[Music]
meenie minee hey I am still on a mission
to convince every single one of you to
leave the confines of London on your
next trip to the UK and travel just up
the road this time to Birmingham now I'm
a Brummie born and bred so who better to
do a travel guide on Birmingham then a
local who hasn't really lived in
Birmingham for the past eight years but
anywho I've teamed up with omiyo who
have sponsored this video Ali who death
who all Mia who she and you'll
definitely know on do is if you've been
on this channel for a while because they
about a sexy new name change from go
euro don't worry they still offer all
the great goodness they always have so
just to avoid any confusion in the
future oh me oh it's formerly known as
go euro which we all know and love on
this channel now Oh mio if you've
actually never heard of them or you
haven't seen any of my previous go euro
videos then they're a fantastic app and
website where you can compare buses
trains and flights or on one page to see
the best cheapest deal for you it's
amazing I don't just use them for these
videos I use them all the time just last
week I booked my train to London with
them and got a return to London for 18
pounds I've never been able to travel to
and from London for 18 times before so
if you're heading to the UK on a trip
and you probably heading to London but
do not worry you just simply jump onto
the app and book yourself a cheap bus or
a cheap train up to Birmingham in case
you somewhere else in Europe and you
want a quick city break then I am gonna
convince you in this video to book a
flight using Omiya to Birmingham soami
oh is absolutely fantastic as we've all
seen before of getting you to and from
different places all across Europe and
within the UK and it's so helpful to be
able to see your flights bus train all
your options on one single page on your
mobile where you can have a tickets
right in your wallet there no printing
no messing around it's just fantastic I
cannot recommend it enough to get you
the best deal so in this video I'm gonna
be running through all of your
transportation options which kind of
prices a ticket how to get in and out of
the city from the airport I'm going to
take you around some of the
places to eat and drink for example and
things have seen the city center but
I'll also be taking you added city
center with some tips on where I grew up
in Bournville and also give you a big
hidden gem at the end of this video so
we're gonna jump into the map now and
I'm gonna show you my city ok so let's
talk about transportation and you're
gonna be flying into Birmingham at your
best point of call and the cheapest way
to get into the city center is by train
so when you come to arrivals just pop
upstairs and take the little monorail to
Birmingham International it takes about
60 seconds maybe you can easily jump
onto omiyo and book your train ticket
there and then or you can just use one
of the ticket booths when you get there
it's pretty cheap and effective anything
the last time I had to take that train
it cost me around four pounds one way
you'll be going into Birmingham New
Street so let's jump into the map and
I'm gonna show you the different big
train stations and all the different
kind of landmarks it'll stop what
stopping from a plot for court with ok
so this is a map of boehmem city center
it's the best one I could find
ok so we are going to be pointing out
the big train stations so right here
we've got a new stream this is the one
you're probably going to come into we've
also got more Street here and then snow
hill up here and it's very just likely
that you're gonna be using new Street
Station which is the biggest one and
very unlikely unless you're going out of
the city to somewhere else so you'll use
Snow Hill or more streets if you're
coming into Birmingham on the coach from
London or anywhere else in the UK which
is a very cheap option Mary hat but does
take a lot longer than the Train then
you're gonna be coming in to dig this so
right here
Birmingham coach station and from here
it's a really quick walk through dick
berth up towards the bullring which is
the big shopping center that we'll get
on to later so once you're in the city
getting around is super easy the bus
network here is pretty good and
extensive 23 to permanent even if you
plan on taking a minimum of two bus
rides within a day you're gonna have to
get a day saver because a day saver is
pretty much the equivalent of two single
take
and you can travel as much you want on
the west midland bus network with that
one ticket now how to book tickets if
you buy one on the bus you have to have
the exact fare no change is given if you
have a debit card which has contactless
on then you can just tap it and go and
your cap it's so you never spend more
than what it would be for a day saver my
personal favorite is using the app so
the NX bus app I will link it down below
for you as well it's a place that you
can just jump on and buy a single ticket
or you buy a day saver you have to
activate it and it gets saved to your
wallet and you just show that to the
driver every time and that's great if
you don't have a contactless debit card
