14 Best Sights in Stratford-upon-Avon and the Heart of England, 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 1 pm on Friday, as well as occasional evening concerts. The museum is three miles from the city center; to get here, take a train from New Street Station to University Station, which is a 10-minute walk from the gallery, or jump on a No. 61 or 63 bus, 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 clock-maker, 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. The 3,500-strong haul was unearthed in a field 16 miles north of Birmingham; among the hundreds of items on permanent display here include helmets, gold, jewelry, and metalwork. The Edwardian Tearooms are good for lunch, and there is a great play area for kids just outside.

This 26-acre museum on social history gives insight into what life was like centuries ago for the men and women who worked in the coal-producing region known as the Black Country (a term that arose from the resulting air pollution from the region's coal mines), and it’s a little like walking onto a film set. The town of Dudley, 10 miles northwest of Birmingham, was where coal was first used for smelting iron way back in the 17th century. The replicated village is made up of buildings from around the region, including a chain maker’s workshop; a trap-works (where animal snares were fashioned); his-and-hers hardware stores (pots and pans for women, tools and sacks for men); a druggist; and a general store where costumed women describe life in a poor industrial community in the 19th century. You can also sit on a hard bench and watch Charlie Chaplin films in the 1920s cinema, peer into the depths of a mine, or ride on a barge to experience canal travel of yesteryear. For sustenance, there is a café, a 1930s-era fried-fish shop, and the Bottle & Glass Inn for ales and drinks. Peaky Blinders fans will also be pleased to know they now offer special themed nights where you can dress up and step back to the 1920s.

To avoid the numerous school parties, visit on the weekend or during school vacations. The museum, three miles from the M5, is best reached by car. Leave M5 at Junction 2 by the A4123, and then take A4037 at Tipton. Trains from Birmingham New Street to Tipton Station take 17 minutes; buses from the train station run past the museum, which is one mile away.

On paper this museum might not be the obvious choice for a fun afternoon on your vacation, but it’s actually a very lovely time capsule of an interesting and important part of Birmingham’s industrial history. It was on this very site that Alfred and Edwin Newman (the Newman Brothers, who previously had been accomplished brass fitters) first started making coffins in the late Victorian era. The company quickly established itself as the area's best coffin-makers and was soon making coffins for the likes of Queen Mary, King George V, and Winston Churchill. Though the company fell into decline starting in the 1960s, eventually closing in the 1990s, guided tours now let you clock in as workers once did before taking you behind the scenes in the manager's office (where you can listen to spooky audio of one of the most prominent figures in the company’s history), onto the factory floor, and even into the shroud room. Guided tours occur at 11 am from Friday through Sunday, with self-guided tours every half-hour from noon to 3 pm. There are also guided tours at 11 am, 12 pm, 1 pm, and 3 pm on Thursdays.

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. In the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, you can tour a former workshop and see how unique pieces are made.

A free booklet from the tourist office gives you the lowdown on shopping in the area.

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, 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. Now essentially a hub for city tours—on foot, bike, kayak, and boat—it's also 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 on site, but most people come here to book a kayak tour, take a guided tour on foot through the city, or take a cycle tour along the canals. There are also tours of the building itself.

You can see old architecture typical of Worcestershire at this 19-acre open-air museum, which is situated 15 miles outside the city center and which has rescued more than 30 structures from destruction. Alongside half-timber buildings are Victorian chimneys, a collection of phone booths, a three-seater "earth closet" (lavatory), a 1946 prefabricated house, and a working windmill. During the week, school groups usually arrive at the museum in the morning, making afternoons a less crowded time to visit. Wear good walking shoes.

The early-18th-century Cathedral Church of St. Philip, a few blocks from Victoria Square, contains some lovely plasterwork in its elegant, gilded Georgian interior. The stained-glass windows behind the altar, designed by the Pre-Raphaelite Edward Burne-Jones (1833–98) and executed by the firm of William Morris & Company, glow with sensuous hues. There are regular free guided tours (most Monday at 12:30 pm and Wednesday at 11:30 am) where you can find out about how this church became a cathedral.

The village of Bournville (five miles south of Birmingham city center) contains this museum devoted to—what else?—chocolate. In 1879, the Quaker Cadbury brothers moved the family business from the city to this "factory in a garden." The museum traces the history of the cocoa bean and the Cadbury dynasty. The 4-D Chocolate Adventure Zone and the accompanying play areas may seem like overkill, but Cadbury World is extremely popular with kids. You can watch (and smell) chocolates being made by hand, enjoy free samples, and then stock up from the cut-price shop. The restaurant has specialty chocolate cakes as well as lunches. Opening times change almost daily, and reservations are essential; call or go online to check times and book tickets.

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

It’s worth a detour 15 miles northeast of Birmingham to explore the only medieval English cathedral with three spires. The sandstone building, beautifully sited by a tree-fringed pool, dates mainly from the 12th and 13th centuries, and the Lady Chapel glows with some 16th-century stained glass from the Cistercian abbey of Herkenrode, near Liège, in Belgium. Half-timber houses surround the peaceful grounds, and the town itself has Georgian buildings as well as the birthplace (now a museum) of lexicographer Dr. Samuel Johnson. Highlights Tours run Monday through Saturday at 11 am and 2 pm. Visitors can also pay to tour the restored historic library (£18), accessed up 35 spiral steps, which includes many early books, including 15th-century manuscripts of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, or join the Hidden Heights tours to go into the cathedral's vaulted roof spaces and enjoy rooftop views of the city. Frequent trains from Birmingham New Street take 45 minutes.

Almost as far from the sea as you can get in Britain (which isn’t very far), this imaginatively landscaped aquarium allows a glimpse into Davey Jones’s locker. An underwater tunnel lets you view sharks and stingrays up close, or you can book a feeding experience with the sharks or the green sea turtle. The resident Gentoo penguins that greet you on arrival are a crowd-pleaser. Children gravitate to the touch pools and other interactive activities. Buy your tickets online for discounts of up to 35%.

During the 19th century, Birmingham was the hub of the world pen trade with 129 factories employing nearly 8,000 people. This museum celebrates the heritage of this lost city trade and tells the stories of past workers in poignant detail. Located within a former pen factory, the exhibits illustrate the industry's heyday through a decorative array of nibs, quills, fountain pens, inks, and all the paraphernalia of the pre-ballpoint era. You can try your hand at calligraphy, make your own nib, and listen to recollections of previous employees for insight about the working conditions of yesteryear.