Funny one, I know. Reviewing a car park. Bit nerdy too. But ever the practical person that I am…read moreand also never one to miss out on best value I'm passing on my tip for parking. I realise it's also a chain, but this car park is very handy and much better value than many others In the area. If you go to the cinema on Broad street you get up to 3 hours free, which is very handy indeed. It's never been full whenever we've been, even when others nearby have been. You pay on leaving, so don't need to rummage round the car trying to find any loose change either. Even at Christmas time I have always managed to find a parking place. Don't use the lifts here though, someone I used to work with got stuck in one once and the emergency button didn't work. They had to call their office to get someone to contact euro parks for help!

A handy car park that is located just around the corner from the Five Ways Cineworld cinema…read more What's even more handier is that you get free car parking for three hours, after watching your film - bonus! Just get your ticket validated inside the cinema.

If I'm driving and have to go into Selfridges, this is the car park of choice. It's not cheap, but…read moreit's enormously convenient. You can actually go up and over the bridge into Selfridges without stepping outside which is obviously a fantastic plus when it's raining or even when it's cold. Although fairly common place now, this was one of the car parks I knew of where I can pay by card and when it's comes to over £10, who has that kind of change in their pocket? Opening times Monday - Saturday 7.30am - 10pm Sunday 9am - 8pm

fancy car park, does what it says on the tin, Very secure... charges stupid prices because its…read moreattached to Selfridges. There a car park down the road which is £2.50 all day or 70p an hour!

Had a great experience catching a train from here to London. Quick drop off by my Uber at the drop…read moreoff and. A quick walk inside the station and they thought of the ones with suitcases and had a non step entrance! Yay! That's what they call it ! We grabbed a quick coffee and found our platform easily and thankfully they have escalators. The train had just pulled in and we were able to get on and get settled and took off right on time . Found a spot for our suitcases as soon as we get on close to our seats which we had reserved and were easy to find. Smooth ride and very efficient. Would go from here again if I need to. Nice central Birmingham location too.

This is a pretty massive station, though to be honest it can be pretty annoying to make your way…read morearound. Like, there are four zones, no doubt matching the platforms where the trains arrive. The thing is that you have to touch off and touch on to move between the zones. However, they happen to have quite a lot of shops here, and pubs, yeah, they have pubs as well, and a place to dump your bags as well, which is pretty cool.

This is one of Birmingham's easiest to find and most popular car parks. The Bullring actually has…read morethree dedicated car parks, but this one provides easiest access to the shopping areas, when approaching from Holloway Circus. It is a pretty huge car park, sprawling underneath the shopping mall. There two levels and it is fairly easy to navigate. It gets super-busy on Saturdays close to payday and at Christmas time (I'd recommend parking at the Mailbox and walking to The Bullring at these times). At busy times, the queue backs up along Smallbrook Queensway and can be a real nightmare The car park is open until 1am every night and the tariff is about what you'd expect to pay for convenient city centre parking.

One of the busiest car parks in the city and the closest place ive ever been to hell during…read moreChristmas. Attached to the Bullring and i think its the biggest carparks in Birmingham, open til 1am so people eating late have no need to rush. Can seem pretty pricey but for the most central you can get your car its worthwhile if your picking up a lot of shopping from the city.

This car park is conveniently placed for exploring Centenary Square, Brindley Place, Symphony Hall…read moreand Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Being a council-run car park means that it is reasonably priced (£8.20 for 24 hours), though perhaps slightly rougher around the edges than the nearby Mailbox and Brindley Place car parks. It is a fairly generic 1960 concrete structure with 611 spaces. You can easily walk from the car park out onto Centenary Square, making it a great starting point for a day or evening at the Christmas Markets.

Paradise Circus is grim (see my review) so the car park to it is exactly the same. Watch out for…read morethe homeless guys dotted in and around the place. You can get to the ICC and Symphony Hall easily from here which is good if your into that kind of stuff. Theres a lot of spaces and this place is normally filled with commuters but you'll be able to find a space easily on week days. Its £8.20 for an all day ticket 7 days a week.

Before I lived in Birmingham I used to park in this place all the time when I was due to meet…read moresomeone in one of the eateries in the Mailbox. It's a modern build so there are very few tight spaces to fit into or indeed edge of your seat corners to manoeuvre. It's the preferred car park if you are staying at the Malmaison hotel or the Ramada and of course if you're shopping in the Mailbox itself. It is a clean, smart car park befitting of the numerous designer outlets in the Mailbox (although curiously all the restaurants and cafes are inexpensive chains) and as a bonus, has an H2O car wash on site. You can have you valet whilst you shop. Current prices are £18 per overnight stay (2012)

While the mailbox parking is a little expensive it does have a lot of spaces. Ideally the council…read moreowned car park under the flyover from the hotel is much better value. But spaces are limited This carpark is very safe and It's also quite secure. It is a huge place spread across 3 floors, its very clean and spacious. Above it has the Mailbox complex which houses Designer department store Harvey Nichols, other smaller boutique stores, Ramada hotel, Restaurant, Bars and The BBC. Overall a fantastic location, Little expensive but thats the price you pay for being in the heart of the centre.

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.