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Photo of Lichfield Cathedral, a church in Staffordshire, central England.

Lichfield Cathedral© Philip Halling / Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0

Places to explore near Birmingham

Britain's second city grew on iron, brass and a canal network longer than Venice's — the Birmingham Canal Main Line still threads the centre. For open ground, the Lickey Hills and Clent Hills rise on the south-western edge, Sutton Park keeps 2,400 acres of heath and woodland within the city itself, and Sandwell Valley holds lakes and meadow to the west. Further out, the heath and forest of Cannock Chase offer the nearest real wilderness.

92 places within 25 km — the standouts first, nearest first within each group. 2 are national icons.

Open the map here

Worth the tripnational icons and local highlights within reach

Photo of Gas Street Basin, a landmark near Birmingham, the West Midlands, central England.Highlight

Gas Street Basin

Landmark near Birmingham

The canal crossroads at the heart of Birmingham, narrowboats moored among the old warehouses where the city's waterways meet.

0.8 km W

Photo of the Grand Union Canal, a 137-mile canal running from Brentford to Birmingham, England.Highlight

Grand Union Canal

Canal

London to Birmingham by water — the trunk route of the canal age, with arms reaching Leicester, Aylesbury, Northampton and Paddington.

1.6 km E · spans 9 counties

Photo of Birmingham Botanical Gardens, a Grade II* registered house & garden in the West Midlands, central England.Highlight

Birmingham Botanical Gardens

House & garden near Birmingham

A John Claudius Loudon design of 1832, arranged around four Victorian glasshouses.

2.5 km SW

Photo of the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal, a 26-mile canal running from King's Norton Junction to Stratford-upon-Avon, central England.Iconic

Stratford-upon-Avon Canal

Canal

Through the old Forest of Arden to Shakespeare's town, saved by volunteers in the 1960s restoration that changed canal history.

7.1 km S · Warwickshire & West Midlands

Photo along the Monarch's Way, a 625-mile long-distance path running from Worcester to Shoreham-by-Sea, England.Highlight

Monarch's Way

Long-distance path

England's longest inland waymarked trail, tracing Charles II's escape route from defeat at Worcester in 1651 to the ship waiting at Shoreham.

8.8 km NW · spans 14 counties

Photo of Grace and Savour at Hampton Manor, a restaurant near Hampton-in-Arden, the West Midlands, central England.Highlight

Grace and Savour at Hampton Manor

Restaurant · With rooms near Hampton-in-Arden

Kitchen-garden tasting menus in the walled garden of a Victorian country manor.

14.7 km SE

Photo: Clent Hills, a viewpoint near Chaddesley Corbett, Worcestershire, central England.Highlight

Clent Hills

Viewpoint near Chaddesley Corbett

National Trust hills of woodland and heath near Birmingham, with a summit topograph and views to the Cotswolds and Wales.

15.2 km SW

Photo of Packwood House, a Grade II* registered house & garden near Lapworth, Warwickshire, central England.Highlight

Packwood House

House & garden near Lapworth

Tudor house with famous yew topiary garden.

18.2 km SE

Photo of Tardebigge Locks, a landmark near Barnt Green, Worcestershire, central England.Highlight

Tardebigge Locks

Landmark near Barnt Green

A flight of thirty narrow locks climbing 67m in just over two miles, the longest lock flight in Britain.

19.1 km SW

Photo of Letocetum (Wall Roman Site), an ancient site near Alrewas, Staffordshire, central England.Highlight

Letocetum (Wall Roman Site)

Ancient site near Alrewas

Roman staging post with visible bathhouse remains.

19.9 km N

Photo of Baddesley Clinton, a house & garden near Lapworth, Warwickshire, central England.Highlight

Baddesley Clinton

House & garden near Lapworth

Romantic moated medieval manor with priest holes.

20.1 km SE

Photo of Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings, a visitor attraction near Barnt Green, Worcestershire, central England.Highlight

Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings

Attraction near Barnt Green

Open-air museum of rescued and rebuilt buildings, from a working windmill to a chain-making shop, near Bromsgrove.

