Birmingham Essentials

Birmingham Essentials

Currency UK Pound Sterling Time Zone GMT Language English Voltage 240 V AC (UK three-pin plugs) 


Tourist Attractions

Every child's dream is surely a visit to Cadbury World, a paradise for chocoholics where visitors can learn the secrets of chocolate-making, take a ride through a chocolate wonderland and enjoy fun and games in the children's activity centre. Another delight for kids is the National Sealife Centre, housing a massive array of tropical underwater species from around the world, and featuring sharks, turtles, dolphins and much more.

Opening Hours

Banks and post offices operate standard opening hours from 9am until 4 and 5.30pm, weekdays and Saturday mornings, and 24-hour cash machines can be found throughout the city centre. There are late night pharmacies located centrally, and some all night convenience stores and supermarkets. Most high street shops and department stores open seven days a week, from 9am - 5.30pm and until 4pm on Sundays.

Tipping & Etiquette

The city has self-service buffet-style restaurants, where a fixed price payment is given when collecting food, so no tipping is required. Elsewhere, many restaurants include a service charge in the bill, and any further gratuity is discretionary, and should reflect the level of service and quality of food. Tipping is often practiced for help with baggage in hotels, taxi journeys and for bar staff, where some small change is usually adequate recompense.

Food & Drink

Birmingham is perhaps most noted nowadays for its Balti cuisine, a style of cooking originating from Kashmir, and a trend which has swept all across Britain in recent years. There are well over 100 Balti houses in Birmingham alone. More traditional fair includes Brummie Bacon Cakes, a popular breakfast snack for generations, and Black Country beef stew, a hearty offering filled with potatoes, carrots, mushrooms and cider gravy. The city is also famous for its favourite snack - pork scratching’s which are salted, crisp pieces of cooked pig skin, and, of course, chocolate. Mild bitter is still popular in Birmingham, with Banks and Hansons being two of the most acclaimed local brews in the area.

Useful Numbers in Birmingham


• Police – 999
• Ambulance – 999
• Fire – 999



Disabled Access

The city is generally wheelchair-friendly, with many wide and level pedestrianised streets, however there are several underpasses and subways with rather steep ramps. Parking is also difficult, although the larger city centre hotels do have dedicated parking facilities onsite, and boast some adapted accommodation for wheelchair users. Public transport is accessible across the city, and mainline rail stations have special assistance teams and step free access to all platforms.

Weather

The weather in Birmingham is similar to the rest of the south and east of the country, although its landlocked position means that the city is a little warmer than coastal areas. Birmingham does get a fair amount of cloudy, overcast weather, and light rain, with a 50% chance of precipitation at any time. The best time to come is between May and September, with summers seeing an average daytime temperature of 20C and around 5 hours of sunshine. Winters see the temperature drop to around 5C, and the low season months can see some rainfall.