This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).
Everything changed for Birmingham with the arrival of the Commonwealth Games in 2022, the biggest in the event’s history. With athletes and delegates from 72 nations descending on the region and more than 1.5 million tickets sold, it gave England’s second city a chance to prove its mettle on the world stage. And so it did. The opening and closing ceremonies rolled out Birmingham’s multifaceted past, proudly celebrating the city’s long-standing multicultural residents — often referred to as ‘Brummies’ — and manufacturing heritage as reggae, rock and grime artists shared the stage.
It’s no surprise that this former industrial powerhouse chose to showcase its roots. From around the 16th century, the city became lauded for its metal-working industry, earning it the nickname of the ‘workshop of the world’ by the 18th century. It then became home to two of the UK’s biggest car manufacturers: Jaguar and MG Rover.
Today, the residents of Birmingham are down-to-earth and self-deprecating, but the city has had its fair share of fame. Novelist and lecturer JRR Tolkien spent formative years around King’s Heath and Sarehole at the end of the 19th century and later cited the area as inspiration for his books. During the same period, the real-life Peaky Blinders criminal street gang rampaged around Birmingham; they would go on to be the inspiration for the blockbuster period television drama that now draws tourists to its city filming locations.
Birmingham has been lauded for its metal-working industry since the 16th century.
Photograph by Ben Rowe
Birmingham’s industrial prowess lasted well into the 20th century, but eventually waned as British manufacturing was scaled back from the 1970s. However, its heritage is still on show in pockets of the city, namely along the snaking canal network, which was cut in the 18th and 19th centuries to transport heavy goods in and out of the region by narrowboat. Now, many of the waterways have become urban parks used by joggers, cyclists and kayakers.
In Digbeth, the former Bird’s Custard Factory is now a creative digital business complex home to independent bars, shops and a cinema. In the Jewellery Quarter, where 40% of the UK’s jewellery is still made today, former factories have been repurposed as hotels, trendsetting restaurants and social enterprise spaces. The regeneration of public squares in the city centre, meanwhile, has seen historic neoclassical architecture like Birmingham Town Hall blend in seamlessly in Paradise, a sleek development mixing business space and leisure facilities.
Steady gentrification has also seeped into the dining scene. While the city has long been lauded for its authentic South Asian cuisine, especially around the Balti Triangle, what’s less well known is that Birmingham has five Michelin stars, more than any other English city outside of London. It may not shout about its achievements, but Birmingham’s official motto is Forward — and that’s the way it looks.
What to see and do in Birmingham
1. Roundhouse Birmingham Kayak Tours
Birmingham’s canal network was first engineered in the 1700s to transport heavy goods such as coal and iron. Today, the waterway’s distinctive 19th-century brick Roundhouse, originally used as stables and store houses, has been revamped in collaboration with the National Trust and Canals & Rivers Trust as a base for tours. Pop into the Grade II-listed building’s visitor centre in the heart of the city centre before joining one of its unique kayak trips, offering a duck’s-eye view of popular landmarks such as the historic Gas Street Basin, and areas that are inaccessible by foot.
2. Sarehole Mill & Moseley Bog
It’s hard to believe that a young JRR Tolkien drew inspiration for The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings when living just five miles south of Birmingham city centre, but it’s true. Tolkien often visited the grounds surrounding Sarehole Mill, a 250-year-old working watermill in Hall Green, which he later said inspired Middle Earth. A five-minute walk away is Moseley Bog, an ancient forest with gnarled trees and walking trails, which was the inspiration for the Old Forest, on the edge of the Shire.
3. Positively Birmingham
These fun walking tours, led by local authors and photographers, tap into topics ranging from the city’s Victorian heritage to its role as the backdrop for the hit TV series Peaky Blinders. Tours run Friday to Sunday and take in street art, filming locations and city landmarks, like the Library of Birmingham and Black Sabbath Bridge.
4. Aston Hall
This Grade I-listed Jacobean red-brick mansion across the road from Villa Park, home of Aston Villa FC, remains one of the finest standing examples of 17th-century architecture in the city. It also claims to be one of the UK’s most haunted buildings. Combine a visit to its rooms with a tour of Villa Park.
