Activities in Wolverhampton

If you fancy a bit of culture during your stay, the Wolverhampton Art Gallery is a must-see attraction right in the heart of the city centre. It’s just over the road from one of our favourite Wolverhampton entertainment venues, the Arena Theatre. Inside, you’ll find a wide range of exhibitions spanning more than 300 years of art, with masterpieces from the likes of Thomas Gainsborough and Abraham Janssens, an ever-growing collection of Pop Art, and fascinating examples of weaponry, ceramics and stoneware from the ages. Best of all, entry is completely free, and the gallery curates a regular programme of events, so it’s worth seeing if anything is on during your stay in Wolverhampton.

Interested in looking around National Trust attractions? A couple of miles west of the city centre, Wightwick Manor is one of the top days out in the area. The Victorian manor house is really rather unique. It’s one of just a handful of surviving houses that were built and decorated as part of the Aesthetic movement. So, as you’d expect, from the half-timbered exterior to the beautifully decorated interior, the attention to detail at every turn is really quite astounding. When you’re finished exploring Wightwick Manor, on a sunny day the surrounding 17 acres of gardens were designed by the celebrated landscape architect Thomas Mawson and aren’t to be ignored.

While we’re on the topic of gardening, budding horticulturalists may well have heard about David Austin, the world-famous rose-breeder and author of several books dedicated to roses. In a career that spans more than sixty years, David has bred a collection of more than 200 roses and has a grand total of 24 RHS Gold Medals to his name. A few years ago he was awarded the title of ‘Great Rosarian of the World’, while his creations now go by the title of ‘English Rose’. It’s safe to say that he knows a thing or two about roses. Here in Wolverhampton David Austin has cultivated one of the finest rose gardens in the world, that’s home to more than 700 different roses, including the full collection of English Roses. If you’re planning a visit to see the David Austin Roses, they’re ordinarily in bloom from May up to the first frosts of winter, entry is free, and the gardens are open seven days a week. It’s a twenty-minute drive from our Wolverhampton North hotel, but when you consider that people come from across the world to experience the sights and smells of this special rose garden, it’s certainly worth making the trip.

Making our way back into the city centre, Light House is one of Wolverhampton’s most popular cultural hubs. It’s the Black Country’s only independent cinema and also features two galleries that have showcased the work of some of the finest photographers in the country. There’s a good café if you want to grab a drink or something to eat. In terms of films, tickets are extraordinarily cheap and they put on a great programme that blends the latest blockbusters with world cinema and opportunities to see old classics on the silver screen again. Best of all, it’s barely more than a five-minute walk from our Wolverhampton City Centre hotel, so – even if you don’t have time to see a film – it’s well worth visiting to witness the building’s wonderful Victorian architecture.

Your other cinema option is the Cineworld in Bentley Bridge a couple of miles west of the city centre, so it’s a little less convenient, that is, unless you’re planning a shopping spree around the 190,000 square foot retail park. The 14-screen state-of-the-art cinema has all the latest blockbusters with screenings starting as early as 10 am, plus there’s ample free parking.A word to the wise, Bodenham Arboretum is not free, and the price of tickets changes with the seasons of the year but at roughly a few pounds for adults it's worth it for a peaceful afternoon outdoors.

A couple of other options to tide you over if you need to kill some time at Bentley Bridge would be a bit of tenpin bowling at Hollywood Bowl Wolverhampton, or get your House of Pain on and jump around at Air Space, the largest trampoline park in the Midlands.