As the UK's second largest city, 'Brum' is packed to the brim with potential. Culture, shopping, nightlife - even a world-famous chocolate factory.

By day

No bull, Birmingham's Bullring shopping centre is huge, with over 160 stores including Debenhams and Selfridges, and the Jewellery Quarter produces 40% of the nation's bling. While you're in the mood for precious things, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery offers art, archaeology and more in some 40 galleries, and the Barber Institute of Fine Arts offers a wealth of unmissable exhibits too. Come from mid-November until just before Christmas and you'll also enjoy the famously festive Frankfurt Christmas Market.

By night

Birmingham is home to the Alex, one of the finest theatres in the country, which hosts everything from opera and ballet to smash hit musicals and Britain's biggest comedy acts. You'll also find a bustling nightlife in Birmingham, with cool clubs all around. While you're here in the Second City, you also have to visit the eclectic, atmospheric, The Electric; which is the UK's oldest working cinema. A world away from multiplexes, this is how cinema trips used to be in the heyday of Hollywood. So get a ticket, grab some popcorn and get ready to fall in love with the silver screen all over again.