The canals and Brindleyplace
Start at Gas Street Basin and walk the towpath to Brindleyplace and the Mailbox. It is the most attractive part of the city centre and connects most of what visitors want to see.
The Jewellery Quarter
Still a working jewellery district with hundreds of independent makers the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter and some of the best small restaurants and bars in the city.
Museums and markets
Thinktank for families the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery for the Pre Raphaelite collection and the Bull Ring Markets for produce fish and a genuine sense of the city's character.
Green space
Sutton Park covers two and a half thousand acres of heath woodland and lakes and is free to enter. Cannon Hill Park and the Birmingham Botanical Gardens cover the south of the city.
Days out nearby
Cadbury World at Bournville the Black Country Living Museum Warwick Castle and Stratford upon Avon are all within an hour.
In short
Canals Jewellery Quarter markets and Sutton Park give you the city in a weekend.