Any members or Era from Birmingham U.K help me plan my trip

You're in town during the German market, the most charming time to visit for sure. Good call.

When I visited, I really enjoyed the Black Country Living Museum.

Telpis said:

Hello Era (Especially anyone of your from Birmingham)

I'm from Ireland and I travel to the U.K a lot with my partner we are always coming and going from Manchester & Liverpool as we love those cities and know like the back of our hand at this stage but we wanted to try something new so we decided to visit Birmingham for Christmas we're coming on the 17th of December till the 21th and this is what we have planned to do.

Bullring, & Grand Central Shopping
(Opened till 8pm)

Bullring Markets
(Opened till 5:30pm)

Corporation Street & New Street Shopping
(Opened till 8pm)

The Fort Shopping Park
(Opened till 8pm)

Intu Merry Hill Shopping Centre
(Opened till 9pm)

One Stop Shopping Centre
(Opened till 9pm)

As you can clearly see my partner loves to shop where as I just like to walk around and explore see new places oh and carry his bags lol

I just thought I'd get a jump start and see how I get to these places. We are staying in the IBIS new street and I know Grand Central, Bullring, Corporation & New street are all on the city centre that's sorted.

I just need to know how to do we get to the Fort, Intu Merry Hill & One Stop shopping centres either by train or bus.

Tried google but I've been up 18 hours over builders drilling at 6am this morning I wanted to scream.

If anyone on Era is from Birmingham and could tell me which is the fast bus / train to each of the shopping centre and cost. I know I'll probably ask when I'm over but it's nice to a heads up I'd ben so grateful thank you.

Maybe I should of just went to Liverpool and Manchester yet again ha ha but it's nice to see somewhere new to I suppose :)

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I believe the X10 bus should take you from the City Centre to Merry Hill. I'll have to check the other stuff later.

I'm not in Birmingham, but I think the Citymapper app works there? I reckon that would be a big help

Christ... what a disappointing trip this will be for you.

Napoleonthechimp said:

Christ... what a disappointing trip this will be for you.

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I know, Manchester and Liverpool are going to be such a damp squib after witnessing the majesty of Birmingham first hand.

Same Birmingham as in Peaky Blinders?

Bullring, Grand Central (a train station, but lots of shops inside) and Bullring Markets will serve you well for shopping. Also make sure you carve out a good chunk of time for the Christmas Markets, which are basically all over Birmingham City center, all up New Street and around the city hall etc at that time of year. Be prepared - it'll be very busy!

The truth be told, you might not need to do The Fort, One Stop AND Merry Hill. These are less 'destination' shopping locations like the Bull Ring and more just standard shopping complexes with everyday shops. The Fort, for instance, has stuff like Boots, Debanhams, H&M, Moss, Oasis etc - all shops you will be able to find in the Bullring and the city center. If you want to do another, do Merry Hill - by far and away the biggest - but I don't think you'll get much out of doing all of them tbh, unless you're chasing a single specific shop in a given location. Also, if I'm honest, Birmingham is a city with real hard, harsh ups-and-downs, and I would categorize the One Stop in particular as being in a pretty bad bit of town.

If you want another shopping town, perhaps consider Solihull - if you go to Birmingham Moor Street station (two minutes from the Bull Ring) Solihull is about 15 minutes away on the train. Solihull is a nice little town that was voted the best place to live in the UK a few years back, and it has a town center with some smaller local shops plus Touchwood, which is like a smaller version of the Bull Ring. Solihull is lovely (though I would say this as I live there), and it'll also have the Christmas Markets and stuff at that time of year.

The other option is Resorts World. This is a new complex out by the airport. It's a bunch of shops, a huge cinema, a casino, and a group of bars and restaurants. It isn't the most groundbreaking place in the world - it's still new - but it's again probably a better shopping option than somewhere like the Fort, is easy to reach (a train from Grand Central) and has the facilities for a good afternoon shopping followed by food and some booze. it's close enough too that if you drink and decide you don't want to get the train back you're probably only looking at £15 or so in an uber back into the city center.

Also, honestly, if you're going to Birmingham, you should go to Stratford Upon Avon. Again, from the city center it's 30-45 minutes on the train, is beautiful (if a shallow tourist trap) and a great Midlands day-trip. Being a tourist trap there's lots of tourist-friendly stores there, too.

