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City & Village Tours: 0845 812 5000
Birmingham’s most famous piece of public art is
officially called
The River
but this massive water feature
incorporating one of the largest fountains in Europe in
the City’s Victoria Square is best known for the central
figure weighing in at a hefty 1.75 tonnes – The Floozie in
the Jacuzzi! It’s quite a surprising place is Birmingham.
When groups join us to visit Birmingham they are always
delighted to find that far from being a grim and industrial
concrete jungle there is a real buzz about today’s city –
and this a much improved city of beautiful squares,
greenery, head-turning public art and now, of course, a
blooming great big new library.
The
Library of Birmingham
opened at the end of last
year and
is a major new cultural destination; rewriting the
book for 21st century public libraries at the very moment
that we thought our libraries were in deepest danger.
Spend an enjoyable day with your group discovering the
City of Birmingham with a friendly and knowledgeable
local Blue Badge Guide. We look at the old and new,
exploring this city of a thousand trades which was once
the workshop of the world and bringing you right up to
date with what is happening in England’s vibrant second
city. There’s a gentle stroll plus a coach tour in the
morning, the option to include morning refreshments and
lunch in a pub on the canal in the tour fee or plan to do
your own thing and in the afternoon we visit the new
Library of Birmingham
. Great for any time of the year
this trip is especially well suited to the winter months.
We begin in the heart of Birmingham at 10.30/10.45am for
morning refreshments, on the canal quayside if you are
having the included refreshments and lunch package or at
individual cost in the Birmingham ICC before a coach tour
to introduce you to the City and give you the lie of the land
and a short but fascinating walking tour. In Birmingham’s
last Georgian Square we hear about the pioneering inventors
and entrepreneurs who made Birmingham the powerhouse
of the industrial revolution and reveal why they met on
the night of the full moon. We also visit some hidden
catacombs that are the final resting place of the man who
had not one but three funerals!
Birmingham is where the canals that criss-cross the country
meet but does it really have more canals than Venice?
Find out today. If you’ve opted for the morning coffee and
lunch to be included in the tour fee we return to the
towpath for a fish & chip or vegetarian lunch in the
attractive pub where President Bill Clinton once popped in
for a pint. If you prefer to leave folk to buy their own lunch
on the day we’ll stop in the traditional heart of the City at
The Bullring where you can visit the traditional street
markets or sample the delights of the Bullring Shopping
Mall home to an architecturally groundbreaking Selfridges
that is itself a City landmark.
After lunch we are going to discover the next chapter for
Britain’s Second City with a visit to beautifully landscaped
Centenary Square and the fascinating new Library of
Birmingham. The architect Francine Houben calls the
Visit Birmingham With City & Village Tours
