Are you planning a day out around West Midlands? loveyourpostcode.com® suggests a few of the family attractions in the West Midlands.
There are a lot of things to do in West Midlands, featuring must-see art, nightlife hotspots and can’t-miss restaurants. West Midlands does not really need an introduction but we will give it a little one anyway. It’s well known across the UK for almost everything about culture and history. The West Midlands is a region that will capture you with its dazzling glamour and hold you in its spell. The county is sometimes described as the “West Midlands metropolitan area”.
Finding the best stuff to do is really a matter of narrowing it down to the things that are actually worth doing. And while some of it might seem a little touristy, there’s still plenty of fun, affordable stuff to do in West Midlands that’s great for locals and visitors alike.
The region has plenty of recreational opportunities available to you. In this article, we take a look at the best ways to kick back and relax in West Midlands.
Top Things to Do in West Midlands
The Coventry Music Museum
The museum is the life-long vision of Coventry Music Historian and Journalist Pete Chambers and his wife Julie. Pete and Julie quite happily give up four days of their week, to work for free, to promote Coventry and Warwickshire music. It’s already bringing visitors to the area from the West Midlands, all over Britain and the world (58 countries as at Easter 2016), and of course Coventry and Warwickshire!
Address: 80 Walsgrave Rd, Coventry CV2 4ED
Open: Thursday to Saturday: 10:00 AM TO 4:00 PM and Sundays: 10:00AM TO 3:00PM
Phone: 07971 171441
Admission is £3.00 Adults and £1.00 Children between the ages of 5-15
City Sightseeing Stratford
The ‘City Sightseeing’ company was created in 1999 in Seville, Spain and this tour is still the backbone of their worldwide operations. Starting with just four tours in 2000 and initially as a joint venture between UK based Ensign Bus and newly established City Sightseeing Spain, City Sightseeing is now a well-known feature in almost 100 locations worldwide which span six of the seven continents.
It was in 1998 that the idea of the City Sightseeing brand was first conceived. After extensive market research in Seville, it was established that tourists and visitors would welcome a recognised brand in other destinations – a brand they could trust and be sure of the same quality and standards in each location. It was from this point that the synonymous red and yellow branding on double-deck open top buses was created and started to appear around the globe. The City Sightseeing franchise concept was launched at the 1999 World Travel Market in London, England.
Don’t have time to hop-off at every single bus stop along the Stratford City Sightseeing tour? Not to worry! One of the must-see attractions in this city is Shakespeare’s Birthplace and the Shakespeare Centre at Bus Stop 2. Here you’ll be able to explore the old home of the famous poet and play writer and learn all about his life.
Explore the River Avon at Bus Stop 5 and take a trip to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre that has been performing plays since 1932. Carry on the Shakespearian adventure at Bus Stop 9 and visit Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, the picturesque childhood home of the play writer’s wife.
The Stratford-upon-Avon City Sightseeing tour serves 11 stops all over the medieval town allowing you to visit the top tourist attractions.
Image source: stagecoachbus
SEA LIFE Birmingham
SEA LIFE Birmingham is one of the Midlands’ best days out with over 2000 amazing creatures in over 60 displays and contains the UK’s only fully transparent 360-degree underwater tunnel. Inside SEA LIFE Birmingham, you will find an amazing collection of marine life including Jellyfish, Penguins, Seahorses, Turtles, Clownfish, Otters, Sharks, Octopus and many many more!
There is so much you can do at SEA LIFE Birmingham! From meeting a diverse selection of marine life and discovering something amazing about them with their Talk and Feeding Presentations throughout the day, to traveling to the frozen extremities of the Antarctic to experience life with a colony of Gentoo Penguin in the Penguin Ice Adventure.
They also offer additional experiences and packages such as Behind the Scenes Tours or VIP experiences where you can get up close and personal with some of our most popular creatures including turtles or penguins!
Address: The Waters Edge, 3 Brindleyplace, Birmingham B1 2HL
Phone: 0871 226 5999
Things To Do & Days Out In West Midlands
Twycross Zoo
Open 364 days a year, Twycross Zoo is set amongst the beautiful rural countryside in the heart of England.
Right on the Leicestershire / Warwickshire border, Twycross Zoo is an award-winning conservation charity, with an award-winning schools programme, and fun for all the family. Immerse yourself and explore the animal world any time of the year, with indoor and outdoor enclosures, interactive experiences and fun, an exciting encounter with over 500 animals, from 125 different species.
The Zoo was founded in 1963 by pet shop owners Molly Badham and Natalie Evans, after the pair’s increasing zoological collection outgrew their three quarter acre site in Hints, Staffordshire. Twycross Zoo is now renowned as a World Primate Centre and has a wide variety of monkeys and apes including the UK’s only group of bonobos. the zoo have breeding groups of many endangered primate species so the place often has babies and toddlers playing around in our great ape groups.
The Zoo is only four-miles from junction 11 of the M42/A42 (which links the M1 and M6) making it readily accessible from anywhere in central England.
Address: East Midland Zoological Society, Burton Rd, Atherstone CV9 3PX
Alton Towers
There’s so much to do at Alton Towers Resort …you can escape for days! As well as the thrills of the UK’s leading Theme Park, the Resort includes two incredible themed hotels, an Enchanted Village (with woodland lodges and luxury treehouses), a splashtastic waterpark and an eighteen-hole golf course.
Now open an extra special CBeebies experience, stay at the brand new CBeebies Land Hotel. The 76 room, fully themed hotel is uniquely designed for young families with a jam-packed entertainment schedule for all guests to enjoy! – all located in 500 acres of beautiful Staffordshire countryside.
With over 50 rides and attractions, the Alton Towers Resort is the UK’s Number One theme park – home to an awesome choice of world first rollercoasters that cannot be experienced anywhere else on the planet! Enjoy G-forces greater than a space shuttle on the legendary Nemesis, brave Oblivion’s iconic vertical drop, fly through space on Galactica, a fully integrated virtual reality rollercoaster, ride The Smiler’s 14 loops or satisfy your need for speed on Rita – hold on tight!
Address: Farley Ln, Alton, Stoke-on-Trent ST10 4DB
Phone: 0871 222 3330
Website: altontowers.com
The Museum of the Jewellery Quarter
The Museum of the Jewellery Quarter is a museum at 75-79 Vyse Street in Hockley, Birmingham, England. It is one of the nine museums run by the Birmingham Museums Trust, the largest independent museums trust in the United Kingdom.
In 2008, the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter was named as the third best free tourist attraction in Europe by TripAdvisor, behind the Pantheon in Rome and the National Gallery in London.
The Museum of the Jewellery Quarter is built around a perfectly preserved jewellery workshop offering a unique glimpse of working life in Birmingham’s famous Jewellery Quarter.
When the proprietors of the Smith & Pepper jewellery manufacturing firm retired in 1981 they simply ceased trading and locked the door, unaware they would be leaving a time capsule for future generations.
Today the factory is a remarkable museum, which tells the story of the Jewellery Quarter and Birmingham’s renowned jewellery and metalworking heritage.
Address: 75-80 Vyse St, Birmingham B18 6HA
Phone: 0121 348 8263
Looking to move to the area so you can make full use of all the things to do in the West Midlands? Our estate agents in Coventry cover the local housing market as well as properties in all surrounding districts. Call us on 0800 862 0870 or book your free appointment today.
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