There's some great cocktail bars and restaurants in central Birmingham - it's a great cultural melting pot of a city and you can find great food of pretty much any stripe within 5 miles of the city center. There's obviously great Indian and Pakistani food, you'd expect that, but there's also really good Japanese, Chinese, Korean options down by the gay village and stuff, for instance. Abuse that!

There's also some really interesting museums and the like in the area - the Black Country Museum, of course (though that requires a trip out of the city) and the actual Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is right in the city center and free-of-charge. There's a lot of weird niche museums too - like the coffin museum is super cool, unique and macabre (based on the site of a famous, prestigious coffinworks that used to make the stuff for burying royals), the pen museum is surprisingly interesting (seriously) and the back-to-backs is a great little time capsule.

People love to take the piss, and Birmingham obviously isn't a shining gem or anything, but there's a lot more to it than it seems if you're willing to go exploring, so good luck!

my best advice to you would be to avoid one stop like the plague. perhaps look at Tamworth and lichfield think a train will get you there from birmingham new street

Kopite said:

When I visited, I really enjoyed the Black Country Living Museum.

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You should definitely go here. Battered chips cooked in beef dripping are there and they're amazing. Merry Hell is a nightmare though. Even compared to Bullring, it just feels a lot more chaotic so I've avoided it for years.

Birmingham really sucks. It's not as good as London despite what other members say.

Have fun though just remember a train to London is really short when you get bored in Birmingham.

as I remember Birmingham Christmas market is pretty great so definitely check that out

Make sure you familiarise yourself with the accent.

No Cadbury World? Boo.

Check Wikivoyage and TripAdvisor. There's a great walking tour I've been meaning to do, Birmingham back to backs.

APZonerunner said:

The truth be told, you might not need to do The Fort, One Stop AND Merry Hill. These are less 'destination' shopping locations like the Bull Ring and more just standard shopping complexes with everyday shops. The Fort, for instance, has stuff like Boots, Debanhams, H&M, Moss, Oasis etc - all shops you will be able to find in the Bullring and the city center. If you want to do another, do Merry Hill - by far and away the biggest - but I don't think you'll get much out of doing all of them tbh, unless you're chasing a single specific shop in a given location.

If you want another shopping town, perhaps consider Solihull - if you go to Birmingham Moor Street station (two minutes from the Bull Ring) Solihull is about 15 minutes away on the train. Solihull is a nice little town that was voted the best place to live in the UK a few years back, and it has a town center with some smaller local shops plus Touchwood, which is like a smaller version of the Bull Ring. Solihull is lovely (though I would say this as I live there), and it'll also have the Christmas Markets and stuff at that time of year.

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I agree with all of this (except the Solihull evangelising but I'll overlook that)

Touchwood is nice but going to One Stop is pointless and I would double check to see what stores there are at The Fort and Merry Hill that would warrant heading up there rather than spending more time chilling in Brum.

The Frankfurt Christmas Markets will be in town from the 15th-23rd December iirc and that's always a nice atmosphere albeit absolutely rammed with people.

Use the time saved on skipping some of the crappier shopping malls to head down to Ladypool Road and treat yourself to a proper balti and check out some local museums or just chill at a nice bar around the city centre.

Telpis said:

Hello Era (Especially anyone of your from Birmingham)

I'm from Ireland and I travel to the U.K a lot with my partner we are always coming and going from Manchester & Liverpool as we love those cities and know like the back of our hand at this stage but we wanted to try something new so we decided to visit Birmingham for Christmas we're coming on the 17th of December till the 21th and this is what we have planned to do.

Bullring, & Grand Central Shopping
(Opened till 8pm)

Bullring Markets
(Opened till 5:30pm)

Corporation Street & New Street Shopping
(Opened till 8pm)

The Fort Shopping Park
(Opened till 8pm)

Intu Merry Hill Shopping Centre
(Opened till 9pm)

One Stop Shopping Centre
(Opened till 9pm)

As you can clearly see my partner loves to shop where as I just like to walk around and explore see new places oh and carry his bags lol

I just thought I'd get a jump start and see how I get to these places. We are staying in the IBIS new street and I know Grand Central, Bullring, Corporation & New street are all on the city centre that's sorted.

I just need to know how to do we get to the Fort, Intu Merry Hill & One Stop shopping centres either by train or bus.

Tried google but I've been up 18 hours over builders drilling at 6am this morning I wanted to scream.

