A great place to shop. (Shopping Areas in Birmingham in general)

Member Name: Pinkaims

Product:	Shopping Areas in Birmingham in general
Date:	31/10/09 (11 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: So much to do, the hussle and bussle is great.

Disadvantages: For me there are none

Birmingham is a great day out for shopping.

There are so many shops to suit everyone at Birmingham.

Starting with the bullring. It is massive and like most indoor shopping centres has all your usual suspect of shops only most of them are bigger than in smaller shopping centres.

The only drawback for some people is how busy it is but for me that just adds to the experience. As someone who used to live in London I miss shopping down the busy Oxford Street and this is the closest I get.

There are so many fashion shops to choose from in the Bullring including Selfridges which is an experience in itself with a massive foodhall with some great restaurants. It also has the most fab sweet section so whatever you do - do not take the kids in here if you don't want to break the bank!

Outside of the bullring there is New Street. This is just a long street with many more shops on. Some usual highstreet shops such as Jane Norman and Oasis and then some designed shops such as Ted Baker. They then have some boutiques which are lovely to go into. There are also a number of restaurants, pubs, coffee shops and fast food joints if you get peckish whilst shopping.

There is also a Primark here and I have never seen one so big, however it is always busy and the queues are massive!

It is easy to get to Birmingham and I personally recommend going on the train as New Street Station is right outside the bullring and New Street shopping. However, if you do choose to drive there are plenty of cheapish parking places - £5 for a day for example and lets be honest if you are shopping big style which is hard not to do in Birmingham it is nice to have the car to load everything into it rather than taking it all on a train.

Outside of Birmingham there is also the Jewellery Quarter. I have only been here once but WOW! There are the more upmarket shops which are more like boutiques - most of which are independant and they have some lovely pieces at reasonable prices.

You then have the cheaper stores which to me is what the Jewellery Quarter is about. There are so many shops and some do the same thing. They all have a great variety of Jewellery from everyday necklaces, bracelets and rings to something a little more special - Diamonds galore!! If you are thinking of getting engaged pop here to have a look and the best thing is you can barter them down but if you don't fancy that then pop into the boutiques for something a little different.

Wedding rings are another good reason to go here as they have so many to choose from and for a good price. I did not know about this place when I got married 7 years ago but I wish I had as I found my exact ring (I purchased for a ridiculous amount of money) for half the price.

I am trying to convince my husband that I need even more jewellery so that he can take me here - although I fear that I will still spend a fortune!

Summary: This is a true day out shop with so many shops to choose from.