Museums and galleries in Birmingham
Pre-Raphaelites, Anglo-Saxon gold, a Spitfire and a workshop left untouched since 1981: the city's best museums, many of them free.
Birmingham's museums and galleries are among the best in the country, with collections that range from Anglo-Saxon gold and Pre-Raphaelite paintings to steam engines and Victorian workshops. Many are free to visit. Here is a guide to the best.
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
The city's flagship museum holds the world's largest public collection of Pre-Raphaelite art, including works by Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. It also displays treasures from the Staffordshire Hoard, the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found. Its galleries have been reopening in stages after major building work.
Thinktank Science Museum
At Millennium Point, Thinktank is a hands-on science museum that is ideal for families. Its collections include a Spitfire and the Smethwick Engine, one of the oldest working steam engines in the world, and it has a planetarium.
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts
On the University of Birmingham campus, the Barber Institute has a remarkable collection of paintings by artists including Rubens, Turner, Monet, Van Gogh and Degas. It opened in 1939 in an elegant art deco building, and entry is free.
Ikon Gallery
Housed in a former Victorian school in Brindleyplace, Ikon is one of Britain's leading galleries of contemporary art, showing work by artists from around the world. It is free to visit.
Museum of the Jewellery Quarter
This museum preserves the workshop of the Smith and Pepper jewellery firm exactly as it was left when the owners retired in 1981. Guided tours bring the history of the Jewellery Quarter to life.
Soho House
The elegant Georgian home of the industrialist Matthew Boulton in Handsworth was where the Lunar Society, a group of scientists and inventors, met to discuss their ideas. It is now a museum telling their story.
Aston Hall
This grand Jacobean mansion, completed in 1635, has lavish rooms, a long gallery and a staircase damaged in the Civil War.
Blakesley Hall
A timber-framed Tudor house in Yardley, built in 1590, Blakesley Hall is one of Birmingham's oldest buildings, with a pretty garden and period rooms.
Sarehole Mill
This water mill in Hall Green, where the young J R R Tolkien played, is one of only two surviving working water mills in Birmingham.
The Pen Museum and the Coffin Works
Two small museums in the Jewellery Quarter tell the stories of the city's pen trade and of a coffin fittings factory, preserved as it was when it closed.
Birmingham Back to Backs
Run by the National Trust, the Back to Backs show how working families lived in the city's crowded courts from the 1840s to the 1970s. Tours must be booked in advance.
Planning your visit
Several of the city's historic houses are run by Birmingham Museums Trust and open on selected days, so check before you go. Many museums offer free entry, making Birmingham a great city for a cultural day out on a budget.
