It was once "a pit of grime and crime" but is now the place to visit. That's the verdict on Birmingham from one of the most influential travel guides.Emma Pinch thumbed through its pages...

In the words of the latest Lonely Planet travel guide, Birmingham ?isn?t what it once was?.

While those words might spell doom for other tourist destinations, for Brummies it merely confirms what they have happily known for years.

Which is, that its reputation as a place of concrete and grime is as over as last season?s styles are at its brand new Bullring.

The Lonely Planet series yesterday issued its sixth edition of its two-yearly guide to the UK?s major cities, towns and tourist hotspots.

It scotches the idea that a north-south divide still exists and compares Britain to Italy in terms of its tourism treasures.

It also conspicuously reinserts the word Great into the title of the guide.

The Midlands as a whole is portrayed in glowing terms by the guide.

Not as a destination for visitors looking merely for picture postcard scenes and tourist brochures but for anyone wanting a slice of ?real? England, a place where people live and work.

While Birmingham once held a ?somewhat justified bad rep?, a visit to the ?new, improved Birmingham?, it says, is mandatory for anyone still clinging to an outdated impression of the place.

The author doesn?t pull any punches when reminding readers about what the Birmingham of yesteryear was like however.

The Second World War and 1960s town planners had ?vandalised? the city, leaving ?an industrial wasteland, an aesthetically challenged pit of crime and grime, the furthest thing from a tourist hotspot?.

The savage description served to ring the changes between the city 20 years ago and the vibrant modern city it is now.

? Groundbreaking civic revitalisation? has turned ?formerly dismal industrial parts of town into remarkably chic commercial areas?.

The Bullring ? a ?much ballyhooed new development? and once a ?potentially scary eyesore?? is now a ?sleek, architecturally inventive shopping complex?, according to the guide.

The one aspect of Birmingham still indisputably a nightmare, it says, is the roads.

?The endless ring roads, roundabouts and underpasses make it particularly difficult for motorists to navigate.?

There?s a nod to the singular accent of these parts as well. ?If you thought Brummies sounded funny, wait?ll you get to Wolverhampton,? is that city?s short introduction.

David Else, co-ordinating editor of the book, said he had been struck by the transformation of cities north of London since the places were last visited for the guide.

?What has hit us is that the cities of the Midlands and the North of England have improved, and that includes Birmingham,? he said.

?I know it has been going on for five or ten years now in some cities, but in the last two years the speed of development and improvement is what has struck us this time.?

In the shires, Warwickshire comes in for special praise ? ?a lovely place to visit? even without the ?essential? sites of Warwick Castle and Stratford-upon-Avon.

?Full of lush, green river valleys and the cobblestone alleys and half-timbered houses typical of small English market towns, it?s an ideal place for a country drive.?

And while nobody would expect to find a ?secret stash of wilderness tucked between the sprawling metropolises of Birmingham and Manchester?, that?s just what Staffordshire offers, say the authors.

And what of the Brits themselves? ?Notoriously addicted to queues?, uninhibited, exhibitionist, sentimental, hugely hospitable and hobby obsessed.

It all combines, say the authors, to ensure Britain?s status as one of the world?s most popular destinations.