you don't to be messing around with
change all the time just to be able to
pay it on your card and go also another
pro tip if you are getting the day saver
to use the bus a lot then travel after
9:30 because it's I think three-pound 90
let's have a little look-see at the
prices so single journey will cost you
to pan 30 per ticket a normal day saver
is for pound 50 for the entire day
however if you travel after 9:30
protip in the morning then it's only 3
pound and 90 for a day saver and also
traveling on Saturday to Sunday the day
save is a three pound 90 the trains are
much quicker I really do love them I
used to get them from where I lived when
I was growing up it's a time all the
time a super quick they're not super
expensive but they're perfect if you
want to go to any of the suburbs which
I'll touch on later and you can use the
omiyo app which I always do because it
just gives you your ticket on the app to
make those more journeys but what I
would say is the city center is pretty
compact and you'll probably just walk
everywhere in the city so you know you
really be taking the bus or the train or
anything like that
if you'll be leaving or coming to and
from the city center okay so let's jump
back into the map and I'm going to show
you some landmarks so like I said you're
most likely to get to the train or
anything into New Street station now
bang on top of New Street station is
Grand Central it is a glorious beautiful
shopping center which is full of
restaurants cafes shops so why are you
waiting for a train you can just like
pop upstairs it's just a gorgeous
addition
and saying the Birmingham is desperately
needed for a long time you do get a
little bit peckish and fancy shuffle of
Vietnamese food then there's a place
called first Street food and it is
absolutely incredible it is quite the
most authentic food I've had since my
days exploring Vietnam and the coffee is
bang-on if you might think just a little
bit quick to go then right next to the
third place is a burrito stand and MA
they do a killer burrito at a really
decent price as well so if you do fancy
leaving Grand Central then there are a
couple of nice little bars and not too
far there's one called BrewDog now that
is a chain pub they do some fantastic
craft beers and rights over the road as
place called cherry rents which is where
I help my book launch party and they do
a baingan breakfast as well haven't
tried the lunch or dinner but their
breakfast is top-notch and it's just a
really cool quirky cozy place to go for
a few drinks not far from you Street
just up the road it's the bullring the
bullring is an iconic building in
Birmingham whether you love it or hate
it it is just packed full with shops
like Selfridges you've got the high end
like Gucci dancer all the way down to
the bottom you got your new luxe you
sport direct everything so if you're
coming in for a shopping trip and of
course you got to go to the bullring
it's been the ultimate shopping hub for
over 800 yes so whilst the first actual
structure of the first bullring wasn't
built till the 60s stand here the
bullring markets have been going for
over 800 years we're small little
sellers used to set up shop for the
locals back in day in there you also
have the indoor markets as well where
you can go and have a good browse good
bargain hunt and there's just stuff
everywhere so if you can see you
shopping these three rings this is where
you want to come and have some fun get a
little bit more into the map here if
shopping isn't your thing completely
respect that then if you just head up
towards Victorious where you've got the
cancer house and the town hall really
beautiful here it used to be a fountain
to jump in it all the time as a kid
they've now taken the water out and if
you follow it up you've got the Burma
Museum and Art Gallery this is open
every day I believe and it's completely
free to go into and so worth it it's
absolutely huge inside and you'll see
there is a lot of building work going on
because we're trying to make Birmingham
which is the second city look like the
second city it's such an old industrial
city for that's been so long it's just
getting a massive facelift so we're very
excited about seeing that we are talking
for all bromius now not far from that
which is where I'm gonna bring you down
to the canals but just before you've got
the brand-new library not brand new it's
been around for a while but you know
when you'll always remember the old
version but only you could have seen the
old library in Birmingham just imagine
like beautiful gray concrete dirties is
ma now the new library is an absolute
spectacular piece of architecture and
definitely worth a visit if you want
some really cool photos also you can go
inside and I would recommend okay then
after a bit of museum in a better the
library you're probably super thirsty so
my favorite place to get a drink is not
on Broad Street even though all the way
down here it's no so you've got gas
Street here and all the way up here and
in Brindley place you've got so many
bars and restaurants right next to the
canals now if you've never seen the
episode of peaky blinders you know that