21.8 km SW

Photo of Henley-in-Arden, a village in Warwickshire, central England.Highlight

Henley-in-Arden

Village

A market town with a mile-long High Street of medieval and Tudor buildings, reckoned among England's finest.

22.4 km S · Warwickshire

Photo of Wightwick Manor, a Grade II registered house & garden near Wolverhampton, the West Midlands, central England.Highlight

Wightwick Manor

House & garden near Wolverhampton

Arts-and-Crafts house rich in Pre-Raphaelite art.

23.1 km NW

Photo of Kinver Edge, a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Staffordshire, central England.Highlight

Kinver Edge

SSSI near Kinver

A wooded sandstone ridge above Kinver where families once lived in houses cut into the rock, now a National Trust reserve

23.2 km W

Photo of Lichfield Cathedral, a church in Staffordshire, central England.Iconic

Lichfield Cathedral

Church near Lichfield

The only medieval English cathedral with three spires, guarding the Lichfield Gospels, the carved Lichfield Angel and Flemish Herkenrode glass.

23.3 km N

Photo of Holy Austin Rock Houses, a house near Kinver, Staffordshire, central England.Highlight

Holy Austin Rock Houses

House near Kinver

Restored troglodyte dwellings carved into the sandstone of Kinver Edge, the last inhabited rock houses in England, lived in until the 1960s.

23.4 km W

Photo of Cannock Chase, a National Landscape in Staffordshire, central England.Highlight

Cannock Chase

National Landscape near Milford

Heathland and forest, an accessible AONB.

23.8 km N

Photo of Polesworth Abbey, an abbey in Warwickshire, central England.Highlight

Polesworth Abbey

Abbey near Polesworth

Remains of Polesworth Abbey

24.8 km NE

Also nearbygood places nearby, nearest first

Photo of the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal, a 15-mile canal running from Birmingham to Fazeley Junction, central England.

Birmingham & Fazeley Canal

Canal

Out of central Birmingham down the Farmer's Bridge and Aston flights, carrying the network's traffic toward the Trent valley.

0.5 km NW · West Midlands, Warwickshire & Staffordshire

Photo of the Birmingham Canal Main Line, a canal running from Birmingham to Wolverhampton, central England.

Birmingham Canal Main Line

Canal

The spine of the Birmingham Canal Navigations — Brindley's winding old main line and Telford's ruler-straight new one, side by side.

0.7 km SW · West Midlands

Photo of the Worcester & Birmingham Canal, a 30-mile canal running from Birmingham to Worcester, central England.

Worcester & Birmingham Canal

Canal

Down from Birmingham to the Severn at Worcester by fifty-eight locks, thirty of them in the great Tardebigge flight.

0.7 km SW · Worcestershire & West Midlands

Photo of Back to Backs, a house & garden near Birmingham, the West Midlands, central England.

Back to Backs

House & garden near Birmingham

A National Trust place in West Midlands.

0.7 km S

Photo of JW Evans Silver Factory, a visitor attraction near Birmingham, the West Midlands, central England.

JW Evans Silver Factory

Attraction near Birmingham

Family-run silverware works in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter, trading from 1881 to 2008 and left as it closed, with its machinery and thousands of dies.

1 km NW

Key Hill Cemetery

House & garden near Birmingham

Birmingham's first nonconformist burial ground of 1836, where Joseph Chamberlain lies.

1.6 km NW

Photo of Cannon Hill Park, a Grade II* registered house & garden near Birmingham, the West Midlands, central England.

Cannon Hill Park

House & garden near Birmingham

A Birmingham park given by Louisa Ryland in 1873, laid out with ornamental lakes.

3.1 km S

Photo of The Shire Country Park, a country park near Birmingham, the West Midlands, central England.

The Shire Country Park

Country park near Birmingham

A country park in West Midlands.

4.3 km SE

Photo of Kingfisher Country Park, a country park near Coleshill, the West Midlands, central England.

Kingfisher Country Park

Country park near Coleshill

A country park in West Midlands.

4.5 km SE

Everything else within 25 km (64) — reserves, earthworks & places to check before travelling

Ordered by how far each place is worth travelling for, then by distance. Distances are straight-line to the nearest edge of each place — paths wind, of course.