Birmingham, UK Attractions

Within easy access of England's 2nd largest city, Birmingham lies Drayton Manor Park (located near Tamworth, Staffordshire). Drayton Manor Park is a large theme park and zoo which has a mixture of scenic and white knuckle rides together with a modest collection of around 100 animals. It covers 280 acres (1.1 km squared) of land and is visited by over 1 million people annually. Drayton Manor opened to the public on 16 October 1949 as an 'inland pleasure resort' and has since grown substantially in size. In 2006, the park received two awards: 'Best UK Attraction' awarded by Group Leisure and 'UK Attraction of the Year' awarded by Coach Tourism. Thrill seekers will enjoy rides such as the Cyclone, Shockwave - stand up rollercoaster, Pandemonium, G-Force and Apocalypse – the world's first stand-up drop tower. There are also plenty of attractions for the less adv...

Warwick Castle is a medieval castle in Warwick. It sits on a bend on the River Avon and was built by William the Conqueror in 1068. It was used as a fortification until the early 17th century, when Sir Fulke Greville converted it to a country house. It was then owned by the Greville family, who became earls of Warwick in 1759, until 1978. The castle has experienced a turbulent history having been the site of a number of bloody battles. Nowadays, Warwick Castle is owned by the Tussauds Group who have converted the Castle to a medieval themed attraction. Visitors can explore the varied history of the castle’s dungeons, fortifications and living quarters, as well as the Rose Garden and the formal gardens. The Private Apartments contain a display of waxwork figures, showing how the rooms would have looked in the late 19th century. Across the River Avon is the Island, where jes...

The National Indoor Arena (better known as The NIA) is a large indoor arena that was opened in 1991. Owned by the NEC Group it was the largest indoor Arena in the UK at the time of opening. It is situated in central Birmingham, England. The NIA hosts a range of events ranging from sporting events, to musical concerts, and has a capacity to seat up to 12,700 using both permanent seating and temporary seating configurations. The seating is arranged into upper-tier, lower-tier and flat floor seating sections. The lower-tier and flat floor sections are made up of removable seating whilst the upper-tier is made up of fixed seating. Areas for disabled visitors is provided between the upper-tier and lower-tier flooring, on the Atrium level.

The National Exhibition Centre (NEC) is an exhibition centre between Solihull and Birmingham, England. It has 20 interconnected halls, set in grounds of 628 acres (2.54 km2) making it the largest exhibition centre in the UK. It is the busiest and seventh-largest exhibition centre in Europe. The NEC hosts a variety of exhibition, concerts and sporting events.

Symphony Hall is a 2,262 seat concert venue located inside the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Birmingham, England. It was officially opened by the Queen in June 1991. It is home to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and hosts more than 250 events a year. The hall's interior is modelled upon the Musikverein in Vienna and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. In addition to concerts, the venue is also used for community events, graduation ceremonies and conferences.

Cadbury World is a visitor attraction created and run by the Cadbury chocolate company. It is a huge chocolate factory south of the city centre. A tour is available and includes the history of chocolate and the Cadbury company, plus a brief look at some of the factory floor. Some free chocolate, plus relatively cheap mis-shapes in the shop. Two locations exist: Birmingham, United Kingdom and Dunedin, New Zealand.

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery is an art gallery in Birmingham, England. Entrance to the Museum and Art Gallery is free, but some major exhibitions in the Gas Hall incur an entrance fee. It has a collection of international importance covering fine art, ceramics, metalwork, jewellery, archaeology, ethnography, local history and industrial history.  

Thinktank is a science museum in Birmingham, England. Opened in 2001, it has some exhibits from the now-closed Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery Science Museum. It is part of the Millennium Point complex.

The Museum of the Jewellery Quarter is a museum at Vyse Street in Hockley, Birmingham, England. It is a Community Museum, that is branch museum, of the Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery. For over 80 years the family-run firm of Smith & Pepper produced jewellery from the factory that is now the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter. When the elderly proprietors of the Smith & Pepper jewellery manufacturing firm decided to retire in 1981 they simply ceased trading and locked the door. Tools were left strewn on benches; grubby overalls were hung on the coat hooks; and dirty teacups were abandoned alongside jars of marmite and jam on the shelf. In the eighty years before its closure, little changed with the working practices or equipment used within the family-owned business. The Museum has preserved the "time capsule" workshop, and also tells the story of the 200...

The Birmingham Botanical Gardens are botanical gardens situated in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. The gardens are close to the centre of Birmingham and open every day of the year, from sunrise to sunset. They are located at grid reference SP049854. They were designed in 1829 by J. C. Loudon, a leading garden planner, horticultural journalist and publisher. The gardens opened in 1832. The layout is recognisably Loudon's and, as he proposed, there is a conservatory at the top of the site. There is a lawn on the slope in front of the conservatory and a range of beds and shrubberies round its perimeter. In 1839, Loudon noted that "the trees and shrubs have thriven in an extraordinary degree". Overall, the character is that of a Victorian public park – with a bandstand set in 15 acres (6 hectares) of landscaped greenery.

The National Sea Life Centre is an aquarium with over 60 displays of freshwater and marine life in Brindleyplace, Birmingham, England. Its one-million-litre ocean tank houses giant green sea turtles, blacktip reef sharks and tropical reef fish, with a fully transparent underwater tunnel. The National Sea Life Centre has an extensive seahorse breeding programme, with many species of newly reared seahorses in tanks viewable by visitors. In other displays, it has a Giant Pacific Octopus, as well as horseshoe crabs, green sea turtles, lobsters, sharks, sting rays, and otters. The Sealife Centre also features a "Sensorama 4-D Cinema". So-called because in addition to 3-D viewing, the audience can be subjected to sensations such as wind, salt spray, and the smell the seaweed, or other sensations depending on the (sea-themed) film.

Cannon Hill Park is a park located in south Birmingham, England. Its main vehicular entrance is in Edgbaston, opposite the Edgbaston Cricket Ground, but the park and the Midlands Arts Centre are across the river in Moseley. In April 1873, a local benefactor, Miss Louisa Ann Ryland (1814-89) of Barford Hill House, Warwickshire, gave 57 acres (230,000 m2) of meadow land to the Corporation and paid for the draining of the site to create a public park. It opened to the public in September of that year. A further 7 acres (28,000 m2) were given by Sir John Holder-Bart in 1897, and in 1898 5 acres (20,000 m2) were acquired to straighten the River Rea, which is now culverted and runs along the western edge.

Sutton Park, in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England, is one of the largest urban parks in Europe and the largest outside a capital city; it is larger than Richmond Park in London. The park covers 970 hectares (2,400 acres), with a mix of heathland, wetlands and marshes, seven lakes, extensive ancient woodlands (covering approximately a quarter of the park), several restaurants, a private 18-hole golf course on its western edge and a municipal golf course to the south, a donkey sanctuary, children's playgrounds and a visitors' centre. There is no entrance charge although on summer Sundays a parking charge for cars applies. A wide range of leisure activities are undertaken in the park. A railway line runs through the park.