5. Jewellery Quarter
Birmingham’s 19th-century industrial prowess gave it the nickname the ‘workshop of the world’, so for a window into its heritage, visit the city centre’s Jewellery Quarter. Here you’ll find Europe’s largest concentration of jewellers in a district where the original FA Cup, the whistles used on RMS Titanic and, at one point, 75% of the world’s pen nibs were manufactured. Now, many of the Jewellery Quarter’s warehouses have been repurposed as bars, museums and restaurants, all sprawling out from its centrepiece, St Paul’s Square.
40% of the UK’s jewellery is made in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.
Photograph by Ben Rowe
6. Cadbury World
Britain’s favourite chocolate maker turns 200 this year, and what better way to celebrate than with a visit to its factory? Just 13 minutes from New Street Station by train, Cadbury World’s home is the historic Bournville model village, where cottages, schools and sports facilities were built in 1893 by the Cadbury family for its workers. Today, Bournville remains a blueprint for British model villages and its immersive factory tour tells the brand’s story through interactive displays, actor appearances and, of course, tastings.
7. Ikon Gallery
This nationally important artist-led gallery has one goal: to make art accessible for the people of Birmingham, free of charge. Ikon turns 60 this year and has been in its current neo-gothic city centre building on Oozells Square — a spot famous for its cherry blossom display in spring — since 1997. Recent exhibitions have showcased the works of photographer Vanley Burke and painter Mali Morris, among others.
8. Parks & green spaces
With more than 8,500 acres of parks and gardens to explore, Birmingham is a much greener city than its industrial past would lead you to believe. Locals’ favourite park is Cannon Hill, a 15-minute bus ride south of the centre, which is home to the Midlands Arts Centre, an outdoor amphitheatre, boating lake, tennis courts and mini golf.
Where to shop in Birmingham
1. Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
Following a lengthy refurbishment, BMAG’s main galleries are undergoing a phased reopening in time for this summer. Head to its shop for products by local creatives, such as Stacey Barnfield’s Birmingham Colour Palette prints, and Punks & Chancer’s t-shirts emblazoned with the Brummie endearment ‘bab’.
The city has no shortage of live music venues and vintage vinyl haunts.
Photograph by Ben Rowe
2. Swordfish Records
Swordfish is a shop tucked away on the city centre’s northeastern edge, but is worth the effort — it’s been a city mainstay since 1979. Most genres are catered for here but there’s nothing more quintessentially Brummie than flicking through the crates and going home with a Black Sabbath record.
3. Moseley Farmers’ Market
Birmingham is surrounded by working farms that supply a handful of regular farmers’ markets. Perhaps the most popular is this one, held on the final Saturday of each month in the village of Moseley to the south, where all the food and drink for sale is grown, reared or produced no more than a few miles away. Local craftspeople often sell products such as jewellery, ceramics and textiles here, too.
See the city like a local
1. St Martin’s Rag Market
It’s a rite of passage for young Brummies to visit the Rag Market — usually taken by grandparents seeking a bargain — with everything from textiles and homewares to food and jewellery for sale across 350 stalls. Birmingham was first granted permission to hold a market on this very site in 1166, making it a piece of city history.
2. Edgbaston Reservoir
Birmingham is about as far from the sea as you can get, so Edgbaston Reservoir is where locals retreat to when they want to be by the water. Come for sailing, rowing and standup paddleboarding — just a five-minute taxi ride, or a 30-minute walk, from the city centre. There’s also a 1.75-mile trail you can walk around the edge.
3. Bearwood
While the likes of Moseley, Stirchley and Digbeth find themselves on neighbourhood cool lists, Bearwood has been quietly fizzing away. The suburb tips over Birmingham’s northwest border into Sandwell and has become known for a burgeoning Latino food scene. Try Brazilian butcher-cum-restaurant BrasilPortu and the family-owned A La Mexicana.
