Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the centre of the West Midlands region of England.
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the centre of the West Midlands region of England. It is the largest local authority district in England by population and the second-largest city in Britain – commonly referred to as the second city of the United Kingdom – with a population of 1.2 million people in the city proper in 2025. Birmingham is the centre of the ceremonial West Midlands county, and borders the Black Country to its west and, together with the city of Wolverhampton and towns including Walsall, West Bromwich, Dudley and Solihull, forms the West Midlands conurbation. The Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield is incorporated within the city limits to the north and northeast. Birmingham's urban area has a population of 2.7 million and its wider metropolitan area has a population of 4.3 million. The city of Coventry lies to the east of the city, separated by the Meriden Gap. The cathedral city of Lichfield lies to the north of the city, separated by the M6 Toll.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Birmingham
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham, and Mason Science College, making it the first English redbrick university to receive its own royal charter, and the first English unitary university.
3.8 km · university in Birmingham, England, United Kingdom · Wikipedia - 02The Hawthorns
The Hawthorns is an all-seater football stadium in West Bromwich, in the Black Country borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 27,087. It has been the home of Championship club West Bromwich Albion since 1900, when it became the sixth ground to be used by the club.
5.3 km · football stadium in West Bromwich, Sandwell, England · Wikipedia - 03St Andrew's
St Andrew's, known since 2024 for sponsorship reasons as St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park, is an association football stadium in the Bordesley district of Birmingham, England.
2.4 km · football stadium in the Bordesley district of Birmingham · Wikipedia - 04Aston University
Aston University is a public university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first college of advanced technology in 1956.
1.1 km · university in Birmingham, UK · Wikipedia - 05Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is a museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England. It has a collection of international importance covering fine art, ceramics, metalwork, jewellery, natural history, archaeology, ethnography, local history and industrial history.
100 m · museum and art gallery in Birmingham, UK · Wikipedia - 06Arena Birmingham
Utilita Arena Birmingham is an indoor arena and sporting venue in central Birmingham, England. It is owned by parent company the NEC Group.
800 m · indoor sports arena in Birmingham, England, United Kingdom · Wikipedia - 07St Philip's Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Saint Philip, also called the Birmingham Cathedral, is a Church of England cathedral and the seat of the Bishop of Birmingham. Built as a parish church in the Baroque style by Thomas Archer, it was consecrated in 1715.
300 m · cathedral in Birmingham, West Midlands, England, UK · Wikipedia - 08Library of Birmingham
The Library of Birmingham is a public library in Birmingham, England. It is situated on the west side of the city centre at Centenary Square, beside the Birmingham Rep and Baskerville House.
400 m · public library in Birmingham, England · Wikipedia - 09St Paul's Church
St Paul's is a Church of England church in the Georgian St Paul's Square in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, England.
600 m · Church of England church in Birmingham, UK · Wikipedia - 10Alexander Stadium
Alexander Stadium is an athletics stadium in Perry Barr, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It is the largest athletics stadium in the United Kingdom.
5.6 km · stadium in Birmingham, UK · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
Birmingham doesn't have a reputation for being especially picturesque, but there is a lot of interesting architecture in the city centre that the shops and crowds sometimes obscure. For such a (relatively) large population centre, the countryside (in the form of country parks such as the Lickey Hills, Waseley Hills, etc.) is surprisingly close.
From Wikivoyage: Birmingham, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
Birmingham hosts some of the largest events, exhibitions and conferences in the country, which may or may not be of interest to a visitor.
- 01National Exhibition Centre
- 02Arena Birmingham
- 03International Convention Centre
A modern convention centre sharing a building with Symphony Hall.
- 04The Custard Factory
- 05Symphony Hall
Broad St, box office), boxoffice@thsh.co.uk.
- 06CBSO Centre
Berkley St (off Broad St), +44 121 780-3333 (ticket line), information@cbso.co.uk.
From Wikivoyage: Birmingham, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
Birmingham is the balti capital of England, and the balti was invented here in 1977. It is a type of curry served in a thin, pressed-steel wok called a "balti bowl". The much-promoted "balti triangle" covers around 50 restaurants on Ladypool Road and Stratford Road in Sparkbrook (often referred to as Little Somalia), about 2 miles south of the city centre.
From Wikivoyage: Birmingham, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Birmingham
- Airports
- Birmingham (BHX), 11 km · East Midlands (EMA), 55 km · Manchester (MAN), 100 km
- Stations
- Birmingham New Street railway station, 400 m · Birmingham Moor Street railway station, 800 m · Birmingham Snow Hill station, 500 m · Smethwick Rolfe Street railway station, 5 km
- Nottingham, Leicestershire → Birmingham73 km · quickest by road, 1h 33m · £7–10
- Manchester, Greater Manchester → Birmingham113 km · quickest by road, 2h 35m · £13–17
- London → Birmingham163 km · quickest by road, 3h 7m · £17–23
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Birmingham
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Birmingham. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get aroundPopular providers include: AFJ Minibuses, Birmingham Minibus hire available 24 hours a day.
From Wikivoyage: Birmingham, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 01204 km
- 02239 km
- 03404 km
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- 05464 km
If you know how people move in Birmingham – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Birmingham
Birmingham is 28 km from Coventry, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.
- Sandwellmetropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England8.3 km
- Smethwicktown in Sandwell Metropolitan Borough, England4.7 km
- Oldburytown in the West Midlands in England8.2 km
- Astonarea within the city of Birmingham, England, UK2.7 km
- Edgbastonarea in the city of Birmingham, England2.7 km
- Blackheathtown in Sandwell, West Midlands, United Kingdom9.1 km