The Bullring was built around a Church, St Martin's in the Bullring…read more It's named after Martin Lewis who is the patron Saint of shoppers, He used to show shoppers how to make great savings on their purchases in Medieval times. Ok so that might not be true. But with recent facts about Birmingham being confused by Fox News. The bullring opened in September 2003 (I know I was working there!) It's mainly a high street fashion shopping destination but there are lots of little food units to explore round the three floors. Built into what was a sloping hill each of the floors have street level exits which can cause lots of confusion on your first visit. But fear not. There are touch screen maps around the centre to help you explore. It's huge glass roofs help natural light flow through each of the floors and you can walk from here to Birmingham New Street Station without going outside if you follow the walkways. Mornings are usually quieter than the rest of the day so if you are in a rush get there for 10am on a week day!

I see this place as more of a necessity, I don't really like going here but you have to so you can…read moreget to the majority of the shops in Birmingham city centre. Don't get me wrong, the place in comparison to other shopping centres is almost beautiful, big open skylight, actually quite clean and toilets on almost every level. But half the time the escalators are broken, the last one being a total of nearly 4 months (and having to fight through H&M if you wanted to go down to the ground level). The elevators are ridiculously slow, and usually monopolized by the owners of tiny humans in prams... which is fair enough as they would struggle with the stairs. The morale of this story is - take the stairs. Other than that gripe its generally not a bad place, just really busy. You can cut through the bullring to quickly get to any other part of town and because the whole building is sheltered its convenient for shopping in the bad weather.

Grand Central is my favourite part about Birmingham New Street Station, it is a shopping centre…read morelocated above the train station, which connects into the Bullring (the city's main shopping centre), via a walkway. It can be a great to visit to kill some time before your train, or even to shop while in the city, plus the walkway acts as a cool way of getting to the train station and dogging the rain, of which we get more than our fair share of in the UK! Birmingham New Street Station - https://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/birmingham-new-street-station-birmingham-3 Bullring- https://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/bullring-birmingham Grand Central opened in September 2015, it still feels new and modern. The stunning balcony, lighting and architecture are nice to admire, and the perfect welcome into one of the country's greatest cities. I loved admiring the view in the dark autumn nights, while sat enjoying a coffee at Joe and the Juice. Grand Central's only flagship retailer was John Lewis, sadly this store has now closed down but there are still a couple of shops located here, which includes Tesco Express, Foyles and Whittard. The selection of food and beverage options is much better including Nando's, Tapas Revolution and Joe and the Juice. There's plenty of other options, including a Natwest bank! 4* - I do think the loss of John Lewis is going to hit Grand Central hard, it's sad to see such a huge empty unit in such a cool building, but it is a great place in the city which many tourists and locals alike are sure to visit, by choice or by chance.

Although not 100% finished, Grand Central really has the wow factor that Birmingham New Street…read morestation has previously lacked. The highlight for me has to the the huge and beautifully designed skylight, positioned right in the middle of the development. This has changed a formerly dark space, into a vibrant hub of cafes, restaurants and shops. Grand Central can only be a good thing for Birmingham, proving the perfect first impression for people arriving in the city.

I recommen going to Hobbycraft if ur a therian they have felt, paint, masks, feathers, brushes,…read moreeverything you need!

Ventura park although I frequent on occasion is really just a clone of other business parks , it…read morebacks the traffic up completely on a weekend I once got trapped in the Sainsburys car park side for over two hours on a Saturday...with added nandos and pizza express its got a lot of shops to choose from if your an avid spender notice didnt say shopper !

It is long overdue that I write this review. The Heart of the Country is simply a potpourri of fun…read morethings to do for folks of all ages. In terms of value - unless you decide to buy a meal, drinks or goods from the various stores and restaurants it is free! Even the parking is free. Everyone seems to be friendly and welcoming. There are walks too, especially nice for the kids. And yes all the eating and drinking places are good to excellent!

