Photo: Chensiyuan (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons
Things to do in Birmingham
Wondering what to do in Birmingham? This guide lists the area's attractions — zoos, museums, theme parks and more — with distances, so you can plan every day of your trip. Highlights include Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and Newman Brothers Coffin Furniture Factory.
Showing museums, aquariums and attractions with indoor areas — the ones that work whatever the forecast.
🎟️ This weekend near Birmingham
Events from
Skiddle
Fri 13 Nov · 23:00
Lust - Sweet Temptation
Tramps Worcester, Worcester · 23.9 mi
Tickets on Skiddle ↗
Fri 13 Nov · 20:00
Karaoke With Ed
The Harp, Bridgnorth · 22.1 mi
Tickets on Skiddle ↗
Fri 13 Nov · 12:00
Worcester Audio Tour: Historic Gems
Corn Exchange, Worcester, Worcester · 23.9 mi
Tickets on Skiddle ↗
Fri 13 Nov · 12:00
Worcester Audio Tour: An Immersive Journey
Worcester, England, Worcester · 23.8 mi
Tickets on Skiddle ↗
Aquariums
0.4 mi from Birmingham
National Sea Life Centre
The National Sea Life Centre in Stratford-upon-Avon is an aquarium where you can walk through the UK's only 360° ocean tunnel, surrounded by sharks, rays and a giant turtle. You'll...
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Museums & Galleries
0.1 mi from Birmingham
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BM&AG) is a museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England. It has a collection of international importance covering fine art, ceramics, metalwork... — Wikipedia
0.3 mi from Birmingham
Newman Brothers Coffin Furniture Factory
Newman Brothers at The Coffin Works is a museum in the Newman Brothers Coffin Furniture Factory building in the Jewellery Quarter conservation area in Birmingham, England. The muse... — Wikipedia
0.4 mi from Birmingham
Back To Backs
The Birmingham Back to Backs are the city's last surviving court of back-to-back houses. They are preserved as examples of the thousands of similar houses that were built around sh... — Wikipedia
0.5 mi from Birmingham
West Midlands Police Museum
The West Midlands Police Museum is located in a Victorian cell block on Steelhouse Lane, Birmingham, England, which was operational from 1891 until 2016. — Wikipedia
0.5 mi from Birmingham
The Pen Museum
The Pen Museum is a national history museum in Birmingham, England, covering the history of Birmingham pen trade. The only museum in the United Kingdom devoted to the history of th... — Wikipedia
0.7 mi from Birmingham
Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum
Thinktank is a hands-on science museum in Birmingham city centre, set within Millennium Point, offering four floors of interactive exhibits, historical collections and natural scie...
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0.9 mi from Birmingham
Museum of the Jewellery Quarter
The Museum of the Jewellery Quarter is a remarkably preserved workshop in Birmingham, once the home of the Smith & Pepper jewellery manufacturing firm, which simply locked its door...
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1.6 mi from Birmingham
Soho House Museum
Soho House is a museum run by Birmingham Museums Trust, celebrating Matthew Boulton's life, his partnership with James Watt, his membership of the Lunar Society of Birmingham and h... — Wikipedia
1.9 mi from Birmingham
Islamic Exhibition Experience
The Islamic Exhibition Experience in Birmingham was the UK's first permanent Islamic Exhibition, opened in 2003, and has since welcomed over 150,000 visitors. Spread across five se...
2 mi from Birmingham
Aston Hall
Aston Hall is a Grade I listed Jacobean house in Aston, Birmingham, England, designed by John Thorpe and built between 1618 and 1635. It is a leading example of the Jacobean prodig... — Wikipedia
2.3 mi from Birmingham
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is a Grade I listed Art Deco building on the University of Birmingham's Edgbaston campus, combining an internationally significant art collection...
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2.4 mi from Birmingham
Lapworth Museum of Geology
The Lapworth Museum of Geology, part of the University of Birmingham, is a free-to-enter museum exploring 4.6 billion years of Earth history through its geological collections. Hig...
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2.8 mi from Birmingham
Smethwick Heritage Centre
Smethwick Heritage Centre is a small museum and community hub telling the story of Smethwick's industrial and civic past, located in Sandwell. You can browse items covering all asp...
