Birmingham: This UK city was an unexpected summer holiday hotspot for 2024

Sign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calder’s Travel email Get Simon Calder’s Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. It boasts the oh-so-tenuous title of having more trees than recent 2024 Olympic Games host city Paris, who did their best to follow on from Birmingham’s record-breaking Commonwealth Games in 2022. open image in gallery Birmingham has 591 parks and green spaces over 8,000 sprawling acres Such tired Birmingham jibes are usually propagated by those whose most recent experiences of visiting the city include one of the following: once changing trains on a dark platform inside New Street Station in 2001; getting lost inside Cadbury World as a child and being greeted by a bloke in a faded Freddo Frog costume; or regularly getting stuck in traffic near the RAC control centre on the M6. Investment in public realm has seen modern squares and high-rise developments blend in seamlessly with historic buildings like the aforementioned Town Hall, and its neighbours the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and Council House, an adjoined city landmark since 1879 and one of Britain’s finest examples of Victorian classicism architecture. open image in gallery Edgbaston is home to Warwickshire County Cricket Club and T20 team Birmingham Bears And all of this without even mentioning Black Sabbath, the balti or the Jewellery Quarter; I’ve barely scratched the surface. Celebrities like Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp have opted for the city’s landmark five-star abode which offers everything from spacious doubles with comfy beds and luxurious suites with marble bathrooms and in-room table football.