The UK's most exciting shopping destination!

Birmingham has now firmly established itself as one of the UK’s most exciting shopping destinations: with over 1000 city centre stores, there is something to suit every taste and budget.

There could be few better places to start than the £500m Bullring development, which opened in September 2003. Attracting a staggering 36.5 million visitors in its first year, Europe’s largest retail development brings 26 football pitches worth of shops, boutiques and restaurants into the city centre. And Bullring’s looks are just as stunning as the shops it offers,particularly the futuristic Selfridges store (right); shimmering with 15,000 aluminium-spun discs, this curvaceous icon has been turning heads throughout Europe.

Yet it is not just Bullring which makes Birmingham such an alluring shopping destination. The Mailbox is one of the UK’s elite designer shopping malls, with such chic names as Harvey Nichols and Emporio Armani, while the city centre’s attractive pedestrianised streets are a delightful blend of high street brands, refined arcades, exciting markets and excellent independent stores.

And if you are after something really special, just beyond the leafy Georgian Square of St Paul’s lies the historic centre of the largest working jewellery quarter in Europe. With over 100 jewellery outlets, you can find classic pieces at a fraction of high-street prices, or if you are feeling more adventurous how about commissioning your own design?