If you only ever pass through (or around) Birmingham whilst travelling between the north and south, or east and west, then it is time to explore the UK’s second largest city and the West Midlands.

Located in the heart of England, Birmingham’s centre is a shopper’s paradise with the infamous Bullring Shopping Centre, The Mail Box and markets, but add a hire car and the city’s surrounding countryside is beautiful!

Birmingham International Airport is eight miles to the east of the city centre and is situated close to the motorway network including the M1, M6, M6 Toll, M40 and M5. Scheduled and charter flights fly in and out of Birmingham Airport with Coventry Airport just 20 miles further and offering an excellent alternative with an extensive choice of low cost flights. Car hire can be collected at either Birmingham or Coventry airports with the Birmingham car rental desks being located in the Millennium Link Building between Terminals One and Two.

Birmingham is a modern city but as an industrial hub and central location in England, is steeped in history.  There are many museums, art galleries and events, with the largest exhibition centre being adjacent to Birmingham Airport, the NEC (National Exhibition Centre). Nightlife in Birmingham is cultural with productions at the Alexandra Theatre and Birmingham Repertory Theatre or you can choose to go to the Opera, the Symphony Orchestra or the Ballet.

Football fanatics can watch either Aston Villa or Birmingham City play, with cricket lovers spending the summer at Edgbaston, home of Warwickshire County Cricket.  Cadbury World and Alton Towers Theme Parks are great attractions for all the family to enjoy staying in Birmingham and are easy to drive to by hire.

Hiring a car in Birmingham opens up a world of adventure!  Stratford upon Avon is 50 miles from the city where you can visit Shakespeare’s Birthplace on Henley Street, or Anne Hathaway’s Cottage in nearby Shottery. Ice cream in Henley on Arden is a favourite of mine! Warwick Castle is about 45 minutes drive from Birmingham and is a magnificent location and well tendered attraction where you can retrace the steps of those many hundreds of years ago.

Another favourite is walking along the canals which lead from Birmingham to Tipton and then onto Wolverhampton. Take a stroll, walk the dog, cycle along the towpaths or fish, visit the Gas Street Basin or try your hand at boating.

For lovely countryside, head to the Lickey Hills Country Park for views from Beacon Hill of Birmingham and the Black Country, or to the wonderful Malvern Hills and Commons which are excellent for orienteering, hang gliding, mountain biking, kite flying, walking and horse riding.

What could be a better way to get your Christmas shopping underway than by visiting one of the superb Christmas Markets which will shortly take throughout the length and breadth of the UK?

Next to the Abbey in the centre of Bath, festive wooden chalets will be set up donning Christmas gifts from 26th November to 6th December.  There will be three Christmas Markets in Bristol this winter, with twenty bespoke stalls selling their gifts at Goldbrick House, local gifts available at the Southville Centre and German crafts at Cribbs Causeway.

In London, visit the Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park which will be open from 21st November to 3rd January set in German wooden chalets, and the Spirit of Christmas Fair to be held at Olympia for just five days from 4th November should be quite spectacular! The largest London winter festival however boasting more than 70 stalls, as well as entertainment, music and husky dog sledding, will be in December between Southwark and Blackfriars Bridges on the South Bank, called the “Bankside Frost Fair”.

There will also be the Victorian Festival of Christmas at the end of November in Plymouth, with the Annual Worcester Christmas Fayre and Frankfurt Christmas Market, Birmingham, in the West Midlands.

Throughout December Manchester residents will be able to enjoy their traditional German Market, and in Chester the Christmas Market will have a truly continental flavour too. Along the cobbled streets of the city of Durham will be the Christmas Festival on the 5th and 6th December, with a children’s lantern procession, carols in Durham Cathedral, and over one hundred craft stalls and eateries. Around Grey’s Monument from 23rd November to 5th December you’ll discover the Continental Christmas Market in Newcastle upon Tyne, with the Christmas Market from 9th to 13th December.

Within the castle walls and through the town centre of Caerphilly, Wales on the 12th and 13th December Christmas fun will be had at the Caerphilly Medieval Market.

In Scotland, Edinburgh’s Christmas will start on the 26th November for around six weeks in and around Princes Street.  The Christmas lights will be switched on in the city and there will be an ice rink, funfair and German Market. In Glasgow, the bustling shopping district and St Enoch Square will be transformed into a winter wonderland from 27th November until Christmas Eve.

Fire Eating displays, mulled wine drinking, shopping and eating, as well as Santa visits will be available from mid November to mid December in Belfast, Northern Ireland.