The 15 Best Things to Do in Birmingham, England (and Top Things to Avoid)

What to do, where to stay, and what to avoid.

Home of the Peaky Blinders, Aston Villa, and the youngest population in Europe, Birmingham is the U.K.’s greenery-filled underdog city: sociable, scrappy, and overachieving. Once known as the workshop of the world, ”Brum” wasn’t just central to the Industrial Revolution—when it gained more miles of canal than Venice and adorned its neighboring region with soot forming its Black Country name—England’s second city has become our country’s heart. From the West Midlands, you can get to 90% of the U.K. in under four hours, with Shakespeare’s birthplace , Malvern’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty , and the charming Cotswolds just a golden stone’s throw away.

Locals, known as “Brummies,” are generally multicultural, helpful, and hilariously