Top 10 Things To Do in Birmingham in 2024

Head through ‘Paradise` to Centenary Square, where you’ll find the Repertory Theatre and the world-renowned Symphony Hall. Contemporary art fans can drop into the free Ikon Gallery nearby and those with culture on their agenda should make time to visit the fabulous Barber Institute of Fine Arts, situated within the University of Birmingham Campus. Described as one of the finest small art galleries in Europe and also home to a lovely concert hall, it’s just 20 minutes’ drive from the hotel.

On the other side of Centenary Square you’ll find the National SEA LIFE Centre, which makes a fantastic family outing, especially on a dull day when the array of stunning exhibits and activities will brighten things up no end. Check out the UK’s only 360 degrees sea tunnel; choose your favourite aquarium zone from Penguin Ice Adventures, Jelly Invaders, Mammal Rescue and more; and view sea otters, turtles, clownfish and sharks in action. Open seven days a week, you can book your tickets and timeslot in advance.

The Bullring Shopping Centre, opened to great fanfare in 2003, needs no introduction, but the site has been used by retailers hundreds of years, beginning with the first market traders back in the 12^th century. When in a man called John Cooper was given the right to bait bulls at a site opposite St Martins Church in the 16^th century, the area became known as the Bull Ring. By the 19^th century, the narrow streets congested with traders and stalls and been cleared and a spacious Market Hall with room for 600 units was erected. Damaged and rendered roofless by bombing during World War 11, a new escalator-lined, air-conditioned Bull Ring shopping centre was opened in 1964 – the biggest indoor shopping mall outside the USA.

Today’s Bullring stands against a dramatic skyline featuring St Martin’s Church – the original parish church of Birmingham, which was built in 1873, replacing its 13^th century predecessor – and the nearby Rotunda, a symbol of Birmingham city centre redevelopment in the 1960s and now Grade 11 listed.

For those firmly set on a day of retail therapy, the Bullring Shopping Centre - one of the country’s largest contemporary shopping malls - is less than 10 minutes’ walk from the hotel which means your shopping-laden journey back to the hotel will be short and sweet.

Whether you’re lured by the opportunity to make a shiny purchase or attracted by the history of the area, a trip to the Jewellery Quarter is a must. Walk there in around 25 minutes from the hotel or take a tram or bus and you’ll be there in 15.

Gold and silversmiths have been working in this area since the late 1700’s onwards and the industry reached its peak in the early 1900’s, with the quality of jewellery exceptionally high and stamped with its own hallmark. For most of its former lifetime, the Jewellery Quarter was a closed community of wholesalers until the economic downturn of the 1970’s led manufacturers to open their doors and sell directly to consumers. More recently, the creative industries and independent businesses have moved into the area, establishing a vibrant new community alongside modern-day jewellery makers. The Jewellery Quarter is still said to house the highest concentration of dedicated jewellers in Europe.

You can explore the Jewellery Quarter by following its heritage trail or joining a walking tour, but it’s also a great place to spend an afternoon pottering, with galleries, exhibitions and activities to check out and the highly rated Museum of the Jewellery Quarter offering more in-depth background to this unique area. You’ll also find the Pen Museum here, testament to the fact that the city was the centre of the world’s dip pen trade in the 19^th century, with steel nib making continuing to thrive in Birmingham until the mid-20^th century.  

If you want a different historical perspective, it’s just an 8 minute walk from the hotel to the Birmingham Back to Backs – the only surviving back-to-back houses in the city. Managed by the National Trust, they give an intriguing insight into working-class life in the 19th and early 20^th centuries, with a shared washhouse and toilets a feature of the shared courtyard.

Avid viewers of ‘Peaky Blinders` will love the history of Birmingham and the chance to glimpse areas of the city and surrounding areas that evoke the gritty landscape of the Shelby brothers’ drama. The award-winning Black Country Living Museum was actually used as a set for some scenes in the TV series but better than that, most of the buildings you see there were relocated from their original sites in the area known as the Black Country – carefully reconstructed shops, houses and industrial areas that represent its story, with characters re-enacting 300 years of history, focusing on 1850–1950.

It's a fascinating visual and sensory experience which encapsulates the steamy, noisy, revolutionary period of the Industrial Revolution and beyond and at just 35 minutes by car from the hotel, it makes a fantastic day trip for the whole family.

For a taste of nature a little closer to home - less than 15 minutes’ drive - the Birmingham Botanical Gardens in Edgbaston makes a great family day out. There are four glasshouses to discover - Tropical, Subtropical, Mediterranean and Arid - and family activity backpacks to hire that are packed with creative resources, as well as lots of fun trails to follow. The Japanese Garden houses the national bonsai collection and each month, there’s different walk through the gardens featuring highlights of the season.