B irmingham, a landlocked city with zero coastline and questionable British weather, has long drawn comparisons with iconic European holiday hotspots in fairer climes. Its many miles of canal – 35 to be precise – that were cut in the 18th and 19th century, primarily to transport heavy goods such as coal and iron around the region, once lauded it the nickname “The Venice of the North” – alluding to the fact that the city has more miles of canal than Venice . Although flattering, for all its redeeming features, La Serenissima this the city not.
Us Brummies do love a tongue-in-cheek joke, though. Then there’s that perception that the UK ’s second city is more concrete jungle than actual jungle. You won’t find either kind of jungle here, but you may be surprised to learn that Birmingham is indeed greener than you think.
It boasts the oh-so-tenuous title of having more trees than recent 2024 Olympic Games host city Paris , who did their best to follow on from Birmingham ’s record-breaking Commonwealth Games in 2022. Read more on UK travel : Such tired Birmingham jibes are usually propagated by those whose most recent experiences of visiting the city include one (or all) of the following: once changing trains on a dark platform inside New Street Station in 2001; getting lost inside Cadbury World as a child and being greeted by a bloke in a faded Freddo Frog costume; or regularly getting stuck in traffic near the RAC control centre on the M6. Despite what you might.