This is a city that could entertain you for far longer than 48 hours; but here’s our attempt to squeeze it all into two days.

Created by Birmingham local Tom Cullen.

Morning Day One

Morning sleepyhead! You’re in need of breakfast today because you have some walking to do. Two of the city’s best brekkie options are a stone’s throw from one another, both very near New Street Station. If you really aren’t a BIG breakfast kind of a cat, then hit up Faculty, in Piccadilly Arcade. Always, always in the mix when debating the city’s best coffee shops, they’ve been putting out incredible java science 2013. Small, which adds to the buzz, they’re independently owned and their V60 coffees are unrivalled. Grab one of the unreal fresh pastries and people watch out of their tall windows as Brummies pass through the beaut’ Edwardian arcade.

Got a hunger on? Heartier day starters can be found a two-minute walk around the corner at Yorks, on Stephenson Street. An institution in Birmingham, this spot was first born in 2012 but on the strength of its huge success they also took on the cafe beneath Ikon in Brindleyplace — very close to Moda, The Mercian. Both venues offer quality brunch options with the best eggs Benedict in Brum and a brilliant brunchy fried chicken on French toast.

Once fed you have a choice. It’s either time to get your legs working or time to jump on a train. The beauty of this canal walk is that it follows the train tracks running south out of New Street Station so, if you get tired at any point, just come off the canal walk at the next railway station and leap on a train — they run every ten minutes. You’ll pick up the short hike at the Mailbox and follow the Waterfront Walk along the Birmingham and Worcester Canal, out of town, southbound.

Check out Moda's Birmingham locations here. From Digbeth to Edgbaston and the most central Birmingham location you can get! Did we mention we have the only rooftop running track in the city?!

Afternoonn Day One

So you’re walking (or training it) southward, enjoying the gentle beauty of Brum’s canal network, cyclists pinging their bells as they pass and dogs dragging their owners dangerously close to the water’s edge. Keep an eye out for herons and even the occasional kingfisher. As you approach the University of Birmingham — about half way along your 50-minute hike — you’ll need to come off the canal route temporarily (or jump off the train) to go grab some culture. The university is home to both the Barber Institute of Fine Art and The Lapworth Museum, both of which are wonderful.

Come the zombie apocalypse, it should be a universally agreed condition of Brummie-ism that the unbitten fall back to the Barber Institute for the final stand. Not only is it the closest thing we have to a castle, but it is, perhaps, the city’s most beautiful building and needs protecting at all costs. Pencil in an hour inside (and outside) the building’s chunky, chiselled walls. Officially opened by Queen Mary in the summer of 1939, the Grade II, Art Deco beauty is home to major works by Manet, Monet and Magritte; Bellini, Botticelli and Brueghel; Rubens, Rossetti, Rodin and Renoir – not to mention alliteratively less helpful geniuses like Gainsborough, Turner, Degas, van Gogh and Picasso. Plus it’s free!

A five minute walk away and back towards the train/canal is the Lapworth Museum where you can meet Roary. Bad news, Roary’s been dead for around 150 million years (gutted) and as an Allosaurus, was pretty much the predator to be most scared of in the Jurassic period (as well as being the forerunner to the T-Rex). If you’re in the market for a one-on-one with him, well, as luck would have it, The Lapworth Museum of Geology is a completely free museum, which is open daily and found on the University of Birmingham’s stunning campus, housing 4.5 billion years of history.

More Brum Museum Brilliance:
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
Ikon Gallery
ThinkTank (great for kids)
Birmingham Back-to-Backs
Coffin Works
Pen Museum

Evening Day One

So you’re back on the canal route and you’ll need to continue south for 20 minutes until Bournville home, Bourneville - home, of course, to Cadbury’s. If choc’s your thing, obviously pop in (book in advance) but even if it’s not, a walk around this chocolate box village is well worth it, making time to stop by at the idyllic Bournville Village Green for the antithesis of what you think Birmingham is.

Bournville’s next door neighbour is Stirchley and, don’t worry, your long stroll is over. Stirchley is very easy to reach (and downhill) just two minutes from Bournville Station and it’s the home to the city’s best suburban bars and restaurants.

