6 Best Sights in Birmingham, Stratford-upon-Avon and the Heart of England

Part of the University of Birmingham, this museum has a small but astounding collection of European paintings, prints, drawings, and sculpture, including works by Botticelli, van Dyck, Gainsborough, Turner, Manet, Monet, Degas, van Gogh, and Magritte. The museum also has a lively program of temporary exhibitions and a weekly lunchtime concert at 1pm on Friday, as well as occasional evening concerts. Starting in 2023, part of the museum closed for a few months for refurbishment; much of it is open now, though some work will continue through 2025. The museum is 3 miles south of the city center; to get here, take a train from New Street Station to University Station, which is a 10-minute walk from the museum, or jump on Bus 61 or 63, operated by National Express West Midlands.

Of the 20,000 courtyards of back-to-back houses (houses that quite literally back onto each other) built in the 19th century for the city’s expanding working-class population, this is the only survivor. Three houses tell the stories of families (a clockmaker, locksmith, and glass-eye maker were among the residents) who lived in these charming properties, which were rescued from decay by the National Trust and opened as a heritage site. Each of the properties is decorated for a different period in the courtyard’s history, from the outdoor privies to the long johns hanging over the bedstead.  Admission is by guided tour only, which must be booked in advance. Allow at least one hour for the tour and be prepared for steep stairs; ground-floor tours are available for those with limited mobility.

Vast and impressive, this museum holds a magnificent collection of Victorian art and is known internationally for its works by the Pre-Raphaelites. All the big names are here—among them Rubens, Renoir, Constable, and Francis Bacon—reflecting the enormous wealth of 19th-century Birmingham and the aesthetic taste of its industrialists. Galleries of metalwork, silver, and ceramics reveal some of the city’s history, and works from the Renaissance, the Arts and Crafts movement, and the present day are also well represented. One gallery displays part of the incredible Staffordshire Hoard, the greatest collection of Anglo-Saxon treasure ever discovered. Part of the museum's four-year phased restoration (to be completed by summer 2025) introduced a new Made in Birmingham permanent exhibition that celebrates the city’s trades and crafts. The Edwardian Tearooms is a lovely spot for lunch between seeing the exhibitions.

Converted from a Victorian Gothic–style school, this gallery is among the city’s top venues for contemporary art from the United Kingdom and abroad, and rightly so. The bright, white interior of is divided into two main galleries, which host rolling exhibitions. A third space called The Tower hosts more site-specific shows. The bookshop is great, and there’s a very nice café on the ground floor. Ikon, which opened in 1965, exemplifies how Birmingham is embracing its past while moving very much into the future.

For more than two centuries, jewelers have worked in the district of Hockley, northwest of the city center. Today, hundreds of manufacturing jewelers continue the tradition in the Jewellery Quarter, producing more than a third of the jewelry made in Britain. It’s a fun area to explore, with many of the jewelers working out of pretty redbrick houses.  The quarter's website has a useful interactive map.

The city’s Assay Office hallmarks 12 million items each year with the anchor symbol, denoting Birmingham origin. The ornate green and gilded Chamberlain Clock, at the intersection of Vyse Street, Warstone Lane, and Frederick Street, marks the center of the district. The quarter is two stops on the Metro from Birmingham New Street, and although it is a lot calmer than the city center, it has a hip café and restaurant scene.

Based in an incredible historic building in a forgotten part of the city, this heritage center and tour provider, a joint enterprise between the National Trust and the Canal and River Trust, has seen 19th-century stables once used to house Birmingham's hard-working horses brought back to life. Inside the horseshoe-shaped brick building, you can learn about the history of the building, as well as how integral both horses and the canals have been to the city's fortunes. This hub for city tours—by foot, bike, kayak, and boat—is a font of knowledge for those interested in Birmingham's industrial past. The visitor center is free to visit, and there's a good café, but most people come here to book a kayak tour or take a guided tour on foot through the city. There are tours of the building itself, and these can be combined with a visit to the excellent Coffin Works museum.