Birmingham Tourist Information
Travel Documents
When arriving in the UK you will either need to present a valid passport or another photo identity card showing your identity and nationality. Depending on the purpose, nationality and length of your visit you may also need a valid Visa.Banking
The UK still uses the British Pound (£, GBP) and is not part of the Euro Zone. Therefore all visitors from outside of the UK will have to exchange their local currency into Pounds. Visa, Mastercard and AMEX are widely accepted in shops and restaurants and will require you to enter you PIN in a chip machine when you make purchases.Banking opening hours are - Mon - Fri - 9.00am - 17.30pm, Sat 9.00am - 12.00pm
The four main banks in the UK are Barclays, Lloyds TSB, HSBC and Nat West. All of these banks will have a Bureau de Change where you can exchange currency for British Pounds.
Media
Newspapers
The two main newspapers in Birmingham are The Birmingham Post and The Birmingham Mail. The Birmingham Post is a quality broadsheet newspaper that has more in depth articles on business, culture and sport. The Birmingham Mail on the other hand is a tabloid paper which places more emphasis on gossip and pictures than quality news. There is also the Sunday Mercury that is published each week.Radio
There are three main radio stations in Birmingham. Firstly there is the local BBC station BBC West Midlands, following that there are two commercial stations, BRMB and Heart FM. All three of these stations will provide the lates Birmingham news and also Birmingham travel reports. The BBC however wil obviously not run any annoying adverts.BBC WM 95.6 FM and on DAB - Listen Now
BRMB 96.4 FM - Listen Now
Heart FM 100.7 FM - Listen Now