaches About Coal Mining
The Black Country Museum in the suburb of Dudley puts visitors in touch with the area’s coal-mining past. The outdoor museum is a restored coal mining town, complete with shops, restaurants, homes, coal barging operations and a coal mine.
The National Motorcycle Museum is located in Solihull, about a mile from the airport. It’s the largest motorcycle museum in the world. It only displays British motorcycles, starting with the days when a motorcycle was nothing but a bicycle with a gas engine attached to it.
Chocoholics can get their fix at Cadbury World, the British candy-maker famous for its Dairy Milk chocolate bar. The tour takes about a couple of hours, and includes several opportunities to sample the product. Cadbury is located in Bourneville, a 10-minute train ride from Birmingham’s New Street Station.
Like to shop? The old downtown area has been turned into a pedestrian mall with shopping experiences for one and all. The Bullring, a few blocks away, is full of restaurants and boutiques, and is said to be THE place to shop in Birmingham. Just outside the Bullring is a large, open-air flea market with all things imagineable.
Birmingham Makes Good Base for Day Trips
Birmingham also makes a good base to explore surrounding towns such as Coventry, home of Lady Godiva and a somber bombed-out cathedral shell; Stratford-upon Avon, birthplace of Shakespeare, and Warwick, home to one of the most famous castles in England.
All are reachable on the West Midlands bus system, which travels throughout Birmingham and its environs. A day ticket is the best travel bargain yet. For £3.30 (about US$5.40), travelers get unlimited travel throughout the area after 9:30 a.m. A day ticket is cheaper than buying separate tickets for one round-trip.
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