Birmingham

England’s second city is a veritable treasure trove of delights for both the wide eyed fresher with pocketfuls of student loan clamouring to be spent, and the hardened veteran. With more curry houses per square mile than anywhere reasonably should, more boozers than you could shake a stick at and cultural opportunities aplenty once you’ve exhausted your party gene, Brum loves its students, and its students love Brum…*wistful sigh*

Pubs
Steel your livers campers, as whatever your want Brum will have a drinking establishment just for you. For those languishing in studentville, local Selly Oak pubs provide inexplicably cheap booze, good atmosphere and are within mere staggering distance to bed. The Bristol Pear often features student bands and is more low-key than its big sister The Gun Barrels which has tons of big screens for sport, pool tables and a massive beer garden, meanwhile the Goose at the OVT is one of the few places students and 'normal folk' reside happily side-by-side. If instead you’re heading into town for a bit of posh, then the Arcadian’s the place for you my friend. Poppy Red, Sobar and Arca Bar are packed to their gleaming rafters with cocktails, chunky tunes and Happy Hour drinks to keep the bank manager happy.

If you’re after a soundtrack to your drinking, then the multicoloured indie wonderland that is the Sunflower Lounge has a myriad of live acts throughout the week, while Jools Holland’s The Jam House is ideal for singing and dancing and movin’ to the groovin’. Moseley’s Jug of Ale is a must for local bands, a good ol’ fashioned live pub that’s played host in recent years to the likes of Kasabian, Editors and the Subways, or you can keep those peepers peeled for emerging talent at the smaller Actress and Bishop in the trendy Jewellery Quarter.

Clubs
Birmingham’s Broad St is affectionately (ahem!) known as the Ayia Napa of the Midlands, but don’t be alarmed, there’s far more to the Brum club scene than dodgy Europop and foam parties. The first port of call for many is the legendary Snobs. Yes the walls sweat and the vodka is of questionable quality, but it’s cheap as chips and plays some damn fine music, from 60s to more recent indie and rock. There are of course a plethora of the usual “super clubs” of which Oceana stands head and shoulders from the rest, with each room themed as a different city from the Paris boudoir, to the Reykjavik ice room. Other gems are the cooler than school Medicine Bar in the Custard Factory which attracts top DJs and dance talent week in week out, or the Arcadian’s Indi Bar and Cotton Club whose music policies encompass every possible sonic palette.

Venues
No band escapes a tour stop off in Birmingham, which provides endless opportunities for live music. While the NEC and NIA are the city’s flagship arenaa, far more interesting (and accessible) are the smaller venues. Just like its London cousins, the Carling Academy is a must-stop for most bands, and you’ll find big names throughout the week. The Barfly is of a more intimate nature and hosts smaller gigs, as well as up-and-coming talent. A short train ride away is the Wolverhampton Civic Hall, which mops up any stragglers who may have avoided the city centre.

Unless you’re partial to extortionate entry prices, vomit splattered toilets, crap music and the usual assortment of gobby 15 year olds, drug dealers and poseurs, steer clear of Broad Street on a Saturday night.

The shiny modern Bullring is at the heart of Brum’s shopping centre and offers everything the average shopper could possible desire. The famous silver bobble design of Selfridges and its uber-cool atmosphere makes it always worth a visit, if only to swear loudly at the price of shirts and cruise round the Food Hall scoffing freebies.

Brum should be a veritable banquet of rock talent, given the number of venues and the burgeoning live scene it boasts, but oddly its success stories have been few and far between of late. Notable exceptions being The Twang and Editors who both hail from the city. In days of yore though other Brummie bands have included modsters Ocean Colour Scene, grebo rockers Ned’s Atomic Dustbin and The Wonder Stuff, as well as the mighty rock scene surrounding the likes of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin  and Judas Priest.

Bizarrely, Brum has more canals than Venice and more trees than inhabitants.

The city’s famed Jewellery Quarter produces half of all the jewellery made in the UK.

Famous residents have ranged from JRR Tolkien to Jasper Carrott to Cat Deeley.

The city puts on the third largest St Patrick's day parade in the world, next to Dublin and New York.