Parks and the outdoors in Birmingham

15 parks, gardens, beaches and walks in and around Birmingham.

Ranked with the travel guide's picks and well-known places first.

See
Birmingham Botanical Gardens & Glasshouses
Large botanical gardens with a huge range of plants and workshops throughout the year.
Mon-Sat 9AM-7PM, Sun 10AM-7PM (closes at 5PM or dusk Oct-Mar)£6.10 (concessions £3.60, family tickets available)
See
Cannon Hill Park
Take a walk around on the Moseley/Edgbaston border. The park has a boating lake and is home to the Midlands Arts Centre. This has a theatre, an 'art-house' cinema and year-round exhibitions.
Do
Edgbaston Cricket Ground
County Ground
Stadium of 25,000 capacity, home of Warwickshire County Cricket Club, one of the 18 "First Class Counties" comprising the first tier of English cricket. These county matches last 3-4 days, day tickets £6-£15, and you'll find few others there for a mid-week county match. Edgbaston frequently also hosts international (or "Test") matches, lasting up to 5 days, day tickets £20-£70. Also playing here are Birmingham Phoenix men's and women's teams in The Hundred short game. The stadium is a mile south of city centre, walk along Pershore Rd (A441), or take bus 45 or 47.
See
Library of Birmingham
The new library building at Centenary Square was opened in September 2013 to replace the 1970 Birmingham Central Library nearby (demolished 2016). It is the single largest public library in the UK and one of the largest in Europe. The building was designed by the Dutch firm Mecanoo architecten, and took four years to build. It includes an intricate facade decoration, despite the very simple form of the building, as well as a number of innovative sustainable features. To explore the building take the lift to the top (9th) floor to see the Shakespeare Memorial Room, a fine wooden panelled library, which used to be in the city's library built in 1882. There is also a viewing window to look over the city. There are outside garden spaces on the 7th and 3rd floors which give different city views. The four lower floors house the public library, laid out in impressive style.
Mon-Fri 8AM-8PM, Sat 9AM-5PMFree
See
Moseley Bog & Joy's Wood Nature Reserve
The Dell
A small woodland area that is said to be the Inspiration for Fangorn Forest in the Lord of The Rings. The area is well looked after with a series of wooden platforms and walkways creating pathways to follow. A visit can also be linked in with Sarehole Mill (see above), another haunt of young Tolkien.
Free
See
Sarehole Mill
Built in 1765, Sarehole Mill is a fine example of one of more than fifty water mills that existed in Birmingham at one time. Matthew Boulton used the Mill for making buttons and for metal rolling until he moved his operations to Soho in 1761. In the late 1890s Sarehole was the childhood haunt of Hobbit author J.R.R. Tolkien, and famously influenced 'The Shire' in The Lord of the Rings. See website for special events. Nearby is Moseley Bog (see 'Parks and nature', below) a woodland said to have inspired Fangorn Forest. Admission to the grounds is free.
Apr-Oct: Tue-Sun 11:30AM-4PM (closed Mondays except Bank Holidays)Adults £6
See
Sutton Park
Enormous (over 900 hectare) park including heathland, wetland, marshes, woodland and lakes. Designated an English Nature National Nature Reserve in 1997. Lots of activities on offer including golf, angling, cycling and bird watching.
Free admission
Eat
The Kitchen Garden Cafe
Picturesque area in the middle of a busy and bustling Birmingham suburb. Quality vegetarian options and excellent service.
Do
Villa Park
Villa play in the Premier League, England's top tier, and are one of England's more successful clubs, most recently winning the Europa League in 2026. Their 42,736-capacity stadium is 2 miles north of the city centre. The women's team plays in the Women's Super League, their top tier, with home games in Boldmere, Sutton Coldfield.
See
Woodgate Valley Country Park
450-acre meadow, hedgerow and woodland park containing Woodgate Valley Urban Farm and Hole Farm Trekking Centre. Best visited in spring and summer when there are hundred of wild flowers and butterflies.
Free
Do Not mapped
Drayton Manor
Located just outside Tamworth in Staffordshire, is the fourth most popular theme park in the UK, with 35 rides set in 280 acres of land as well as a 15 acre zoo. To get to the park during school holidays simply catch the special E22 bus in the mornings (typically just before 9 and 10) from Carrs Lane stop DK (near the Pavilions Shopping Centre). A return ticket should cost £10. Outside of school holidays you'll need to catch bus 110, which runs every half hour from Bull Street stop BF (near Snow Hill station) and get off at Fazeley. The return fare is £4. If you're unsure of where exactly the stop is (and it's easy to miss) ask the driver to signal you when you need to get off. Admission £18.95-20.95.
Do
Creation Skate Park
skateboarding or BMX-ing
See
Eastside City Park
More of a public square than a true park.
See
St. Thomas' Church and Peace Gardens
See
Winterbourne House and Garden
58 Edgbaston Park Road, Edgbaston, B15 2RT

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Birmingham (CC BY-SA 4.0).