Top 10 Fun Activities In Birmingham To Do With Your Friends

Location: Grand Central, B5 4BF.

Some days call for a coffee, a slice of cake, and the company of a cat (or ten) curled up on the sofa next to you.

The Kitty Café in Grand Central is exactly that. It doubles as a rescue space, with cats living on site between adoption homes, so the welfare charge you pay on entry goes towards looking after the residents.

Inside, you'll find armchairs, soft lighting, plenty of toys and a menu of jacket potatoes, cakes and milkshakes that arrive while a tabby naps on the chair beside you.

Bookings come in timed slots, and the café is card only, so it's worth checking the website before you turn up.

➡️ Local tip: weekday mornings tend to be the calmest times to visit, when the cats are friskier, and the queues are shorter.

If your group's idea of a brilliant day involves friendly chaos and a leaderboard, Bullring has the leisure offerings to back it up.

Sandbox VR

Location: Unit 25A, Grand Central Shopping Centre.

Sandbox VR is a full-body virtual reality experience for groups of friends, where headsets, vests and motion tracking drop you into zombie outbreaks, alien planets and pirate seas together.

It's the sort of activity that turns even the quietest member of your group into a screaming swordfighter within five minutes, and the photos you'll take afterwards are part of the appeal.

TOCA Social

Location: 11 Saint Martin's Walk, Birmingham B5 4BU.

TOCA Social blends interactive football targets, booth-style gaming, and a proper, serious food and cocktail menu, with sharing plates drawn from American, Asian, and Latin American kitchens.

Even if no one in your group is a footballer, the mini-games and competitive scoring make it easy to lose a few hours. You can book here.

Treetop Golf

Location: Ground Level, Bullring.

Treetop Golf hides two 18-hole indoor courses, the Tropical Trail and the Ancient Explorer, behind its jungle-themed entrance.

Each hole has its own twist, and there's a bar area along with food from Pizza Cabana, drinks at The Thirsty Toucan and coffee from the Jungle Buzz Café for when you want to debrief over a winning scorecard.

Learn more about Treetop Golf and book here.

Lane7

Location: L6-L7, The Bullring.

Lane7 brings together bowling, darts, pool, ping-pong, shuffleboard, karaoke booths, an immersive Playground gaming area and a rooftop terrace bar with views over the city.

After 7 PM, it's an over-18s venue, so book ahead and bring ID if you're heading down for an evening.

If your group runs on sugar and caffeine, half a dozen Bullring pit stops are worth a small queue:

Batch'd

Location: Lower level, B5 4BU.

Batch'd is the place for artisan doughnuts, brownies, cookies and cookie pies made by small-batch bakers from across the UK, with Scoop'd ice cream available at the main Bullring site too.

Flavours change regularly, which gets dangerous if you're indecisive.

EL&N

Location: 146-148 New St, B2 4NY.

EL&N leans into all-day café energy with floral interiors, generous brunch plates, towering cakes and pastel drinks designed to be photographed before they're touched.

It's a slow kind of stop for friends who want to sit down for an hour with a flat white and something sweet.

Sweet Joe’s

Location: Grand Central, B24BF.

Sweet Joe's specialises in thick, gooey, American-style cookies baked fresh on site, with rotating flavours like chocolate fudge cake, white choc chunk and a regular cookie pie that lands somewhere between a brownie and a tray bake.

Worth grabbing a four-pack to share, although sharing isn't compulsory.

Fruit & Ice Beverages

Location: Middle level, Bullring, B5 4BU.

Fruit & Ice Beverages serves over 15 fruity mocktails alongside iced coffees, karak chai, fresh sundaes and savoury or sweet croissants from a counter wrapped in floral walls.

It's tailor-made for the friend who orders something pink in every photo.

M&S

Location: M&S, Lower & Middle Level, Bullring, Birmingham, B5 4BL.

M&S is your go-to for a more low-key sweet stop, with bakery shelves covering proper Colin the Caterpillar territory, Percy Pigs, fresh pastries and dessert tubs you can grab to take home or eat on a bench.

Sometimes you just want a Percy Pig.

Blank Street

Location: Level 1, Unit 35 Grand Central, Birmingham, B2 4BF.

Blank Street is the New York coffee brand known for its viral matchas (blueberry and white chocolate among them), specialty grade flat whites and oversized pastries.

Order at the counter, settle into one of the leather seats, and watch your mates become matcha converts.

When you're between activities and your group's energy is dipping, these three spots get good food in front of you fast.

Wingstop

Location: Middle level, Bullring, Central Street, B5 4BE.

Wingstop is built around 10 different wing flavours, from mild lemon pepper through to the hottest atomic glaze, available bone-in, boneless or as tenders.

Add seasoned, Cajun or loaded fries, milkshakes and churros for dessert, and you've covered everyone from the spice fiend to the milder eater.

Five Guys

Location: Middle level, Bullring, St Martin's Square, B54BU.

Five Guys sticks to its formula of made to order burgers, hand cut fries fried in peanut oil, hot dogs and milkshakes you can choose yourself with multiple mix ins.

There are 15 free toppings to play with, so no two orders in your group need to look the same.

Tonkotsu

Location: Dining Terrace, Grand Central, New Street, B2 4XJ.