Birmingham has an extensive canal
network and saying every Brummie has to
mention we have more canals than Venice
especially in spring and summer when the
weather really starts warming up to go
and sit on the canal enjoy a drink have
a nice meal
there's a lovely place called picture
and piano and they have my balcony zhing
sits on looking over the canal ten out
okay so that's enough of me rambling and
showing you some of my favorite places
around the city I'm gonna take you to
where I grew up and tell you why pretty
much you should go and visit this place
on your next trip to Birmingham let me
take you to ball mill so I couldn't
possibly film a guide to Birmingham
without bringing you to where I grew up
which is born bill now Bournville is
it's only about ten minutes away on the
train from the city center it's home to
the original Cadbury Factory Josh
Cadbury and his family not only built
the Chocolate Factory but they house
their workers by building both or
village gave them houses gave them
schools I was lucky enough to go to the
school in his gorgeous beautiful
building though that's my old school
that I was very lucky to go to she's
gonna wait to see if I'm gonna chime the
bell a quarter to the hour
[Music]
[Applause]
it's a gorgeous village I'm very lucky
to have been brought up here and I'm
just gonna take you now for a wander
through the bird cage and I'll taste
more stories then and you know inside
the factory and stuff
[Music]
okay so cap reward is there if you come
down this way I'm gonna take you into
the bird cage just what we call it here
you'll see when we get there so just
follow like all of this around
oh it's also the way to the train
station perfect
just on this bend up here is where we
used to come and smell the chocolate now
I can't smell anything yet and I'm
pretty sure where they make the
chocolate has been moved we'll give it a
go though oh holy I can smell it oh
my god yes
just come here I swear it was the
biggest worth of chocolate I could ever
snap oh I only had smell-o-vision a what
would be crazy if they actually moved
the chocolate making thing and it's like
completely psychosomatic that I'm
smelling it there because I used to as a
child whenever I had friends come to
born bellies to tell them this was a
lake of chocolate like really dirty
chocolate they didn't believe me if we
carry on this now I'm gonna take you to
the Cadbury grounds okay so that's where
you just walked up there and I here is
where you get to the train station which
is just down there but we're going to
say
[Music]
my friends and I would spend so long
playing here climbing trees this hasn't
been full since I was a kid I swear see
ya I just thought I'd point the side to
you because if you fancied coming for a
better lunch a little picnic after your
tour at the Cadbury Factory it's just
really pretty and nice and quiet so this
is the Roundhouse and I'm really hoping
it's gonna be open I doubt it because
inside they sell the most beautiful
things I don't know
oh it might be that's it the carillon
that's what it's called
[Music]
that beautiful building there a silly
mana costs about two pounds to get into
I think that's like an iconic piece of
porn ville oh it's gone up beautiful in
case three pound 20 now unless you live
on the trust which I don't anymore now
I've saved my hidden gem until the end
and it is the clock tower at the
University of Birmingham hidden gem
because you can see it far and wide and
it is the tallest freestanding working
clock tower in the world like over a
hundred meters high and it's just insane
and also if you do head towards
university they do have beautiful
grounds it's a real stunning University
so I definitely recommend if you find
yourself in the area you just get the
train two stops from Birmingham you
street to University station and just
get off there and the clock tower it's
just like just down the road so go and
explore the campus go and see the
largest freestanding clock tower in the
world and that is my hidden gem would be
you I hope you enjoyed this there was
just so much I tried to really condense
it wise this video would have been like
an hour long and I could have gone into
all the different suburbs of where I
like to eat and drink near me but
they're pretty out of the city so maybe
I would do a part two if you'd like a
part two let me know what would you what
would you like to see in it I saw this
is a very good overview for like
transport we're in the city you should
have some of my favorite things to do
and also a couple of hidden gems outside
of the city so do hope you enjoyed it
don't get to click the link below check
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looking everything in the UK and Europe
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so much so thank this once during this
video check them out down below and yes
let me know if you'd like a part too and
what you'd like to see and there's so
much I could cover in Birmingham it's
just not possible in one video so I hope
you enjoyed it subscribe like comment
follow do whatever you need to do do
none of it it's okay and I'll see you in
the next video alright