Stuff to do in Birmingham and parking?

[gray1404]

I am going for a day trip to Birmingham tomorrow to meet a friend. Will be getting there for 10:30 a.m. and my return is booked back for 21:30.

Can anyone recommend any stuff we could do for the day in Birmingham? I was thinking of doing some canal walks to start with.

Also can anybody recommend any affordable day parking? I will be arriving by National Express but my friend is driving up from Reading so perhaps there is some place affordable to park near Birmingham coach station?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I doubt there's anywhere cheap, but the Bullring car park (definitely not cheap) is very nearby. You might find one of those ad-hoc "a fiver a day" car parks on a piece of wasteland maybe?

Parkopedia is probably worth a look.

 

[gray1404]

I doubt there's anywhere cheap, but the Bullring car park (definitely not cheap) is very nearby. You might find one of those ad-hoc "a fiver a day" car parks on a piece of wasteland maybe?

Parkopedia is probably worth a look.

Definitely not paying Bull Ring prices. What is Parkopedia? @Bletchleyite

 

[popmonkey]

There are some open air car parks around Digbeth that are cheap, getting to them can be a bit of a pain as the roads are a mess at the moment with the ongoing Tram works. It may be better to park around the Chinese Quarter, but that area will be busy as it's Chinese New Year this weekend

 

[Bletchleyite]

Definitely not paying Bull Ring prices. What is Parkopedia? @Bletchleyite

A very handy website: https://www.parkopedia.com/

 

[gray1404]

There are some open air car parks around Digbeth that are cheap, getting to them can be a bit of a pain as the roads are a mess at the moment with the ongoing Tram works. It may be better to park around the Chinese Quarter, but that area will be busy as it's Chinese New Year this weekend

How cheap are we talking? Is there anywhere I can find a list in advance?

 

[popmonkey]

Probably around £4 for all day parking. Parkopedia (linked above) has details including pricing

 

[CharlieSpotted]

In terms of canal walks, the canal can be accessed from Digbeth and I have wandered it a few times when I worked up that way, but it's not exactly picturesque. It has it's moments, and if you're into urban scenes, street art, etc. then it may be of some interest. Probably the easiest access points from Digbeth are where the canals pass under Great Barr Street and Coventry Street.

The "nicer" parts of Birmingham's canal infrastructure can be found around Brindley Place / The Mailbox / Arena Birmingham, which is a fair old walk from Digbeth.

Other than canal walks, what kind of things are you looking for in terms of "stuff to do" ?

 

[gray1404]

In terms of canal walks, the canal can be accessed from Digbeth and I have wandered it a few times when I worked up that way, but it's not exactly picturesque. It has it's moments, and if you're into urban scenes, street art, etc. then it may be of some interest. Probably the easiest access points from Digbeth are where the canals pass under Great Barr Street and Coventry Street.

The "nicer" parts of Birmingham's canal infrastructure can be found around Brindley Place / The Mailbox / Arena Birmingham, which is a fair old walk from Digbeth.

Other than canal walks, what kind of things are you looking for in terms of "stuff to do" ?

Anything really. See the sights if there are any. Are there any museums? Perhaps go bowling?

If we accessed the canals at The Mailbox would that be a nice walk? @CharlieSpotted

@Bletchleyite I see there is a fair bit of all day for £4 parking near Birmingham Coach Station so I've sent my friend the link.

 

[ac6000cw]

I think one of the nicest canal walks if the weather is decent is towards the University from The Mailbox/Gas Street Basin area (along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal), which has the Cross-City railway line alongside (beyond Five Ways station), so you can walk the canal and come back by train or vice-versa.

If it's your sort of thing, the Jewellery Quarter (take the train or tram to get there) is worth a look around.

This is Birmingham museums website - https://www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/ . Unfortunately the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery in the city centre is currently closed for repairs.

 

[NorthWestRover]

Trip out to Bournville?

 

[Parjon]

Trip out to Bournville?

You can walk to Bournville from the city centre alongside the canal. It's mostly pleasant on a nice day.

Quite the walk but can always do one way by train, as the walk goes past all the cross city line stations.

It's very easy to see when you're at Bournville as it has an exit into Bournville station.

Another nice thing that Birmingham has is its botanical gardens out in Harbourne

Birmingham Botanical Gardens | Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Birmingham Botanical Gardens is one of the UK’s most significant historic botanic gardens which has remarkably remained intact since 1829.

www.birminghambotanicalgardens.org.uk

 

[Amos]

Could your friend park at one of the park&ride sites then get the tram into central Birmingham? There is one called black lake that is near the M5.

 

[cactustwirly]

Watch out for the Emissions zone which the Bullring is inside.

Car parks by Digbeth are very sketchy looking. It might be worth parking at somewhere like Longbridge and getting the train in

 

[gray1404]

Watch out for the Emissions zone which the Bullring is inside.

Car parks by Digbeth are very sketchy looking. It might be worth parking at somewhere like Longbridge and getting the train in

@cactustwirly Will he avoid the emissions zone if he parks in Digbeth and is coming from the South?

 

[Bevan Price]

Could your friend park at one of the park&ride sites then get the tram into central Birmingham? There is one called black lake that is near the M5.

Or , as your friend is coming from the south - maybe somewhere like Widney Manor station. Large car park (266 spaces quoted), free for rail users, and about 3 trains per hour to Moor Street / Snow Hill.

 

[popmonkey]

@cactustwirly Will he avoid the emissions zone if he parks in Digbeth and is coming from the South?

Digbeth is within the emissions zone. The boundary is the Ring Road (Middleway/A4540). Definitely worth checking if it’s not a modern petrol car

 

[P Binnersley]

Green Parking almost opposite Digbeth coach station is £3.50 a day. Other "flattened" sites also open for parking on an ad hoc basis. You friend needs to check his route before travelling as Metro & HS2 works have resulted in a number of road closures.

Unfortunately the two best museums in Birmingham (Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and The Museum of the Jewellery Quarter) are currently closed due to restoration/funding issues). The Icon Gallery at Brindley Place (free) has some "interesting" modern art installations and is located in an old converted school.

The Thinktank science museum has a nice collection of stationary steam engines, the "City of Birmingham" (LMS Coronation class) and an old tram. It is a bit pricy at £17 and a lot of the exhibits are aimed at children.

The Roundhouse (canal not railway) is an interesting building and their website has a list of self guided walks you can download.

Birmingham University's "The Exchange" on Broad Street is a former bank and often has exhibitions in the basement former bank vault.

This weekend is Chinese New Year and there are a number of events around the city.

It is possible to Join the canal in Digbeth (Fazeley street) and walk in a loop around to the Brindley Place (about 3 miles). Not the nicest of views but interesting.

 

[Hadders]

A bit late to this but consider parking at somewhere like Hampton in Arden. Near the M42 and was free last time I used it.

A canal walk I like to do is from Witton station to the city centre which goes under the M6 viaduct and spaghetti junction. We did it as a forum walk a few years back.

 

[The Ham]

It's not that close to the centre (about 45 minutes by public transport), but it's quite interesting is the black country living museum.

Details can be found here:

Black Country Living Museum

Experience over 250 years of history, from the Industrial Revolution to post-war prosperity, through living interpretation.

bclm.com

The thing to note is that one you've brought a ticket it gives you free entry for a year.