If you’ve enrolled on a higher education course in Birmingham, you will be welcomed on to the campus and get chance to find your feet during Freshers Week.
It’s an important and informal introduction to university life before beginning your first year of studies.
There will be nerves and excitement about starting university - and you might worry about fitting in and finding friends, or even feel homesick.
But there’s plenty to see and do in the Birmingham area so relax and have fun! The city has lots to offer for a fantastic social life during your university years.
And it needn’t involve endless late nights out clubbing until the early hours - too much of that could leave you too tired for your studies. A picnic in the park, a movie, a meal, a live band or a comedy show are good options for varying the pace and won’t keep you out until the small hours every night.
Here’s our guide to 15 things to see and do while you are in Birmingham.
1. Have a Birmingham balti
Birmingham is the birthplace of the balti, a type of curry cooked and served in a steel bowl.
The city has a Balti Triangle consisting of a large group of balti houses (restaurants) in parts of Sparkhill, Balsall Heath and Moseley, between Stratford Road, Wake Green Road and Alcester Road, in the south of the city.
See our Top ten curry houses in Birmingham for ideas on where to go. Favourites include Al Frash, Adil and Shabab. Also check out what readers recommended:
2. Visit the Library of Birmingham
A whopping 84,000 people visited the new £188million library during its first week after it was opened on September 3 by Malala Yousafzai, the teenager nursed back to health in the city after she was shot by the Taliban.
Why not pop along and check out the stylish new building? It has free wi-fi, a ground-floor cafe and terraces with great views of the city.
You will probably need to visit regularly during your studies so go along to familiarise yourself with the city’s new landmark. Note that it's closed on Sundays and bank holidays.
3. Go to the galleries and museums
Birmingham’s Ikon Gallery in Brindleyplace has free admission and offers two floors of exhibitions. At 1pm every Friday, there’s a free tour highlighting work in one of the exhibitions. There’s also a shop and cafe on site.
There’s also Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG) in Chamberlain Square, which is also FREE (though some exhibitions and events may have admission charges).
You can see the Staffordshire Hoard, the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered, and travel back in time in a gallery called Birmingham: Its People, Its History.
BMAG’s art gallery is famous for its Pre-Raphaelite paintings, and you can also look at art and objects spanning seven centuries of European and world history including Greeks, Romans and Ancient Egypt.
The collections have been designated as outstanding by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
Other museums in the city include Aston Hall, Blakesley Hall, the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, Soho House, the Museum Collections Centre and the science museum at the Thinktank, which includes a planetarium: a domed theatre that take you on a spellbinding 'star trek' across the universe.
4. See the origins of Lord of the Rings
Birmingham has once home to author JRR Tolkien, whose classics Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit have also been made into blockbuster movies.
The city has a Tolkien Trail showing the places linked to the writer, including Sarehole Mill whose surroundings were the inspiration for The Shire and The Old Forest.
The nearby towers at Edgbaston Waterworks and Perrott’s Folly were the inspiration for the ‘two towers’ of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
And if you’re a real fanatic for fantasy and sci-fi, the city offers some ideal geek emporiums for collectors of comics, books, models and action figures including Forbidden Planet and Nostalgia & Comics.
5. Take in a show at the theatre
A night out at the theatre with friends is another great way to spend an evening.
Birmingham’s theatreland has a large selection of venues including the Hippodrome, Rep, Crescent Theatre, New Alexandra, Old Joint Stock, Blue Orange Theatre, Midland Arts Centre (mac) and Hall Green Little Theatre, so there’s sure to be something that appeals.
Oh, and don't forget there's pantomime fun aplenty at Christmas. Check out our what’s on pages for more information.
6. Enjoy a movie on the super screens
Birmingham has some great places for a night at the flicks. The city boasts two supersized screens: the IMAX screen at Cineworld in Broad Street and another IMAX a bit further away at Resorts World, near the NEC.
There’s also the Everyman cinema at the Mailbox with its comfy armchairs, plus and the stylish setting of The Electric, the oldest working cinema in the UK - it has sofas, handmade cakes, a bar and waiter service and shows a mix of mainstream, independent, foreign and classic films as well as previews, screenings of live theatre, comedy and special Q&A sessions.
7. Shop till you drop
Birmingham offers bags of retail therapy, with enough options to get the most out of your student budget and plenty of trendy shops.
In the city centre, there’s Grand Central, the Bullring, the Mailbox and Great Western Arcade, plus all the bustling shopping streets in between.
There are also the Bullring Markets including the world-famous Birmingham Rag Market (Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday 9am-5pm, Saturday 9am-5.30pm) which has 350 stalls and is a great place to bag a bargain if you want cool retro style without the high prices you can pay on the 'vintage fashion' scene.
In addition, a fantastic hub of independent retailers - offering alternative, retro and high-street fashion, accessories, body piercing, nails, tattoos and games - can be found in The Oasis in Corporation Street.
In the nearby Jewellery Quarter, there are more than 100 specialist jewellery retailers, designers and craftspeople, making this is a wonderful place to explore and find the perfect present.
Many of the retailers have workshops on the premises, so a special gift can be commissioned on site. Contemporary and designer jewellery is in abundance and there is a buzzing arts scene with galleries, wedding shops, gift shops and fashion specialists.