They have everything you could possibly want and all of the following come highly, highly recommended: Pizza at Alica’s Microbakehouse or burgers at [Original Patty Men]https://originalpattymen.com/) in The British Oak pub. Thai at SOI 1268 or Vietnamese at the truly wonderful Eat Vietnam. If you’re in the market for a Balti try out the excellent Akram’s (you can get all manner of beers from Stirchley Wines opposite, because it’s BYOB). If you’re looking for something high-end that won’t break the back stop in at The Rabbit, while Couch has you covered for world class cocktails, and Deadbeat has all things craft beer sewn up.

What a suburb. What a city! Oh and no need to walk any further. Taxis, trains, buses and e-scooters can all get you back into Brum in no time.

Morning Day Two

A change of pace for breakfast today. Head to Damascena, on St Philip’s Square, known to the locals as Pigeon Park. Here you’ll find a beautifully calming Middle Eastern restaurant with wonderful Turkish and Arabian teas. Take a paper and try the baked egg manakish — a blend of eggs, cheese, and herbs atop freshly baked Manakeesh, a traditional flatbread. This vegetarian dish is perfect to tee you up for your final day’s exploring — commencing with some shopping.

Literally one minute away from Damascena is Liquor Store which, although it does have a hidden bar, via a hidden door, opened via a secret coat peg (ask to see it), is first and, first and foremost, the best clothes shop in all of Brum.

Again, only 60 seconds away, is The Great Western Arcade built by the Great Western Company in 1876 to span a tunnel for the railway line between Moor St and Snow Hill stations.

These days it’s home to some of Birmingham’s most exciting independent traders. From the UK’s first not for-profit bar (The Good Intent) to the city’s finest deli (Anderson & Hill — grab a sandwich for lunch later) via clothes stores, wine merchants and the Wes Anderson movie esque coffee house, Morridge. Even if you’re not shopping, do wander through this Victorian delight, at Christmas it’s genuinely magical.

Best places to eat in Digbeth
Burgers at Hanbao
Detroit pizza at Kilder
Pizza at Baked in Brick
Light bites at Kanteen (daytime)
Tapas at Rico Libre (evening – same venue)

Afternoon Day Two

It’s time to take another stroll out of town — shorter than yesterday — towards Digbeth. Take your own time if you like or join one of Run Of A Kind’s absolutely brilliant running tours of the city. They regularly take gentle jogs around Digbeth (well, all over Brum actually) while giving a brief history of the magnificent street art, or you can stroll through under your own steam and enjoy the amazing colours that bedeck the warehouses and buildings.

Aim for the Custard Factory where you’ll find one of the city’s best independent book shops in the shape of Voce Books, as well as craft stores, curio shops, clothes stores, jewellery designers, The Mockingbird Cinema, board game bar Chance & Counters and old school video arcade NQ64. There’s even the UK’s first self-service bar and café — Autobrew.

Evening Day Two

If you’re looking for some fun “sporting” activities, Digbeth really is the place. The Floodgate has (get this) baseball batting cages as well as curling (yep, the one from the Winter Olympics, but no ice this time) pit pat table golf, basketball nets, car racing games and more. Near neighbours, Roxy Lanes, has pool tables, ten pin bowling, shuffleboard, ping pong and beer pong. If you’re looking for something really, really surreal then grab a putter at adult crazy golf spot Wolf Fang. Expect sex toy obstacles, 90s references galore and more than a bit of neon.

To round off your time in the second city, book yourselves in at two of the very best spots Birmingham has. Still in Digbeth (it’s almost as if we’ve thought this through) grab a table at 670 Grams, an off-the-wall but utterly amazing fine dining concept from Kray Treadwell. Kray trained at Purnell’s and did a two-year stint at Michelin-starred The Man Behind the Curtain, in Leeds. Then, after appearing on Great British Menu and a return to his native Brum he opened 670 (named after the weight of his first born) and has never looked back. The current menu has lamb fat dumplings that might make you cry with joy, but every dish is delicious and crafted for serious Instagrammery.

Once done it’s time for a nightcap at the third best cocktail bar in the country, no less: Passing Fancies. A gleaming jewel in Birmingham’s hospitality crown there is no better way to finish your stay in brilliant, brilliant Brum. A toast to a holiday well executed.

Brum best city centre boozers:
Purecraft Bar & Kitchen
The Colmore
The Wellington
Old Joint Stock
The Botanist (previously Canal House)

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