If anyone on Era is from Birmingham and could tell me which is the fast bus / train to each of the shopping centre and cost. I know I'll probably ask when I'm over but it's nice to a heads up I'd ben so grateful thank you.

Maybe I should of just went to Liverpool and Manchester yet again ha ha but it's nice to see somewhere new to I suppose :)

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Hi, once you are in Brum Town centre you have plenty of options to visit the far superior Black Country area if you need to get out of town!

Any bus that travels down the Hagley Road will get you towards Dudley, Merry Hill and the Black Country museum, I have always used the 9 bus service to get me to and from Brum as I'm from Cradley originally.
Basically, any bus that gets you down the Hagley Road will end up near that area.

The 129, 243 or the X10 will get you there, the X10 probably being the most convenient if you want Merry Hill.
Once you are in Dudley it is only a small hop from the bus terminal to the B.C museum

You also have the Metro connections and trains running from Snow Hill train station if you are heading that way. All these bus stops and Snow Hill station are up near Temple Square, just up from the main shopping high street and towards the cathedral.

You should put The Crooked House on your to do list too, that will mess with your mind a bit!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crooked_House

About the Christmas market, be warned that there is a LOT of development work happening around the old library and the top of Broad Street where the market route used to begin, so it has been a bit more scattered around in the last two years.
It it still mainly in the city centre but a lot of the kiosks will probably run down towards Digbeth

Digbeth is worth a visit for The Custard Factory which is a sort of bohemian little centre based atound the old Birds Custard place (funnily enough), oldest pub in Birmingham is down that way too.
You will also probably recognise some of that area and its graffiti from Ready Player One, it was used extensively for location shooting in that film, I spotted "The Beard" himself one day while I was going to work. ;)

You should also spend an hour or two in the new city library, its an awesome piece of architecture and well worth a visit.

Zvonimir Boban said:

I agree with all of this (except the Solihull evangelising but I'll overlook that)

Touchwood is nice but going to One Stop is pointless and I would double check to see what stores there are at The Fort and Merry Hill that would warrant heading up there rather than spending more time chilling in Brum.

The Frankfurt Christmas Markets will be in town from the 15th-23rd December iirc and that's always a nice atmosphere albeit absolutely rammed with people.

Use the time saved on skipping some of the crappier shopping malls to head down to Ladypool Road and treat yourself to a proper balti and check out some local museums or just chill at a nice bar around the city centre.

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Added a bit to that post, too - specifically that if they want more shopping there's also Resorts World, of course. I just think One Stop and the Fort are naff. But you could definitely kill this many days just tooling around the city center, tbh.

Skeleton said:

Birmingham really sucks. It's not as good as London despite what other members say.

Have fun though just remember a train to London is really short when you get bored in Birmingham.

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People actually talk and smile to visitors in Birmingham and the Black Country without looking at them like they have trodden dog shit into their carpet, so thats something...

APZonerunner said:

Added a bit to that post, too - specifically that if they want more shopping there's also Resorts World, of course. I just think One Stop and the Fort are naff. But you could definitely kill this many days just tooling around the city center, tbh.

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Yeah, if I had guests over I wouldn't take them to The Fort or One Stop. Go to the Bull Ring, the Christmas Markets, check out some of the smaller musem/attractions like the back to backs and spend the spare day or two getting a proper curry and exploring the city centre. Can always grab a bus/train and head outside of Brum towards the Black Country when they arrive in town and get confused as to why everybody doesn't sound like a drunken Lenny Henry.

I too also feel the Fort will be redundant after visiting all the other places.

Stay away from Merry Hell at the weekend. To be honest, there's not much need to venture there if you're already planning time around the Bullring anyway, but each to their own...

If you're training it and don't mind going a little further out then Bicester Village (Oxford) might be worth a punt. It's lot more focused on designer outlets, but you can find some pretty good stuff.

Please don't take this the wrong way, I mean it with all due respect and I'm all for shopping, but you're planning to spend the best part of a week in a city brimming over with history, famous for everything from Anglo-Saxon hordes and Tudor houses to the Lunar Society and the industrial revolution, to Tolkien and Black Sabbath, and you want to spend it visiting five shopping centres? :)

Don't bother with Merry Hill or One Stop. Shite holes. City Centre will cover all your shopping needs so go do something touristy (Sp) instead.

The Fort is nothing special either.

Get the train over to Lichfield instead decent independent shops and lovely buildings with lots of history .