From cosmopolitan (and quintessential) British cities to historic castles, and Shakespeare to Peaky Blinders, England’s West Midlands region shows another side of the country beyond the well-known attractions of London. And they’re attributes that Goway is eager to show off in a series of new tours recently introduced by the Canadian tour operator.
“The West Midlands is a largely undiscovered gem in England,” says Robert Miller, Goway’s Product Manager for Northern Europe & the UK, who notes that the area is ideal for repeat visitors to the UK, and features both urban and rural environments that pair the best that Britain has to offer.
Centrally located north and west of London, and including Britain’s second largest city, Birmingham, it’s also handy hub for exploring other regions of the UK, including the nearby Cotswolds.
Miller notes the region is also currently on a high, having hosted the Commonwealth Games in the summer of 2022 – a massive sporting event that provided high visibility for Birmingham and neighbouring host cities (like Coventry) in countries such as Canada, as well as pre-Games infrastructure enhancements that will continue to benefit visitors in years to come.
Why the West Midlands?
Miller offers just a few of the highlights that clients can discover on the tours:
• Peaky Blinders/Black Country Living Museum (where they filmed much of the show)
• Great cuisine and cosmopolitan atmosphere/diversity of Birmingham (including the city’s famed Balti curry triangle)
• Pretty countryside and cityscapes (not least the canals of Birmingham)
• Industrial and automobile history, including the excellent Coventry Transport Museum (featuring Jaguar car gallery)
• Lady Godiva (Coventry) and the wartime and post-war history of Coventry Cathedral
• Nearby Stratford-upon-Avon (not technically in the West Midlands, but often lumped together) is all things Shakespeare, including the Bard’s birthplace, Anne Hathaway’s cottage (Shakespeare’s wife, not the actress), and a great boutique distillery imaginatively named Shakespeare’s Distillery
• Kenilworth Castle and Warwick Castle are two very different, very interesting places to visit.
Tours
Goway’s most comprehensive itinerary for the West Midlands region is “Highlights of Birmingham & the West Midlands,” which Miller suggests is ideal for travellers who are looking for a quintessential English experience and at the same time mostly steers clear of the crowds at popular sites like Stonehenge and Bath.
The five-day tour starts in London with visits to key attractions and experiences in London (such as giving a spin on the London Eye, and a cruise along the Thames), and once they’ve moved on to Birmingham, guests will see the sights on a private walking tour, followed by two days of private touring outside of the city, including Coventry, Kenilworth and Warwick castles, and Stratford upon Avon (visiting Shakespeare’s birthplace and a distillery along the way).
Two other Goway tours also prominently feature the region:
• Six-day “Undiscovered England and the West Midlands” also starts in London and includes a day trip to Stonehenge-Windsor-Bath before heading up to Birmingham where car enthusiasts will revel in shifting gears to key in on the auto industry with visits to the Coventry Transport Museum, the Land Rover Experience, and the British Motor Museum. Additional stops include Liverpool and Manchester.
• And “Treasures of England,” over eight days, features three nights in London, two in Birmingham, and two in Liverpool. The tour includes a private walking tour of Birmingham and an exploration of West Midlands sites, including Coventry, Kenilworth, and Stratford-upon-Avon.
Miller notes that all of Goway’s curated FIT itineraries are customizable to a traveller’s specific needs and interests, including adding, subtracting, or changing overnights.
Goway can also arrange car rentals, and rail and attractions tickets.