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3.2 mi from Birmingham
Galton Valley Canal Museum
Galton Valley Canal Heritage Centre sits inside a restored Victorian pumping station between the old and new Main Line canals in Smethwick, Staffordshire. You can walk up steps to...
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3.7 mi from Birmingham
Sarehole Mill
Sarehole Mill is a 250-year-old watermill best known for its links to J.R.R Tolkien, who grew up nearby and drew on its rural surroundings when creating Middle-earth. You can explo...
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4 mi from Birmingham
Blakesley Hall
Blakesley Hall is a timber-framed Tudor house just a few miles from Birmingham city centre, built in 1590 by merchant Richard Smalbroke. Inside, you can wander the Great Parlour, G...
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4.9 mi from Birmingham
The Oak House Museum
The Oak House is a timber framed building dating from the early sixteenth century that is located in West Bromwich, England. — Wikipedia
4.9 mi from Birmingham
Bishop Asbury Cottage
Bishop Asbury Cottage is a 17th-century cottage on Newton Road, Great Barr, England, known for being the boyhood home of Francis Asbury, one of the first two bishops of the Methodi... — Wikipedia
Theme Parks
0.5 mi from Birmingham
LEGOLAND Discovery Centre
LEGOLAND Discovery Centre in Birmingham is an indoor attraction built around LEGO play, with build stations, a 4D cinema, two rides and a LEGO City soft play area. A highlight is t...
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24.3 mi from Birmingham
National Forest Adventure Farm
National Forest Adventure Farm is a family-run attraction near Burton upon Trent that began as a maize maze and funfield in 2004 and has grown into an events-based day out. Through...
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Water Parks
14.9 mi from Birmingham
Aztec Aquaglide Aqua Park
Aztec Aquaglide Aqua Park is a floating inflatable water park on a lake at Upton Warren, near Bromsgrove, featuring climbing towers, trampolines, balance bars and slides, with a de...
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17.3 mi from Birmingham
The Wave
The Wave is an indoor waterpark in the heart of Coventry, built around six slides such as The Crestar, The Cascade and The Rapids, alongside a Wave Pool, Lazy River and The Reef sp...
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Zoos & Wildlife
10 mi from Birmingham
Attwell Farm Park
Attwell Farm Park is a family-run farm attraction near Beoley, Bromsgrove, offering hands-on encounters with over 80 animal species alongside a Bug Barn housing more than 40 exotic...
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Where to stay near Birmingham
Places to stay within easy reach of these days out.
Birmingham makes a good base for days out because so much sits within easy reach of it: a mill on the city's own doorstep, a brick-sized theme park for younger children, and a ring of small museums across Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Shropshire and Leicestershire that are easy to pair up. The trick is not to cram. Pick one anchor attraction, add a smaller one nearby, and leave room for a long lunch.
Start with what's in Birmingham itself
Two of the listed attractions sit in Birmingham: Sarehole Mill and the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre. They suit very different moods. Sarehole Mill is the quieter, more thoughtful half-day — a museum visit you can take at your own pace. LEGOLAND Discovery Centre is the loud, bright one, best booked in advance and best tackled early in the day before energy levels dip. If you're travelling with a mixed-age group, splitting up for the morning and meeting for lunch often works better than dragging everyone through both.
Family days out
Beyond LEGOLAND Discovery Centre, the obvious family picks are The Wave in Warwickshire, a water park and an easy win on a day when nobody can agree on anything, and Climbing Frame in Worcestershire, listed as a theme park and the sort of place children will happily spend hours. The John Taylor Bellfoundry Museum in Leicestershire is a surprisingly good one with older children — bells are loud, heavy and interesting in a way that doesn't need much explaining.
- Younger children: LEGOLAND Discovery Centre, Climbing Frame
- Swimmers and splashers: The Wave
- Curious eight-to-twelves: John Taylor Bellfoundry Museum, Sarehole Mill
Rainy day options
This is where the region is strongest. Stourbridge Glass Museum in Worcestershire covers an industry the area is genuinely known for, and the National Telephone Kiosk Collection, also in Worcestershire, is the kind of cheerfully specific museum that turns a washout into a good story. In Warwickshire you have Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum and the Collections Centre, while the RSC Costume Workshop in Stratford-upon-Avon is a strong choice if anyone in the party likes theatre, sewing or making things generally.
