Emergency help needed! Is there anything to do in Birmingham?

[Fez909]

My housemate was planning on going to Edinburgh but couldn't get a hotel as he'd left it too late. His girlfriend took the initiative and booked a hotel. Unfortunately (?) it was in Birmingham. He was trying to be nice about it and appreciated the thought etc, but there isn't a lot that attracted him to Birmingham.

I actually had to agree with him. I've been a couple of times and nothing has stood out and I couldn't imagine going there for a "nice weekend away". So far his list includes the "monkey forest" which isn't even in Brum, and Stratford, which also isn't Brum.

Midlander Urbs, please can you suggest things to do in Brum to prove us both wrong? You'll save his weekend and change my opinion of the former second city.

He's away tomorrow evening, hence the "emergency" in the title.

Cheers!

 

[farmerbarleymow]

He could spend the weekend walking around photographing drab buildings. There are quite a few to choose from.

 

[lizzieloo]

He could spend the weekend walking around photographing drab buildings. There are quite a few to choose from.

Same as any other city then.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Same as any other city then.

True enough, but Birmingham is a big place and has some fine examples mixed in with the nicer ones.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

This site might be a place to start - I only just remembered Bourneville, which is a nice place, along with the chocolate factory if it is still open. No pubs in Bourneville though, as it was built by teetotallers.

http://visitbirmingham.com/

 

[BigTom]

There's various art galleries and museums, and lots of music to enjoy but without knowing when they are here or what their tastes are it's hard to say specifics.
In terms of pure touristy stuff there's very little in Birmingham:

Cadbury's factory as mentioned above do a visitor tour, you need to book iirc
If you're into Tolkien then Moseley bog and sarehole mill

The sea life centre that I've never been to

Cannock Chase is just outside of Birmingham for mountain biking

Lickey hills or wazeley hills if hiking is their thing

Otherwise use Birmingham as a base for:

Stratford / shakespeare

Warwick / Warwick castle

Dudley castle and zoo

Black country living museum

Potteries museums

Iron bridge & industrial revolution stuff towards telford

There's a safari park out towards Kidderminster iirc

Or just get drunk and/or spend the weekend in the hotel shagging

 

[purenarcotic]

If they're looking for some nice drinking spots The Jekyll and Hyde opposite the kids hospital does incredible cocktails. Digbeth in the city centre is a bit like Camden Market during the day and various clubs at night.

If they want to go out clubbing avoid Broad Street like the fucking plague, horrible place. The gay village is a much more pleasant experience.

 

[purenarcotic]

Oh yes, there's also the EDL protesting tomorrow and a counter protest. So might be something to bear in mind as the day wears on and the EDL get more pissed and even more stupid.

 

[stuff_it]

He needs to find somewhere in the shade overlooking the doubtless amusing EDL protest where he can watch them get heat stroke and get battered by locals.

 

[kebabking]

Fez909

there's an EDL demo in Brum on saturday, a counter demo and 1000+ rozzers have been drfted in for the day. my advice to your friend regarding what to do in Birmingham this weekend would start with getting up early and walking to the train station.

there are nice bits of Birmingham he could while away the day in, but the EDL are going to be infesting the local transport links...

Worcester is very nice, and easy to get to by train - as is Shrewsbury, or Warwick. Bridgnorth is well worth a visit, as is Ludlow (Worcester, Shrewsbury and Ludlow being the best imv..). all are do-able by PT. Bridgnorth is on the Severn Valley Railway, a steam job that starts in Kidderminster, which is very easily accessable by train from Brum.

 

[weltweit]

A bit outside Brum but I think you can get there on public transport, near the NEC
http://www.nationalmotorcyclemuseum.co.uk/
If you are at all into motorbikes it is interesting.

Then there is the NEC National Exhibition Centre - perhaps there is something one there you might be interested in, and I think there is a music venue there again could be somat on...

 

[Ted Striker]

A (romantic?) weekend...

In Birmingham.

With a town full of marching EDL'ers.



It's like the Trivago ad that never made it off the cutting room floor!

123 come away with me...

 

[kebabking]

indeed - i'm tempted to think that the best solution to attempting a romantic W/E in Brum is to buy 5kg of grapes and strawberrys, check into the hotel and shag like maniacs for 48 hours and try to forget you're in Birmingham!