8. Visit the creative quarter at the Custard Factory
The Custard Factory is Birmingham’s creative quarter. Just down the road from the Bull Ring, this 15-acre sprawl of riverside factories was built 100 years ago by Sir Alfred Bird, the inventor of custard. At one time he had a thousand people making the stuff. The former factories have been restored into a new inner city neighbourhood with green spaces, fountains and sculpture.
Today, more than 5,000 people work in The Custard Factory Quarter and its surrounding area. The Custard Factory Quarter is home to a dynamic community of creative and digital enterprises, independent retailers and a thriving independent music scene.
Among other facilities are a theatre, cafes, art galleries, TV studios and a series of public open spaces. There are independent retailers offering fashion and accessories, hand-made gifts, skater gear, DJ and hi-fi equipment and a lot more. And there’s also a nightclub called the Warehouse.
9. Explore the oceans at the Sea Life Centre
Birmingham might be a fair way from the nearest beach but you can still get a taste of the ocean with the Sea Life Centre, which is home to more than 1,000 marine and freshwater creatures. There’s a 4D cinema, an interactive rockpool and over 60 displays.
The centre puts on daily demonstrations where you can learn about jellyfish and stingrays, walk through an ocean trunnel to get close to sharks and tropical fish, meet the resident otters and penguins and enter the shark lagoon. There’s an admission charge starting at £10 - it’s cheaper to book online than just turn up and pay at the door.
10. Party at the clubs and bars
If it’s clubbing you want, get into Birmingham’s groove and you can have a great night out at clubs such as Pryzm (the city's biggest club, formerly Gatecrasher), the club at The O2 Institute (in its previous incarnation as The Sanctuary, this was the original home of Godskitchen and club nights such as Sundissential), Warehouse, the exclusive Mechu, Snobs, or the bars at the Arcadian and Mailbox.
Broad Street and Brindleyplace are full of clubs and bars that are very popular at weekends.
And there’s also the Gay Village where you can find numerous bars along with The Nightingale gay superclub which has a student night on Thursdays. The Gay Village is also home to the Birmingham LGBT Centre, which hosts community group meetings and offers counselling, health services and classes including yoga, pilates, circuit training and line-dancing.
11. Get your chocolate fix at Cadbury World
If you have a sweet tooth and fancy some chocolate, why not indulge yourself completely with a visit to Birmingham's Cadbury World.
It’s pure paradise for chocoholics. Among the activities on the attraction’s Cadbury World Experience - a tour which takes you behind the scenes on the world of chocolate from its Aztec origins to its modern incarnations. You can create your own confectionery from warm liquid milk chocolate mixed with popcorn, marshmallow and biscuit pieces, and take part in the Purple Planet interactive experience.
There’s also a mouthwatering gift shop of Cadbury products. The Bournville-based attraction also stages special events including seasonal shows.
12. Have a laugh at the comedy clubs
If you’re up for a good laugh, the city has a number of comedy nights to give you some memorable LOL moments.
Among the local nights are the Jewellery Quarter Comedy Club at the Rose Villa Tavern, the Glee Club, Jongleurs, Highlight and the Comedy Junction at The Station in Sutton Coldfield. And there's the Birmingham Comedy Festival held every year.
13. Relax in the parks and open spaces
Birmingham City Council provides and maintains nearly 600 parks and public open open spaces and more than 200 play areas. Great places to sit and revise while getting some fresh air and (hopefully) sunshine at the same time. The cheeky squirrels can be entertaining, too.
So, within a short distance of where you live or study, you will be able to enjoy one of Birmingham’s parks or open spaces all year round. It’s a perfect place for a picnic or a stroll or to do some relaxing, reading or sunbathing. Check out our guide to some of the area's popular parks.
Among the city’s many green spaces is Cannon Hill Park, which is made up of 80 acres of formal parkland and 120 acres of conservation and woodland plantation. There's pedalo boats, tea rooms and a new fun park with its own rollercoaster and bumper cars, along with mini golf. Cannon Hill Park is also home to the Midland Arts Centre (mac) and a small zoo called Birmingham Nature Centre.
14. Dine in the Chinese Quarter
If Chinese food is your thing - or even Thai, Korean and Japanese cuisine - then you can experience a pan-Asian array of tasty dishes in the city's Chinese Quarter, in the Southside district that also includes the Gay Village and Theatreland.
The Chinese Quarter - also called Chinatown - is home to a host of restaurants, cafes and bakeries offering local Oriental cuisine, and is situated conveniently close to the theatres, bars and clubs if you also want to take in a show or enjoy a drink and a dance afterwards.
15. Rock out to loads of live music
Birmingham also provides a host of live music nights. As well as the Genting Arena, Barclaycard Arena and O2 Academy, there are numerous other venues in the city where bands play.
These include The Bull’s Head, The Jam House, The RoadHouse, The Flapper, The Asylum, The Actress and Bishop and The Hop Pole Inn. with global names appearing as well as local groups.
There will be something for every taste from folk to soul and rock to metal.
And if classical is your thing, there are regular concerts at Birmingham Conservatoire (part of Birmingham City University) and at Town Hall and Symphony Hall. Check our what's on page for listings.
Keep up with all the latest local news and reviews with the Birmingham Mail - you can download our Birmingham Mail app at this link.
