Birmingham City Guide

With a proud industrial past still evident in much of the city's urban architecture, Birmingham is a destination that will have history buffs keen to visit the Old Square and the Victorian Botanical Gardens while keen shoppers will be compulsively drawn to the massively impressive Bullring Centre. Nearby Premier apartments are also within walking distance of New Street Train Station and offer serviced apartments ideal for your stay in Birmingham.

This vibrant city is packed with special annual events, including the Birmingham Tattoo, the Heritage Festival and the Birmingham international Carnival. Burne Jones House was the birthplace of the pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Burne Jones and provides ideal serviced apartments in the vibrant city centre from which to begin your journey of discovery.

There is however, plenty to enjoy in and around Birmingham all year round, including the National Sea Life Centre and with fantastic venues like the Symphony Hall and O2 Academy catering to music fans everone will be made welcome! The serviced apartments at The Spires Birmingham with its stylish surroundings might just be a great place to start!

One of Britain's main tourist attractions, Alton Towers has beautiful landscaped gardens and is a massive and exciting adventure park that is easy to get to from Birmingham.

Or for something a little different, Cadbury World opened on 14th August 1990 and remains the only purpose built visitor centre in the UK devoted entirely to chocolate...which is in our opinion therfore, an absolute must-see!

Ironbridge Gorge Museums have museums and monuments celebrating the Industrial Revolution which had its heart in the Midland, whilst the National Motorcycle Museum houses a huge collection of over 700 British made motorcycles from 1898 onwards. These are just some of the many attractions to be explored in ther Birmingham area.

Prestige Apartments Newsletter - November 2012 Issue - Special Feature: Birmingham & Coventry

What to do in Birmingham

Listed below are some of the great places to visit in Birmingham. Click one to find out more.

Getting around - Birmingham transport tips

Birmingham is well served by bus, road and rail and there are three city centre rail stations providing fast and frequent connections to both local and national destinations. New Street Station is at the hub of the National Rail network with fast and frequent services to London's Euston station and many other major towns and cities across the UK.

However with many attractions just a few minutes' walk apart, why not explore on foot? The city is now full of open and inviting pedestrianised areas. So it's easy to take a relaxed and safe saunter around the compact centre with attractions, shops and places to eat and drink always close by if the whim takes you.

If you do fancy taking it easy there are eight local rail lines criss-cross the city to ensure quick links to all attractions and venues (as well as connecting to services to other UK cities and towns). Midland Metro is the latest addition. This state-of-the-art light rail system whisks passengers between Snow Hill Station in Birmingham city centre and Wolverhampton.

Birmingham is brilliant for buses. There's a huge network linking everyone to everything. Network West Midlands has all the online timetables and fare information you need with easy ticket buying and route planning.

For the more active visitors what better way to explore Birmingham and the Midlands than by bike? There are cycle lanes or paths on many of the major routes into and across the city that take in some of the city's beautiful parks and waterways en route. Information can be found here
Motorcycle Museum Bimingham

The National Motorcycle Museum is recognised as the finest and largest motorcycle museum in the world. Important and famous machines are forever being added to our collection.

It is a place where 'Legends Live On' and it is a tribute to and a living record of this once great British industry that dominated world markets for some sixty years.

It is a place where an older generation can once again view with nostalgia the machines they rode in days gone by, and younger generations can study the development of the motorcycle from its earlier days to the golden years of the 1930s-60s, when British motorcycles 'ruled the world'.

For more information visit: www.nationalmotorcyclemuseum.co.uk
Ironbridge Gorge Museums

There are ten award-winning Museums spread along the valley beside the wild River Severn - still spanned by the world's first Iron Bridge.

See the products that set industry on its path and the machines that made them. Watch and talk to the Museums' craftsmen and costumed demonstrators as they work iron, fashion china and glass, and bring alive the people who lived and worked here.

For more information visit: www.ironbridge.org.uk
Birmingham Botanical Gardens

The Birmingham Botanical Gardens & Glasshouses, situated in Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK, are a 15 acre oasis of delight. Designed by J. C. Loudon, a leading garden planner, horticultural journalist and publisher, they opened to subscribers in 1832.

Today, you will find beauty, peace and also tranquillity combined with excellent visitor facilities for all the family. The gardens and glasshouses are places where you can enjoy nature at its best and discover the importance of plants to people.

For more information visit: www.birminghambotanicalgardens.org.uk
Cadbury World

Find out all about Chocolate at this shrine to the sweet stuff.

There are 14 zones to visit including Aztec Jungle to find out where it all started, Journey to Europe, The Cadbury Story and the Bourneville Story, Making Chocolate where you will discover how it's made, Manufacturing shows you how all the different bars are made, Packaging gives you the chance to peek inside the factory, Cadabara beanmobile rides, interactive Purple Planet and finish in the worlds largest Cadbury shop where you can buy a momento of your visit.

For more information visit: www.cadburyworld.co.uk
National Sealife Centre, Birmingham
There are plenty of things to do at the Sealife centre including:
- Seeing the UK's first Hammerhead Sharks
- The interactive rockpool: Hold the crabs & touch the starfish
- 4D Cinema... now included in your entrance fee
- Dive with the sharks! Walk through the million-litre underwater tank
- There are feeding demonstrations all day
- 1,000+ creatures including Sharks, Turtles, Seahorses, Otters and Rays
- 60+ displays including Nemo's Kingdom, turtle breeding and tropical tanks
- Join the campaign to Help Stop Whaling
- Children's soft play area
For more information visit: www.visitsealife.com/Birmingham