Places to visit in the Midlands

Posted on Mon 25 Jul 2022

The Midlands is home to an abundance of enjoyable and exciting places to visit, catering for people of all ages and from all walks of life. Whatever you’re looking for to keep the kids entertained this summer, you’re sure to find somewhere and something that fits the bill.

Our list features just a small handful of some of the best places to visit across the region this summer...

SEVERN VALLEY RAILWAY
Kidderminster: Station Dr, Kidderminster, DY10 1QX
Bridgnorth: 2 Hollybush Rd, Bridgnorth, WV16 4AX
Website: svr.co.uk

Operating mainly steam-hauled passenger trains between Bridgnorth, Bewdley and Kidderminster, this much-loved railway transports visitors on a route of about 16 miles along the beautiful Severn Valley.

The journey includes a stop-off at the Engine House Visitor Centre at Highley, where passengers can check out massive locomotives, enjoy themed exhibitions of unique railway vehicles and meet Gordon the Blue Engine.

Those starting their journey at Bridgnorth will also have the option of stop-offs at Bewdley and Kidderminster, the latter of which boasts a railway museum.

PRICES: ‘Freedom of the Line’ adult tickets £25, child £16.50, Family Saver (two adults and up to four children) £65

THIS SUMMER: Severn Valley Railway is hosting its very own Summer of Sport over the holiday (until Sunday 4 September). There’s a variety of sports and team activities available to enjoy, from Tug of War to a Golf Putt Challenge, as well as traditional sports-day events... The Engine House at Highley hosts a Food & Drink Fayre on 20 & 21 August.

LEGOLAND DISCOVERY CENTRE BIRMINGHAM
Utilita Arena Birmingham, King Edwards Road, Birmingham, B1 2AA
Website: legolanddiscoverycentre.com/birmingham

Legoland Discovery Centre is a great place to share creative play time with your little ones.
The venue houses a city builder area, a duplo farm, two rides - Kingdom’s Quest and Merlin’s Apprentice Ride - and a 4D cinema.

Perhaps the most impressive attraction at the centre is Lego Miniland. Built from more than 1.5 million Lego bricks, Miniland is a replica of Birmingham. The model includes Lego constructions of Bullring, the BT Tower, The Mailbox and the Library of Birmingham.

PRICES: £18.30 online off-peak, £22.95 online peak, adults and pre-schooler £12 (online only)

THIS SUMMER: Legoland Discovery Centre has had a pirate takeover, with plenty of swashbuckling activities taking place across the summer, including pirate ship building, pirate camp and a special scavenger hunt. Running until Sunday 4 September.

NATIONAL SEA LIFE CENTRE
The Water’s Edge, Brindleyplace, Birmingham, B1 2HL
Website: visitsealife.com/birmingham

Housing more than 2,000 creatures - including a colony of gentoo penguins, black-tip reef sharks and a giant green sea turtle - National Sea Life Centre Birmingham features a world-class rescue Marine Mammal facility, which homes the UK’s first-ever sea otters, Ozzy and Olain.

Other Sea Life Centre highlights include a 4D cinema, the zebra shark in Shark Lagoon and the Clownfish Kingdom tunnel.

The venue also boasts the UK's only 360° Ocean Tunnel, in which visitors can marvel at hundreds of underwater creatures while enjoying the truly unique experience of ‘walking through the sea’!

PRICES: £20.65 online off-peak, £22.95 online peak

THIS SUMMER: Just like Legoland, National Sea Life Centre has been taken over by pirates. Attractions include a treasure hunt (running throughout the aquarium), photo opportunities with a real pirate, and the chance to join the captain himself at his colouring station. Running until Sunday 4 September.

THE BEAR GRYLLS ADVENTURE
Birmingham International Railway Station,Exhibition Way, Marston Green, B40 1PA
Website: beargryllsadventure.com

Celebrity adventurer Bear Grylls has certainly pulled out all the stops with this popular visitor attraction.
Activities include high ropes, indoor archery, indoor climbing, escape rooms and a Royal Marines-inspired assault course.

For the ‘more courageous’ visitor, there’s the opportunity to test their courage in the Fear Zone and with Shark Dive, the latter of which involves getting ‘up close and personal’ with black tip reef sharks and cownose rays.

Fancy experiencing the thrill of free-falling at 12,000ft without having to jump out of a plane? Then iFly is for you. The weightless adventure takes place in a wind tunnel and comprises two one-minute flights to get the adrenaline pumping.

Visitors can also unleash their inner lumberjack with the attraction’s latest activity - axe-throwing.

PRICES: Activities start from £20pp with online advance tickets.

THIS SUMMER: One of the attraction’s blacktip reef sharks, Nova, has recently given birth to three pups. Keep an eye out for them in the main oceanarium!

