Guru/Birmingham/Sunny day
Things to do in Birmingham when the sun is out
A fine day in Birmingham is for the canals at Gas Street Basin, the Botanical Gardens, Cannon Hill Park and, with a car or a train, the Lickey Hills.
11 picks that fit, best first. The order assumes the conditions in the title; the live forecast only nudges it.
Gas Street Basin and the canals
Brindleyplace
Narrowboats, towpaths and waterside bars where the canal network meets the city.
Clear skies, and this is best outdoors. Free.
- Free
- Outdoors
- Under 2 hours
Lickey Hills Country Park
Day trip
Wooded hills on the southern edge of the city with a view from the Beacon across four counties.
Clear skies for the view. Free.
- Free
- Outdoors
- Half a day
- Good with kids
Cannon Hill Park and mac
Edgbaston
The city’s favourite park, with boating lakes, a mini golf course and an arts centre on the edge.
Free.
- Free
- In and out
- Half a day
- Fine in rain
- Good with kids
Digbeth
Digbeth
Street art, the Custard Factory and the bars and music venues in the old industrial quarter.
Free.
- Free
- In and out
- Under 2 hours
Sutton Park
Sutton Coldfield
A national nature reserve of heath, woods and lakes, bigger than Hampstead Heath.
Clear skies, and this is best outdoors. Free.
- Free
- Outdoors
- Half a day
- Good with kids
Black Country Living Museum
Day trip: Dudley
A recreated industrial village with a 1930s chip shop, a mine and the Peaky Blinders sets.
- Over £25
- In and out
- A full day
- Good with kids
Jewellery Quarter
Jewellery Quarter
Two hundred working jewellers, a preserved 1980s workshop museum and the best pubs in the city.
- Under £10
- In and out
- Half a day
Quarter free; museum ticketed
Moseley village and Moseley Bog
Moseley
Independent shops, a farmers’ market and the woodland that inspired Tolkien’s Old Forest.
Free.
- Free
- In and out
- Half a day
Birmingham Botanical Gardens
Edgbaston
Fifteen acres of Victorian gardens and four glasshouses in Edgbaston.
- £10 to £25
- In and out
- Half a day
- Good with kids
Aston Hall
Aston
A Jacobean mansion beside Villa Park, with a long gallery and a cannonball scar from the Civil War.
Free.
- Free
- In and out
- Under 2 hours
- Good with kids
Free; limited opening days
Winterbourne House and Garden
Edgbaston
An Edwardian house and seven acres of Arts and Crafts garden on the university campus.
- Under £10
- In and out
- Under 2 hours
Good to know
Where should I go in Birmingham when it is sunny?
A fine day in Birmingham is for the canals at Gas Street Basin, the Botanical Gardens, Cannon Hill Park and, with a car or a train, the Lickey Hills. This page keeps 11 outdoor and open-air picks, with viewpoints and parks pushed up the list when the forecast is clear.
What if the weather turns?
The list is re-ranked with the live forecast. If rain is on the way, mixed indoor-outdoor places move up and the fully outdoor ones move down, so you can still pick something that works.