Sometimes the best way to see Birmingham is to slow down.
Leave the traffic behind, step onto the towpath and the city immediately begins to look different.
Birmingham’s canals are frequently mentioned in tourism guides, but for local residents they offer something more valuable than a sightseeing statistic: space.
The city council actively encourages people to explore the history and landscape of Birmingham’s canal network.
Start around Brindleyplace and Gas Street Basin and you get the polished version — waterside restaurants, boats, apartments and some of Birmingham’s most photographed views.
Walk further and the scenery begins to change.
Modern developments give way to reminders of the industrial city the canals once served. Old brick, bridges and former commercial buildings provide a direct connection with Birmingham’s past.
That’s what makes a canal walk interesting.
It isn’t simply pretty.
It tells you why Birmingham is where it is.
For a relaxed weekend, you need very little planning. Comfortable shoes, a charged phone and perhaps a rough idea of where you’d like to stop for lunch are enough.
Walking is only one option.
Canal boat trips provide a completely different perspective, particularly for visitors who have never seen Birmingham from water level.
Photography works brilliantly here too. Reflections, narrowboats, bridges and the collision between old industrial architecture and newer buildings make the canals among the most photogenic parts of central Birmingham.
And then there is the simple pleasure of sitting down.
Find a waterside table, order a drink and watch boats move slowly through a city usually defined by movement.
It’s remarkable how quickly Birmingham can feel calm.
The canals are also useful connectors. A walk can be incorporated into a larger day involving Brindleyplace, the Library of Birmingham, shopping, galleries or dinner.
Or you can make the walk itself the destination.
That’s perhaps the better idea.
Modern city life is obsessed with arriving.
Birmingham’s waterways reward wandering instead.
Explore more: HERE
