Go see what city has in store
If you’ve found the Nelson statue then you really can’t miss the Mojito Beach Bar complete with bar chairs, deck chairs and sand.
It’s on the terrace overlooking St Martin in the Bullring Church.
Here you can sunbathe to your heart’s content, relax under thatched sun shelters, sip a cocktail or let an ice cream slowly melt on your spoon. Lie back... and think of Primark.
The Bull Ring market dates back to 1166 when Peter de Birmingham obtained a market charter from Henry II.
Today there are three markets on the other side of the St Martin in the Bullring Church and just five minutes’ walk from the new Primark.
See which has got the cheapest prices for clothes!
The outdoor market mostly sells fruit and veg, but the number of stalls there now selling cloths and materials instead is growing.
The St Martin Market is an undercover market next door.
This is also known as the Rag Market and, similar to the outdoor market, has seen a diversification in what it sells.
You’ll now find everything from mobile phone accessories to handmade cut-out greetings cards as well as various tools, kitchen cloths and rolls of fine cloths.
Further up Edgbaston Street, which features even more stalls outdoors, is the Indoor Market on the corner of Gloucester Street.
The food stalls will sell you everything from choice cuts and exotic fish to... turkey feet, pig and cow ears and skin-on or skin-off sheep or goat heads. Or you can get your shoes fixed – and keys cut.
If you go out of the lower entrance to Primark, cross Moor Street Queensway and head over towards the Eastside district of the city you can arguably take in three attractions at once beyond the Masshouse apartments.
Curzon Street Railway Station is the world’s oldest surviving piece of monumental railway architecture – and set to be part of the HS2 scheme.
Roman-inspired, Philip Hardwick’s Grade 1 lised Curzon Street building received its first train from London on September 17, 1838. You won’t get in but it’s great to look at.
Nearby is the city’s first major park for 100 years, opened on December 5, 2012.
If you have the time, Thinktank is the city’s modern, paid-for version of its famous former Science Museum.
It is at the heart of the £114 million Millennium Point which opened on September 29, 2001 before being officially opened by The Queen on July 2, 2002.
If you want culture and can walk fast, you should just make it to the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery in ten minutes – but only if you aren’t distracted by other shops en route!
Before you reach the door, admire Victoria Square (opened by Princess Diana in May, 1993), the 1879 Birmingham Council House, the 1834 Birmingham Town Hall and the early 1890s General Post Office building.
If you love heavy rock, don’t miss Home of Metal’s paid-for exhibition Black Sabbath - 50 Years which is running until September 29 (book ahead to avoid disappointment as visits are scheduled).
It’s got everything you could possibly want to see about the band, from tour T-shirts to handwritten lyrics, handmade dolls, a studio, guitars, gig footage, a fan’s living room and a customised Harley Davidson motorbike.
As every shopaholic knows, running round on your feet all day can be hard work. So keep yourself in trim... by visiting the nearby gym!
Luckily, The Gym is directly opposite Primark’s front door at 79-84 High Street. A single session costs £7.99.
If you’ve ‘done’ Primark, re-energised in The Gym and still wan’t more retail challenges then you’ve come to the right place.
Local household names at street level include Apple and H&M (New Street), Waterstones and M&S (High Street), WH Smith (Union Street) and House of Fraser (Corporation Street).
If you love shopping centres, those close by include Grand Central and Bullring. Selfridges and Next are handy for Primark – Debenhams is furthest away at the other end.
If you’ve still got time to kill before heading back home, take in a movie.
Odeon cinemas began life in Birmingham when what is now Europe’s biggest cinema chain was founded by Oscar Deutsch some 90 years ago.
Originally a Paramount cinema which opened with Errol Flynn’s The Charge of the Light Brigade on September 4, 1937, New Street became an Odeon in August 1942 after Deutsch’s death.
The cinema enjoyed a dual role as a major concert venue until the NEC’s success prompted its 1988 conversion into an eightscreen multiplex.
So, this cinema is neither an Oscar Deutsch Art Deco classic nor a purpose-built multiplex, but it does show all of the latest blockbusters in a variety of screens that are nothing if not eclectic.
If you are really quick on your feet, try the UK’s oldest working cinema instead, the two-screen Electric Cinema on Station Street.