BLACK COUNTRY LIVING MUSEUM
Tipton Rd, Dudley, DY1 4SQ
Website: bclm.co.uk

Get stuck into some old-fashioned fun at the Black Country Living Museum this summer holiday. The award-winning venue boasts more than 30 period shops and houses to explore and features a host of famous characters to help bring the region’s fascinating history to life. Visitors can participate in some deceptively simple old-school street games outside the back-to-backs and learn their ABCs backwards in an authentic Edwardian school lesson.

Pay for one visit and the museum will give you a BCLM UnChained Annual Pass, valid for 12 months.

PRICES: Adults £19.95. Young people (3 - 15 years) & students £16.95. Over 65s £17,95.

THIS SUMMER: The museum is hosting regular Maker’s Club sessions on Tuesdays throughout the summer holidays, for children aged from eight to 15. Young Archaeologists & Curators Club, for those interested in living history, takes place on Wednesdays. Family workshops, including pottery and print making, are available to enjoy on Thursdays.

THINKTANK BIRMINGHAM SCIENCE MUSEUM
Millennium Point, Curzon St, Birmingham B4 7XG
Website: birminghammuseums.org.uk/thinktank

Located in Birmingham city centre, Thinktank offers a great day out for visitors of all ages.
From steam engines and talking robots through to gurgling guts and a chocolate wrapping machine, the venue has over 200 hands-on science & technology displays.

Highlights include MiniBrum - an interactive mini city for under-eights - a 4k planetarium and a science garden.

PRICES: Children aged 3 - 15 from £10.25. Adults from £14. Seniors from £12. Under 3’s go FREE. Other offers and combi tickets available.

THIS SUMMER: On weekdays throughout the summer holidays, visitors can take part in the Great Robot Games, building their own Lego robot athlete or Duplo hockey player in the museum’s Lego workshop. The interactive family show has been given a sporting makeover in honour of the Commonwealth Games, with visitors able to learn all about the part that science plays in sport.

THE ROYAL AIR FORCE MUSEUM MIDLANDS
Shifnal, Shropshire, TF11 8UP
Website: rafmuseum.org.uk

Telling the story of aviation history and housing one of the largest collections of its kind in the UK, RAF Cosford is home to more than 70 historic aircraft displayed in three wartime hangars on an active airfield.

The museum boasts a variety of exhibitions and displays, one of which features a collection of British and German aircraft from the Battle of Britain era, including the world’s oldest Spitfire.

Virtual tours, hands-on fun’n’flight activities and dedicated conservation and exhibition areas further add to the venue’s impressive offer.

THIS SUMMER: The museum hosts its first ever Battle of Britain Proms on 13 August, complete with plenty of music, food and fizz. Later in the month, on the 28th, the Spitfire Family Run returns, including a 1km ‘dash’ for youngsters to enjoy.

COMPTON VERNEY ART GALLERY & PARK
Warwickshire, CV35 9HZ
Website: comptonverney.org.uk

Compton Verney is widely considered to be an art gallery of international standing. The Georgian house is set in more than 120 acres of Grade II listed classical parkland, which was created in the 18th century by eminent landscape architect Lancelot 'Capability' Brown. Although the original estate was split up and sold a century ago, the ‘pleasure grounds’ still clearly reflect the sweeping grassland, ornamental lakes and Cedars of Lebanon for which Brown is famous.

PRICES: Adults £18.70. Under 18s FREE

THIS SUMMER: Current exhibitions include Portraits From The National Portrait Gallery, Magnum Photos: Where Ideas Are Born - featuring images from the world-renowned Magnum photography agency - Morag Myerscough’s colourful installations, David Batchelor: Colour Is, and Luke Jerram’s sound installation, Crossings.

WEST MIDLANDS POLICE MUSEUM
Steelhouse Lane, Birmingham, B4 6BJ
Website: museum.west-midlands.police.uk

The new West Midlands Police Museum opened its doors earlier this year and showcases more than 200 years of policing history.

As well as bringing together an unrivalled collection of police artefacts, the museum also offers a range of hands-on activities, providing visitors with the opportunity to play the role of detective at a crime scene, examine evidence in a forensics lab, take their own police ‘mugshot’ and dress up in police uniforms from years gone by.

PRICES: £9 adult, child (3-15 years) £5.50, under-threes free.

GO BOAT
Brindleyplace, Birmingham
Website: goboat.co.uk/birmingham

Situated alongside Birmingham’s lively canalside development of Brindleyplace, GoBoat offers visitors the opportunity to see the city from an entirely new perspective.

People can choose between one, two or three-hour trips, enjoying a leisurely cruise and travelling at speeds of 4mph. The experience is both dog and child-friendly, with life jackets and buoyancy aids provided and no prior boating knowledge necessary. Staff give a full tutorial on land, before guests set sail and steer the boat.

PRICES: £95 for 1 hour, £135 for 2 hours and £175 for 3 hours.