Car Hire: Take advantage of the special easyJet inflight rates. Visit the Europcar desk on arrival or call +44 (0)121 782 6507. Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Airport Transfer: Pre-book your door-to-door transfer with easyJet’s transfer partner, Holiday Taxis—from home to the airport, then city or resort (easyjet.holidaytaxis.com).

Train: Trains leave every 10 minutes for the city centre. Tickets: £3 single; £6 return.

Taxi: A journey to the centre costs about £16 and takes 25 minutes.

Bus: Bus 900 stops at Birmingham International train station and in the city centre. Tickets: £1.50 single; £3 return.

Big Wok
( 5 Wrottesley Street. Tel. 0121 666 6800 )
Fill up on Chinese food at this restaurant with a buffet menu featuring a staggering number of dishes. All you can eat for £5.99 during the day and £9.99 at night.

StageSide Bar & Restaurant
( Hurst Street. Tel. 0844 338 9000 )
Popular with pre- and post-theatre diners, the Hippodrome’s chic restaurant offers a menu of British classics, fish 'n' chips and grilled chicken breast.

Bluu Bar & Restaurant
( Islington Gates, Summer Row. Tel. 0121 236 9013 )
Serving everything from sandwiches and pasta dishes to rib-eye steaks, Bluu caters to all appetites in stylish, retro surrounds. Set-price Sunday lunches (£12.50 for two courses, £15 for three) are a bargain.

Purnell’s
( 55 Cornwall Street. Tel. 55 Cornwall Street )
Owned by award-winning chef Glynn Purnell, this fine-dining restaurant has been impressing locals and visitors alike since opening in summer 2007. Creative dishes, such as brill cooked in coconut milk, grace the menu.

Bacchus Bar
( Burlington Arcade, New Street. Tel. 0121 616 7991 )
Take respite from the busy city-centre streets in the opulent surrounds of this large basement bar.

Carling Academy
( 52-54 Dale End. Tel. 0121 262 3000 )
Feeder, Mercury Rev, MGMT and The Zutons are just some of the bands taking to the Academy stage this month.

Miss Moneypenny’s
( 32 Regent Street. Tel. 0121 693 6960 )
Dress to impress and dance the night away to house music in a club that touts itself as the most glamorous in the world.

With more than 160 shops, as well as plenty of cafés and restaurants on hand to take the weight of weary legs, the Bullring Shopping Centre is the place to buy everything from an iPod to a designer suit or sofa (Tel. 0121 632 1500. www.bullring.co.uk).

The twice-monthly Farmer’s Market is the place to stock up on fresh local produce on Upper New Street (5 November) and New Street (19).

Bournville, home to the Cadbury chocolate factory, is a must for chocoholics. Visit Cadbury World, two old Tudor houses and the attractive Rest House that dominates the village green. The tranquil suburb also boasts an impressive Carillion and parks.

Those with little ones in tow should make a beeline for the National Indoor Arena (NIA) where the hot ticket this month is Disney on Ice's Finding Nemo. The whole family will be enjoy the colourful characters gliding across the ice (5-16 November. King Edwards Road. www.thenia.co.uk).

Ironbridge  – If the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Ironbridge Gorge isn’t enough to tempt you, then the 10 museums at the "birthplace of industry" should suffice—not to mention the area's much-fêted pies, made with shortcrust pastry and filled with pork or steak (www.ironbridge.org.uk).

Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery boasts the largest Pre-Raphaelite collection of paintings and drawings in the world.

Compiled by Jenny Clarkson