Birmingham

Best things to do in Birmingham

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   1. Stratford-upon-Avon (day trip)

   • A full day
   • Check entry rules before you go
   • Couples
   • Families
   • Rainy day

   A market town on the River Avon in Warwickshire, 22 miles south-east of Birmingham. It sits at the southern edge of the Arden area, on the northern edge of the Cotswolds.

   Check train times and any attraction tickets before you go.

   24,070 readers a month

   Sources

   • Wikipedia, Stratford-upon-Avon

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   2. Warwick Castle (day trip)

   • Half a day to a full day
   • Tickets needed
   • Families
   • Couples

   A medieval castle that grew from a wooden fort built by William the Conqueror in 1068, rebuilt in stone in the 12th century. It is on the River Avon at Warwick and has been run by the Tussauds Group since 1978.

   Check opening times and ticket arrangements with the operator before you go.

   10,971 readers a month

   Sources

   • Wikipedia, Warwick Castle

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   3. Coventry Cathedral (day trip)

   • 1 to 2 hours
   • Check entry rules before you go
   • Couples
   • Rainy day
   • No car needed

   The Cathedral Church of Saint Michael, seat of the Bishop of Coventry in the West Midlands.

   Check opening times and ticket arrangements with the operator before you go.

   6,309 readers a month

   Sources

   • Wikipedia, Coventry Cathedral

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   4. Kenilworth Castle (day trip)

   • 2 to 3 hours
   • Tickets needed
   • Families
   • Couples

   A largely ruined castle in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, run by English Heritage and founded after the Norman Conquest. It is described by one architectural historian as the finest surviving semi-royal palace of the later Middle Ages.

   Check opening times and ticket arrangements with the operator before you go.

   4,962 readers a month

   Sources

   • Wikipedia, Kenilworth Castle

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   5. Black Country Living Museum (day trip)

   • Half a day to a full day
   • Check entry rules before you go
   • Families
   • Rainy day

   An open-air museum of rebuilt historic buildings in Dudley, 10 miles west of Birmingham. It occupies 10.5 hectares of former industrial land, including old lime kilns, a canal arm and former coal pits.

   Check opening times and ticket arrangements with the operator before you go.

   2,525 readers a month

   Sources

   • Wikipedia, Black Country Living Museum

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   6. Library of Birmingham

   • 1 to 2 hours
   • No booking needed
   • Rainy day
   • No car needed
   • Couples

   A public library in Centenary Square that opened on 3 September 2013. It has been described as the largest public library in the United Kingdom.

   1,945 readers a month

   Sources

   • Wikipedia, Library of Birmingham

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   7. Aston Hall

   • 1 to 2 hours
   • Check entry rules before you go
   • Families
   • Rainy day

   A Grade I listed Jacobean house in Aston, Birmingham, designed by John Thorpe and built between 1618 and 1635. It is a leading example of a Jacobean prodigy house.

   Check opening times and ticket arrangements with the operator before you go.

   1,856 readers a month

   Sources

   • Wikipedia, Aston Hall

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   8. Jewellery Quarter

   • Half a day
   • No booking needed
   • Couples
   • No car needed
   • Rainy day

   An area in the north-west of Birmingham city centre, about 1.07 square kilometres in size.

   1,376 readers a month

   Sources

   • Wikipedia, Jewellery Quarter
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   9. Cadbury World

   • Half a day
   • Tickets needed
   • Families
   • Rainy day

   A visitor attraction in Bournville, Birmingham, built around a self-guided exhibition tour that tells the history of chocolate and of the Cadbury business.

   Check opening times and ticket arrangements with the operator before you go.

   1,363 readers a month

   Sources

   • Wikipedia, Cadbury World

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    10. St Philip's Cathedral

    • About an hour
    • No booking needed
    • Couples
    • Rainy day
    • No car needed

    A Baroque Church of England cathedral on Colmore Row, built by Thomas Archer and consecrated in 1715. It became the cathedral of the new Diocese of Birmingham in 1905 and is Grade I listed.

    1,316 readers a month

    Sources

    • Wikipedia, St Philip%27s Cathedral, Birmingham

Just missed the list: Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (11th by readers; fine art, ceramics, jewellery, natural history and local history); Birmingham Back to Backs (12th by readers; the city's last surviving court of back-to-back houses, run by the National Trust)