Heritage and historic houses
For a slower, more historical day, Dudmaston Hall in Worcestershire and The Darby Houses in Shropshire both reward an unhurried visit. Staffordshire has a cluster worth knowing about: The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum, the Staffordshire Regiment Museum, the Museum of Cannock Chase and Redfern Cottage. Further out, the Almonry Museum and Heritage Centre in Cheltenham and Castle Donington Museum in Leicestershire are small, local and better for it.
How to group them into a sensible day
- A Birmingham day: Sarehole Mill in the morning, a proper sit-down lunch, then something gentler in the afternoon rather than a second big attraction.
- A Staffordshire heritage day: The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum first, then the Staffordshire Regiment Museum or the Museum of Cannock Chase, with Redfern Cottage as a short extra if time allows.
- A Worcestershire pairing: Stourbridge Glass Museum and the National Telephone Kiosk Collection, or swap one for Dudmaston Hall if you'd rather a house than a workshop.
- A Warwickshire day with children: The Wave in the morning, Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum in the afternoon when everyone's tired and glad to be indoors.
Where to eat
For a reliable, no-fuss lunch, The Open Door Cafe is a good independent option, and Coffee#1 works well for a mid-morning stop before a museum. Costa and Starbucks do the job when you need somewhere quick, familiar and child-friendly between stops. For an evening meal with something more substantial, the New Inn is the pub to aim for. All of these hold five-star food hygiene ratings, which is worth knowing if you're feeding fussy travellers.
Turning it into a short break
There are ten places to stay on BritStays across this region, which is enough choice to base yourself somewhere and fan out. Over three days, a workable shape is: day one in Birmingham itself with Sarehole Mill or LEGOLAND Discovery Centre; day two heading into Worcestershire for Stourbridge Glass Museum and Dudmaston Hall; day three either west to The Darby Houses in Shropshire or east to Stratford-upon-Avon for the RSC Costume Workshop.
Practical pointers
Check opening days before you set off — several of these are small museums run on limited hours, and midweek closures are common. Book LEGOLAND Discovery Centre and The Wave ahead, especially in school holidays. Carry a swim bag in the boot if The Wave is anywhere on your list. And if you're visiting two museums in a day, put the larger one first; the smaller ones are far more enjoyable when you're not already footsore.
Frequently asked questions
Which attractions are actually in Birmingham itself?
Two of the listed attractions are in Birmingham: Sarehole Mill, a museum, and the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre, a theme park attraction. The rest of the suggestions sit in the surrounding counties, including Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Shropshire and Leicestershire.
What's best for a rainy day?
The museums are the obvious fallback. Stourbridge Glass Museum and the National Telephone Kiosk Collection are both in Worcestershire, Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum and the Collections Centre are in Warwickshire, and the RSC Costume Workshop is in Stratford-upon-Avon. Sarehole Mill in Birmingham is another indoor option close to base.
Where should we go with young children?
The LEGOLAND Discovery Centre in Birmingham and Climbing Frame in Worcestershire are both theme park attractions aimed at families. The Wave, a water park in Warwickshire, is a good choice if your children would rather swim than walk round exhibits.
Are there good heritage sites for a slower day?
Yes. Dudmaston Hall in Worcestershire and The Darby Houses in Shropshire suit an unhurried visit. Staffordshire has several within reach of each other: The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum, the Staffordshire Regiment Museum, the Museum of Cannock Chase and Redfern Cottage. The Almonry Museum and Heritage Centre in Cheltenham and Castle Donington Museum in Leicestershire are smaller local options.
Where can we eat with confidence on food hygiene?
The Open Door Cafe, Coffee#1, Costa and Starbucks all hold five-star hygiene ratings and work well for coffee stops or a quick lunch. The New Inn is the pub option for an evening meal and also holds a five-star rating.
Can we turn this into a short break rather than a single day out?
Easily. There are ten places to stay on BritStays in this region, so you can base yourself in one spot and travel out each day. A three-day shape might be Birmingham first for Sarehole Mill or the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre, then Worcestershire for Stourbridge Glass Museum and Dudmaston Hall, then either The Darby Houses in Shropshire or the RSC Costume Workshop in Stratford-upon-Avon.
More ways to explore
Not booked yet? See the best places to stay in Birmingham.