Birmingham is a wonderful, vibrant city, full of culture and fun activities to fill your weekends and evenings. However, it is important to make the most of your time in the UK by seeing as much of the country as possible.
We understand that it is sometimes difficult to get away for long periods of time during the semester – luckily, there are some fantastic places nearby that you can visit for the day.
Stratford-Upon-Avon
This town is famous for being the birthplace of England’s greatest writer, William Shakespeare. If you visit, you will find references to him everywhere. If you want to make sure you don’t miss a single thing, you can book a tour here that takes you to his birthplace, his wife’s cottage, and his daughter’s house. You can also visit The Swan theatre, home to the Royal Shakespeare Company – although if you want to watch a play there, you should book in advance. The town of Stratford itself is very beautiful and you can spend an hour or two walking down the banks of the River Avon and admiring the architecture.
How to get there: You can get a direct train from Birmingham Moor Street to Stratford-Upon-Avon. The journey takes just under an hour and return tickets are around £17.
Leamington Spa
This is a town in Warwickshire that is well worth a visit. The architecture is from the Regency period and is very grand and beautiful, and the town itself is full of independent shops, lots of parks and gardens, and several museums, too. You can follow the geological walk that will take you through the town centre and will show you all the different stones used for each building or visit one of the spas that made the town famous in the nineteenth century. If the weather turns, you can visit the Royal Pump Rooms Art Gallery and Museum, which is always showing an interesting exhibition or two. If you want to stay outside, you can hire a rowing boat to take you down the River Leam and see the town from a different perspective.
How to get there: You can get the train to Leamington Spa directly from Birmingham New Street, which takes roughly 30 minutes depending on the train. Return tickets will cost around £20.
Ludlow
This is slightly further away than the previous two, so you may want to get up a little earlier, but it is worth the journey. Ludlow is a historic town in Shropshire with lots of different things to do on a day out. The first is a visit to the castle which can be found in the town’s market square and was built in 1066. After taking a tour, on Saturdays, you can browse the stalls in the market and go for lunch in one of the many pubs and restaurants that have made Ludlow a famous food destination. There are also many opportunities for walking and cycling in the beautiful countryside nearby and you can often spot deer in Mortimer Forest.
How to get there: It takes roughly one hour and 40 minutes to get to Ludlow from Birmingham New Street, changing at Shrewsbury. Return tickets cost around £44.
There’s so much to see within a short train journey from Birmingham, we encourage all of our students to make the most their time with us and explore these beautiful and historical places!