Where to eat in Birmingham
1. Shababs
The balti was invented in the 1970s by a Pakistani-Brummie restaurateur whose speedy method of cooking and serving the dish in the same flat-bottomed wok-style steel bowl caught on. Birmingham’s famous Balti Triangle, a 10-minute taxi ride south of the city centre, is home to a large concentration of authentic balti houses. Shababs restaurant has been a local institution since 1987.
2. Cherry Reds
Cherry Reds is a hit with locals for its classic brunch menu.
Photograph by Ben Rowe
This kitsch cafe-bar over the road from New Street Station is a hit with locals for its classic brunch menu featuring full English breakfasts and American pancakes, paired with freshly ground coffee from local roastery, Quarter Horse. Vegans and vegetarians are especially well catered for here, as are craft beer drinkers. Visit on evenings for live music.
3. Simpsons
Michelin-starred Simpsons moved into Edgbaston in 2004, taking over a sprawling Grade II-listed Georgian villa. Chef-patron Andreas Antona and head chef Luke Tipping’s contemporary British menu provides playful twists on classic fine-dining ingredients like lobster, which is barbecued and served with pilaf rice, coconut and pineapple.
Where to go after dinner
1. Fox and Chance
Carefully crafted cocktails take centre stage at this unassuming central bar known for its service and locally inspired cocktail names. Deep chesterfield sofas and vintage artworks are nice touches, but it’s the bartenders’ expert drinks knowledge that sets the bar apart. Try the funky Cannonball rum cocktail, named after a former city jazz club.
2. Nortons
This independent bar in the Irish quarter of Digbeth pours some of the best Guinness in the city, alongside a range of cask and keg beers. Drinkers can expect great craic with trad music sessions on weekends and a beer garden showing live sports. There’s even a ‘split the G’ leaderboard with free pints for those who can take a gulp and land the black line between the gap in the ‘G’ on their Guinness glass.
3. Hare & Hounds
If you’ve heard of the Hare & Hounds it’s probably because you know someone that saw Ed Sheeran play in its tiny gig room above the pub in 2011. Or so they say. This stalwart venue has indeed brought some of music’s biggest names to the sprightly south Birmingham suburb of Kings Heath, including UB40 who, in 1979, played their first ever gig here.
Where to stay in Birmingham
1. bloc
With 73 cabins inspired by modern, Japanese design and 35 aparthotel suites, Bloc offers great value in a superb location near St Paul’s Square. Its lowest rates are found in its compact ‘no frills, no window’ space-saving rooms that still have king-sized beds, super soft linen and excellent monsoon showers.
2. Staying Cool at Rotunda
For a bird’s-eye perspective on Birmingham, stay at this hotel high up in the landmark Rotunda building. It’s as central as you can get, with apartment-style rooms featuring kitchens that include complimentary local delicacies such as Birmingham Brewing Co beers and snacks from local zero waste shop The Clean Kilo.
3. The Grand Hotel
Birmingham’s landmark hotel was empty for almost 20 years before a £50m restoration brought it back to life in 2021. The likes of Winston Churchill and Charlie Chaplin stayed here in their day, and more recently it’s hosted film stars such as Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp. The rooms include family and accessible options, as well as penthouse suites with four-poster beds. There’s also an on-site NYC-inspired brasserie, Isaac’s.
How to do it:
Run of a Kind hosts Birmingham’s only guided running tours, taking in parks, street art and more — prices vary depending on length.
When to go:
As with much of the UK, Birmingham’s weather can be temperamental. Summer highs are around 21C, while in December, average daytime temperatures drop to around 8C. Visit in November or December for Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas Market, the largest market of its kind outside of Germany and Austria, or during the summer for music festivals including Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival, and Birmingham Mela — Europe’s biggest celebration of South Asian music, food and culture.
Getting there & around:
Birmingham New Street is at the heart of England’s rail network, reachable by direct train from London in 1.5h, Manchester and Cardiff in around 2h, and Edinburgh in 4.5hrs. Ryanair and Aer Lingus offer flights from Dublin, Belfast and Cork, all with a journey time of around 1h. Birmingham city centre is compact and can be explored on foot. The West Midlands Metro tram connects New Street with popular nightlife spots including Broad Street and the Jewellery Quarter.
Published in the May 2024 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).
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