Birmingham - More than just a Concrete jungle?

toozie_2

Glad I found this thread.

We are going for 2 nights in August, staying for £5.95 at the Nitnite hotel. Had been looking for things to do, we are leaving the teenagers at home-not to party I hope!

I do want to shop, and OH needs some new clothes, can someone point me in the direction of the Jewellery Quarter from Nitenite?

I have loads to Tesco Deals (saving for a Virgin hol) so I'm not sure weather to change a few for Bella Vista, Cafe Rouge etc, where else can I eat with the Deals within walking distance of Nitenite?
Or we both love chinese, so I like the sound of £4.99 eat as much as you want too.

Where cheap can I go from breakfast? Or maybe we'll buy something to eat in the room? Anyone know if these tiny rooms have tea/coffee facilities??

Another problem is driving/or train. The cheapest train I can get from N Wales is £83 for 2 return, OH loves driving, but I thought the train would be a break for him. I'm trying to work out petrol and parking fee's against train fare.
I'm checking Virgin Trains etc every day for a Super Saver ticket, but with no luck. The other aption would be as someone said above, drive to a station near and park, then go in by train.

Oh dear too much to think about!!!!

Infidel

Re: the post above - have you tried clicking on the "see if 2 singles could be cheaper" and checking different times.

For the journey i have just booked: My saver return was coming up at £40, but i booked 2 singles (only 4 days in advance) for £25 total. Okay, so i have to go at the times stated (hence the main reason for this thread). But worth a look if you really do want to try and save money.

Now onto the fun part. Where is this beach in Birmingham? And should i take my speedos and show off my washboard to the honey's? Or is it more like a building site?

toozie_2

Infidel wrote: »

Re: the post above - have you tried clicking on the "see if 2 singles could be cheaper" and checking different times.

For the journey i have just booked: My saver return was coming up at £40, but i booked 2 singles (only 4 days in advance) for £25 total. Okay, so i have to go at the times stated (hence the main reason for this thread). But worth a look if you really do want to try and save money.

Now onto the fun part. Where is this beach in Birmingham? And should i take my speedos and show off my washboard to the honey's? Or is it more like a building site?

At the moment, 2 singles are more expensive.

I'll watch out for you in B/ham then??:beer:

Infidel

toozie wrote: »

At the moment, 2 singles are more expensive.

I'll watch out for you in B/ham then??:beer:

Yeah that's typical.
You could also try checking out the bus/coach. National Express or Megabus may go to Birmingham from around your area.

Well i'll be there this weekend, though i hate shopping.

melancholly

toozie wrote: »

I have loads to Tesco Deals (saving for a Virgin hol) so I'm not sure weather to change a few for Bella Vista, Cafe Rouge etc, where else can I eat with the Deals within walking distance of Nitenite?
Or we both love chinese, so I like the sound of £4.99 eat as much as you want too.

Where cheap can I go from breakfast? Or maybe we'll buy something to eat in the room? Anyone know if these tiny rooms have tea/coffee facilities??

it's walking distance from the mailbox (about 5 mins) which has cafe rouge and sante fe (my preference is sante fe!). the hotel also has a little cafe attached which does nice lunches and breakfast (I think about £5 for continental - help yourself kind of thing). you also get tea and coffee facilities in the rooms.

i've just realised that i completely missed the point of their cheap rooms in august promotion - i thought i had to wait until august to book them and now i'm too late....... ah well!

earthmother

Thanks for the parks and gardens info

We're going to the Sealife with family on Thursday, and were wondering about a park or something for an hour - have a picnic and let the 4 under 7s we'll have with us run off some energy.

Cannon Hill looks ideal, especially as it's not just a park

Infidel

I need to bookmark this page.

MrSmartprice

The Science Museum is no more, they are demolishing it. All the exhibits have been moved to Millennium Point in Curzon Street. The difference is that it is no longer free. To be honest, It is overpriced, tatty and much of it is poor.

The Jewellery Quarter Museum is absolutely excellent though, and it is free. It is set in an old factory which has been wonderfully preserved. It is just about walkable from the centre.

Beware the overrated and overpriced restaurants around Broad Street. Many are chains where the quality does not match the cost, and the service is often bordering on the abysmal. An exception is Le Petit Blanc, where you can get a 2 course meal for £11.50, (£14 for 3 courses) including wine. The quality is good, and the value exceptional. Also try Chez Jules in Ethel St, off New St. Reasonably priced French Bistro with atmosphere.

Overall there isn't a great deal to detain you in Birmingham for long, to be honest. It is promoted as some great tourist destination, but most of that is about fancy shops. The centre is actually quite a depressing experience, and you need to be aware of street crime around you.

Outnumberedbysmallpeople

With 4 under 7s canon hill is definately lovely- I take my 4 (age 9, 4, 3 and 7 months) quite often, the nature centre actually gives a discount on adults taking children in (adult without child is dearer than adult accompanying child) and last time i went for all 6 of us it cost under a fiver to get it (£3something i think?) Canon hill park is huge, do be aware there is a big lake/lots of water in it so keeping a close eye on littlies is essential but you can easily stay away from it if you need to, there are also plenty of toilets there for little ones and several park/swings areas but they do get very crowded on a saturday. There's a couple of places to buy drinks and ice cream vans too, bouncy castle & assault course which is £1 a child (or was last time i was there- might be higher in summer holidays) and is very well supervised- my 3 year old went on with her older brother and sister and the ladies on it helped her up the incline and they make sure none of the kids are diving on others etc.

Botanical gardens last time i went i only had one child but it had a nice play area, lots to look at but in hindsite probably a bit too sedate for us now we have 4.

earthmother

Thank you Outnumberedbysmallpeople

Is there anywhere you'd suggest for parking (especially lunchtime-ish, early afternoon)? Going by Google maps, Queens Ride looks promising, but if there's somewhere better in terms of access I'd love to know. One of our party is also disabled, so we're trying to minimise walking distances, especially after the trek that will be the sealife centre.