The pear tree creperie is a small French restaurant specialising in you got it crepes. It is…read morelocated in a small crafts place which is called the heart of the country village. Now me and my sister are obsessed with pancakes anyway so when we heard about this place we decided we had to go and find it. So Saturday off we went in the car and found it. Mouths watering at just the thought of pancakes they had a lot to live up to but they managed it and this creperie is such a little find I think I will go there more often now I know where it is. The address is as follows; Heart of the country village Swinfen Near Lichfield Staffordshire WS14 6QR Now in terms of location it is a great place as it is right by Lichfield city centre which is a great place and as it is practically just off a main road it is quite easy to find. I can't really tell you much about the actual craft village as we didn't go around as this was purely a pancake hunting trip only. It did look very sweet though with lots of furniture, garden and even a bridal shop. The actual creperie is tucked away and has an inside and an outdoor area. Outdoors the wooden tables and trellising around is very pretty. Inside and you get a very French feel about the place. The tables have plastic covers which looks very sweet and the decoration is very nice with antique looking things which is nice. The furniture is all a nice wood and everything just looks nice. The menu is lovely with lots of sweet and savoury crepes on offer. I went for a sweet maple syrup one because I really fancied it but they do so many different ones such as cheese and ham ones, pear and chocolate sauce and ones with alcohol which they light at the table which looked great. The prices are not to bad with the cheapest being about £2 and the most expensive being around £6. Drinks were around £1.20 each. The pancakes did not take long to come out and when they did they were massive and they gave us a lot of maple syrup so they do make sure you get full from them. I noticed people having savoury ones with salads and they looked yummy and definitely filling enough to have for lunch or for tea. The crepes were cooked to perfection and I have to say I couldn't have done any better. They taste so nice that when you have eaten one you always want another. Even though I felt quite sick when I had eaten it I still would have had another if my sister would have let me but she dragged me out of there which I am glad of. The craft village is very sweet and the car park is quite big so you will always be ok to park. I think the creperie is lovely and well worth the visit especially if you do take a look around and then maybe go visit Lichfield to finish off your day. I am going to visit again as it was nice and the food is cooked to a high standard. There are plenty of staff there who are all very friendly and I think that you will have a good time. It might be worth mentioning as well that you can reserve tables there as it does get quite busy and as we left there was only 1 table left. What a little find in the middle of the country. Wonderful! Thanks for reading. xxx P.S .Thsi has been posted on other sites but always by me katygriff

Great little shopping centre.. Has all the big brands and some high end high street brands too…read more Such as river island, h&m ,primary, etc... Good ample cark parking, its free to park after 6pm most evening. Has pub's. Bars, restaurants also has a Cinema. Free parking voucher when u spend £5 or more on shopping in Tesco.

Newly built shopping complex. 1st time I've been here and to sides to the shopping centre. Good for…read moreparking and wide range of shops all big sizes. Deffo check it out and you can waste hours here also just looking around and eating...

Nike factory outlet.. The have great stuff here its all Nike branded and it very very reasonable…read moreprices. Its not the latest designs or styles but its like last season or ex stock they can't sell. Mens Trainers average in from £20-40 a pair depending on discount amount. Good if u wanna by a few pairs in one go. Good for gym clothing men's shorts £5-10 tops £10-20. Stock is limited so go grab yourself a bargain. Parking outside costs £1.60 for two hours and cheaper for 30 minutes.

Northfield isn't home to the most swankiest of shopping centres, but it is a great place to go for…read morelocals and visitors alike, who are wanting to explore more unique shops. But don't get me wrong, the centre still boasts a large collection of big stores such as Poundland, WHSmith and Iceland, which are all greatly needed for the Northfield locals. It means that they don't have to travel elsewhere for their necessities. The overall aesthetics of Northfield's precinct are very outdated and generic, however, the actual shops themselves are varied when compared to the usual shopping centres of Brum. It's the independent shops that make the centre different, and there's a great collection of clothes stores for all ages and genders, from the men's shop Little Italy, to the girl's clothes accessories shop Miss Bizybody. I was quite surprised at the actual size of the centre, and expected it to be much smaller for the area (considering that there's quite a few shops on the Bristol Road outside as it is.) The centre is a great find, and is definitely worth checking out if you're in the area.