Tonkotsu’s menu runs from the signature tonkotsu ramen to a meat-free shimeji, shiitake and miso bowl, plus gyoza, kara-age and katsu curry, and there's a ramen and gyoza set that's one of the better value lunches in the city.

Once the day winds down and your group has earned a longer dinner, Bullring has five proper sit-down restaurants that work well for friends.

Mount Fuji

Location: Lower & Middle level, Bullring, St Martin's Square, B5 4BH.

Mount Fuji serves Tokyo-style bento, sushi, ramen and tempura in a cosy space that feels a long way from the busy mall outside.

The bento boxes are the calling card, with chicken katsu, salmon teriyaki and vegetarian options each plated in their own little compartments.

Chaophraya

Location: Lower & Middle level, Bullring, St Martin's Square, B5 4BW.

Chaophraya sits opposite St Martin's Church across two floors, with an alfresco terrace and an interior that leans properly elegant.

Pad Thai, weeping tiger beef, four seasons duck curry and a long cocktail list make it a strong shout for a celebratory group dinner, with vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free and nut-free options threaded throughout the menu.

Banana Tree

Location: Upper level, B5 4BG.

Banana Tree is your big-flavour Pan-Asian option, pulling dishes from Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Japan onto one menu.

Expect katsu curries, pad Thai, ramen and crispy gyoza, with all-day 2-for-1 cocktails, mocktails.

Comptoir Libanais

Location: Grand Central, Central Street, B2 4BF.

Comptoir Libanais brings Middle Eastern and North African flavours to the table with mezze platters, tagines, wraps, rice bowls and baklava for afters, all in a colourful, mosaic-tiled space that's built for sharing.

The mezze platter is the easiest way to get the table talking.

Mowgli

Location: Grand Central, Central Street, B2 4BF.

Mowgli does Indian street food in a fairy-lit room with iconic swing seats and tiffin-box service, drawing on founder Nisha Katona's home cooking and the streets of Varanasi.

Treacle tamarind fries, chat bombs, the Mowgli house lamb and gunpowder chicken are good orders to lead with, and there are plenty of vegan and gluten-free dishes.

Location: Brindleyplace, Birmingham B1 2HJ.

Birmingham is often said to have more miles of canal than Venice, and one of the prettiest stretches to walk with friends runs through Brindleyplace and into Gas Street Basin.

Wide cobbled towpaths, narrowboats moored along the water, footbridges, and modern glass architecture sit alongside restored Victorian warehouses.

Look out for Black Sabbath Bridge, which crosses the canal under Broad Street and pays tribute to the band's Birmingham roots, and the cherry blossom on Oozells Square in early spring.

It's a flat, easy stroll that suits friends catching up at any pace, whether you're taking your time with photos or heading somewhere specific.

➡️ Local tip: walk it later in the afternoon when the sun catches the water and the canalside terraces start filling up for early evening drinks.

Location: Chamberlain Square, Birmingham B3 3DH.

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery sits in a Grade II*-listed building right on Chamberlain Square, with general admission free and a phased reopening in progress after recent maintenance work.

The currently open spaces include the Pre-Raphaelite Galleries, the Industrial Gallery, the iconic Round Room, the Birmingham History Galleries, the Staffordshire Hoard Gallery and the Bridge Gallery, alongside the museum tearoom and shop.

The Made in Birmingham display in the Industrial Gallery is a strong place to start with friends, pulling together objects, art and stories that get at what shaped the city.

Opening hours typically run from Wednesday to Sunday from 10 AM to 5 PM (although make sure to double-check).

Location: Centenary Square, Broad Street, Birmingham B1 2ND.

Most Brummies eventually find their way up to the Library of Birmingham's roof, but plenty of visitors miss it entirely.

The library has two outdoor terraces, both free and open to the public: the Discovery Terrace on Level 3, with herb beds and knot garden inspired planting, and the Secret Garden on Level 7, which is a quieter, wilder spot with some of the best panoramic views over the city.

The terraces are typically open Monday to Saturday from 11 AM to 3 PM (also make sure to double-check this), weather permitting, and they're a brilliant low-effort thing to do with friends when you fancy fresh air without leaving the centre.

Pack a takeaway coffee from Bullring, take the lift to seven, and you've got a peaceful spot to chat for an hour.

Location: Westbourne Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 3TR.

Just over a mile from the city centre, the Birmingham Botanical Gardens cover 15 acres of landscaped Grade II*-listed grounds that have been open since 1832.

There are four Victorian glasshouses, each recreating a different climate (tropical, subtropical, Mediterranean and arid), along with a Japanese garden housing the National Bonsai Collection, alpine gardens, a rose garden, a pinetum and a wide main lawn looking out over the bandstand.

Friends with green-thumb tendencies will love it, but it works just as well as a place to wander, talk and unwind for a couple of hours.

Location: 1 Oozells Square, Brindleyplace, Birmingham B1 2HS.

The Ikon Gallery is housed in a beautifully restored Grade II-listed Victorian neo-Gothic former school in Brindleyplace, and entry is completely free.

It's one of the UK's most respected contemporary art venues, with rotating exhibitions covering painting, sculpture, sound, photography and installation work from British and international artists.

Two floors of changing shows mean there's usually something different to talk about each visit, and the on-site café and independent arts bookshop are good for a slower coffee afterwards.

The gallery is closed on Mondays but does open on bank holiday Mondays, which is worth checking before you make the trip.