A city that’s continuously on the move: this is the Birmingham of today, which has now shaken off for good its grey industrial past, to shine as a place bursting with something for everyone.
Green spaces, art in its museums, galleries and streets, fashionable restaurants and bars and the delightful maritime atmosphere of its picturesque canals are the main attractions of the UK’s second largest city, which is easy to get to thanks to its strategic location in the centre of the country, less than an hour and a half from London. The avant-garde structures, such as the library and the iconic facade of Selfridges, stand harmoniously alongside lovingly restored Victorian buildings, making the urban architecture varied and vibrant.
We’d advise you to start off your tour of the city by exploring its vast network of canals, around which Birmingham is based, and which today are flanked by some lovely routes overlooked by former factories. The most popular walk, of around 45 minutes, is the one along the winding section between Gas Street Basin and the University of Birmingham.
For a drink and a bit of shopping, make your way to Digbeth, the once dilapidated district that is now the bustling epicentre of the city’s street art, where you can enjoy a stroll and treat yourself to a pitstop in one of the many bars.
Birmingham’s most famous monument is St. Philip’s Cathedral, one of the country’s most interesting Baroque churches, where you can start your tour of the Jewellery Quarter, the area containing England’s largest concentration of jewellery workshops and businesses. Other must-sees during your visit to Birmingham are the Museum and Art Gallery, with its extensive and varied collection of works, the Botanical Gardens, the majestic 17th century stately home of Aston Hall and the Science Museum.
Children will have the time of their lives at Cadbury World, an enormous space full of attractions relating to one of the largest chocolate companies in the world.
Then one of the city’s iconic sites is the Back to Backs, a series of houses built in the 19th century to accommodate working class families around the time of the Industrial Revolution. Visiting them offers a unique opportunity to step into the everyday life of that period and rediscover the past of this city, which has succeeded in appreciating the value of its roots and enhancing them through creativity and forward thinking.