Ok this is not the best shopping centre in the world or the most exclusive, but I like it due to…read moreall the cheap bargains you can get here!. For me it is not the best place to go clothes shopping but it is great for Poundland, Superdrug, Peacocks, Iceland, WH Smith amongst many more. They also have clean toilets which is more than some shopping centres have. It was recently been refurbished also..

Poor old Five Ways Shopping Centre - built in the early 60s this was originally designed as a…read moretraffic-free piazza with ground floor retail spaces, an indoor market area, a car park on the second floor and the 10 storey Auchinleck House - a statue of Claude Auchinleck (a British army commander during World War II) still stands in the square but you won't be able to look at it these days as the whole space is awaiting demolition. To be honest Five Ways Shopping Centre has always had a slightly derelict feel - during the winter the design of the place meant that it acted as a veritable wind tunnel and for years it hosted a weird array of shops that always seemed a bit empty - although I do miss the greasy spoon caff that was here which was all Formica work tops and unknowingly kitschy shaped sauce bottles. The only thing it houses now are a Select n Save (more on that later), a Boots and load of sad looking empty shops - not somewhere I'd recommend spending too much time in as it can get really dark down there but worth a quick peek.

Grim. The fact that from above it looks like a giant coffin pretty much sums it up. The Five Ways…read moreShopping Centre is now almost completely abandoned, waiting for a natural disaster to come and wipe it off the earth. It sits sadly on a corner, a run down miserable old concrete block acting as a full stop to the overbearing neon and orange spray tan smell of Broad Street. I can't imagine a reason, that anyone would want to visit. There might be a little nostalgia, maybe your favourite newsagent was there... you was a massive fan of that particular Braggs bakery that was there in the late 80's? There was an urban legend that the architect who designed it made it in the shape of a coffin then jumped off the top, providing a suicide/funeral all in one. Maybe they could turn it into some kind of spooky theme park.

Great Western Arcade is truly a highlight of the City. It's full of quirky independent shops,…read morerestaurants and services. The architecture is stunning and it's clearly well maintained and meticulously looked after. Keep an eye out for events being held here too, as it's a great way to experience this location whilst doing something a little different (so far, I have attended a summer garden party and a silent film screening). Some of the highlights of the location are the Handmade Boutique (where you can purchase something totally unique made in the City - great for gifts), Anderson and Hill (full of delicious local and imported foodstuffs) and my favourite shoe shop in the city, Sims Footwear. Loki is also of note, as it's a wine retailer AND a tasting house (an usual concept worth a try). A must for all visitors and locals alike, pop along to the Arcade and lose a couple of hours browsing, eating and (when you're really worn out from all that shopping) grabbing a couple of beauty treatments at the Spa.

If Paradise Forum looked more like this I'd be sadder that it was being knocked down…read more.. This is a beautiful arcade with lots of boutique business spaces. More recently this has become open in the evening with the likes of Bistro 1847 and Loki Wine changing the mixture of shops and shifting it into the evening. It was bombed in the Second World War and the damage must have been pretty shocking. However the visible scars of war have been long since healed and this remains a homage to Victorian values with beautiful floor tiles and historic railway style lighting which I'd only noticed walking around the balcony at night. Next time you are rushing through to Snow Hill station or chasing down to the post office walk a little slower and take a look at how beautiful it all is. Really

Good range of shops; Iceland and Tesco for food, Coventry Building Society, a post office,…read moreWilkinsons and a nice range of small privately-owned stores. There are some empty units but the management works hard to keep them looking nice and makes displays of other stores' special offers inside them. The shopping centre is always kept looking clean, and there are flower displays all year round. Events during the year are hit and miss, but the annual Xmas display and Santa's grotto is great. A good, well run shopping centre. Beware: The cash machines outside Tesco have been targeted by crooks many times - use the one outside Coventry Building Society instead, it's got a CCTV camera trained right on it! Parking can be a nightmare at the weekend, but there is another carpark around the back you can use.

Contains many shops including a few charity shops, a Chinese food store, New Look, Boots, Tesco,…read moreIceland and Wilkinson. Parking can be busy but you should always get a space, and a good place to go to get a variety of goods.