 

[stuff_it]

indeed - i'm tempted to think that the best solution to attempting a romantic W/E in Brum is to buy 5kg of grapes and strawberrys, check into the hotel and shag like maniacs for 48 hours and try to forget you're in Birmingham!

The market is really cheap for fruit and veg.

 

[geminisnake]

Is there no nice parks and botanical gardens?? I thought most cities had them?? I will ask a friend on FB.

 

[Red Cat]

There are loads of nice parks. Botanical gardens are lovely.

 

[rover07]

Cannon Hill Park is a nice place to hangout, there's a bar and art gallery/venue. Boating lake, skaters, etc.

 

[fredfelt]

His girlfriend took the initiative and booked a hotel. Unfortunately (?) it was in Birmingham.

I'd really like to know what possessed her to book a romantic weekend in Birmingham - of all places!

 

[Red Cat]

People don't love each other in Birmingham. Fact.

 

[fredfelt]

People don't love each other in Birmingham. Fact.

Not if the other half booked it for a romantic getaway!

 

[kebabking]

it would be ok if it weren't for the demo this weekend - there is lots to see, lots of pubs and open spaces to visit (I have, in fact, had hugely successful dirty weekend in Brum..), but this weekend its going to be dreadful: large cities are not nice places to be in very hot weather, add in x thousand book-burning morons, x thousand coppers, x hundred anti protesters and its going to be vile.

 

[Fez909]

Thanks for all your advice and suggestions everyone. He was already pretty pissed off at having his romantic (yep!) weekend happen in Brum rather than Edinburgh so the EDL protest news went down well

I imagine when the weather's this nice you can enjoy most cities just ambling about and having outside beers etc, but the EDL stench could ruin even the prettiest of market town!

Cheers!

 

[8115]

Museum to see the Stafford Hoard.

 

[tufty79]

i have attempted a romantic weekend in brum. it was a fucking disaster

get him to head out of town and on a canal trip
or go over to the black country museum (sorry, already mentioned further upthread. along with lickey hills. he should totally take her up lickey hills)
or, for a bit of kink, the leather museum.

 

[tufty79]

People don't love each other in Birmingham. Fact.

yeah. you need to go out walsall way for that.

 

[tufty79]

failing everything else, spend the weekend playing 'come find me!', with a snog as a reward for the finder, in the shiny bullring mirrored church of consumerism.. i always get lost in there.

 

[fredfelt]

yeah. you need to go out walsall way for that.

A visit to the Walsall Hippo is sure to install romance in even the coldest of hearts

 

[stuff_it]

i have attempted a romantic weekend in brum. it was a fucking disaster

get him to head out of town and on a canal trip
or go over to the black country museum (sorry, already mentioned further upthread. along with lickey hills. he should totally take her up lickey hills)
or, for a bit of kink, the leather museum.

I just attempted a romantic few days in Brum. As soon as we got back to town it was too hot to do anything but lie completely naked and still on the bedroom floor with a few trips to the shower to cool down.

 

[purenarcotic]

The Black Country Living Museum is immense. It does the best fish and chips.

 

[BigTom]

A bit outside Brum but I think you can get there on public transport, near the NEC
http://www.nationalmotorcyclemuseum.co.uk/
If you are at all into motorbikes it is interesting.

Then there is the NEC National Exhibition Centre - perhaps there is something one there you might be interested in, and I think there is a music venue there again could be somat on...

NEC is a huge music venue, tens of thousands capacity, big big acts like Take That play there. Not somewhere you can just rock up to really.

I actually haven't a clue what's on in Birmingham this weekend but if they want to go out on Saturday night and not be in the city centre these are some places to look at:

Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath - most likely something around the hip-hop/funk/breaks/dnb end of alternative music
Bulls Head, Moseley - similar to above but smaller
Bearwood - I haven't been there for donkeys years but there used to be a few decent pub/bar type places with music

Scratching my head for live music venues, aside from JDs in Stourbridge... British Oak in Stirchley occasionally has acts on but all the others I can think of are city centre, though Digbeth (Rainbow, Spotted Dog, Adam and Eve, Wagon and Horses, HMV institute (?), loads of irish pubs, maybe something at Custard Factory or Air - lots of places with music basically), the Arcadian and the Gay Village are far enough away from Broad St to likely be unnafected by EDL wankers.

I swear I used to know more little out of town music venues than that, especially little live music pubs.