Trip story: The Midlands

The British Midlands is definitely not the biggest tourist hotspot in the UK. Most often it is a place people think of as just somewhere they must travel through, and it does possess a remarkable number of roads, and even the odd spaghetti junction.

Spaghetti Junction (Highways Agency photo on flickr, via Wikimedia Commons)

However, it can make an interesting and unusual choice to visit. Birmingham, Leicester, Wolverhampton, Solihull, and Coventry are its biggest cities, each offering a rich culture and history. Leicester is home to a magnificent cathedral, and Richard III is interred here.

Leicester cathedral (Photo credits DeFacto)

Wolverhampton Art Gallery is pretty amazing, too, and certainly worth a visit, as is Birmingham Museum, which contains a startling statue of Lucifer in its entrance lobby. The jewellery quarter of Birmingham is fascinating. There are plenty of nature reserves and gorgeous National Trust properties throughout the Midlands, too.

Wolverhampton cathedral (photo credits PaulCosmin)