Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton is in the West Midlands (county) in the West Midlands (region), England.

Whilst Wolverhampton isn't well known as a tourist attraction, those visiting friends at the University, enjoying a football match at the famous Molineux Stadium or attending a concert at one of the fine local music venues will probably be pleasantly surprised by what this city has to offer.

Mass acclaimed singer Beverley Knight was born in the Pendeford area of the city. The soul diva is a regular attendee of the Molineux Stadium where her beloved Wolves play.

Get in

By train

🌍 Wolverhampton railway station, which is due for an extensive renovation, is positioned on the West Coast Mainline, and so operates frequent and regular services to London Euston, the North West, Scotland, the South West and Wales.

Services to Birmingham New Street Station, one of the UK's largest rail interchanges, operate approximately every ten minutes.

The station is just a few minutes' walk from the city centre and a matter of metres from the city's bus station.

By bus and tram

Bus services originate from the city's bus station, near the railway station. There are regular and frequent services to all parts of the city, although many services stop at around 11PM. Buses from Wolverhampton also travel to the towns of the Black Country (including Dudley, Sandwell, West Bromwich and Walsall) and to Birmingham, although the journey by road can be quite long.

GorillaBus operate low cost intercity services to Liverpool, Stoke, East Midlands Airport, Nottingham and Yorkshire from Faulkland Crescent Coach Station.

The West Midlands Metro.   provides very regular and frequent trams that start at 🌍 Wolverhampton St George's tram stop.   in Bilston Street (very close to the city's main shopping area on Dudley Street) and pass via Bilston, Wednesbury, West Bromwich and Sandwell. They terminate new Stret Birmingham's New Street Station. There are plans to extend the Midland Metro network to Edgbaston and throughout the Black Country.

You can save a lot of money by buying day tickets, if you intend to do a lot of travelling in one day. Network West Midlands provides a guide to help find the best value ticket.

By plane

🌍 Wolverhampton Airport is small. Most scheduled flights arrive at 🌍 Birmingham Airport (BHX IATA), which can be reached in 30 minutes by direct train.

Get around

The suburbs of Wolverhampton are easily accessible by an excellent network of buses and Midland Metro trams.

See

Do
  • Watch football (ie socccer) at 🌍 Wolverhampton Wanderers, Molineux Stadium, Waterloo Rd, WV1 4QR. Wolves play in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The stadium, capacity 31,000, is half a mile north of town centre, just beyond the ring road. (updated Aug 2018)
  • Go to the races at 🌍 Wolverhampton Racecourse, Dunstall Park WV6 0PE (Two miles north of town off Gorsebrook Rd), ☎ +44 1902 390000. This is the UK's first all-weather floodlit horse racetrack, so it has flat-racing year round, mostly in the evening, often mid-week. It's an artificial "Tapeta" surface; they don't have jumps races here. The course is in the throes of expanding its hotel, creating a casino, and tarmacking the overspill car park, so it'll be a tad messy while all this construction is under way. (updated Jan 2019)
  • 🌍 Grand Theatre, Lichfield St, WV1 1DE. (updated Dec 2017)
  • 🌍 Civic Hall, North St, WV1 1RD. See a concert at Civic Hall. Recent bands over the past few years have included Radiohead, The Killers, Blur and Travis (updated Dec 2017)
  • 🌍 The South Staffordshire Golf Club (South Staffs), Danescourt Rd, Tettenhall, WV6 9BQ, ☎ +44 1902 751065. Play golf at one of Wolverhampton's various courses, including the South Staffs course where former Ryder Cup winner Peter Baker is one of the course pros. (updated Dec 2017)

Buy

While Wolverhampton's shopping facilities are more limited than the Bull Ring in nearby Birmingham and the enormous Merry Hill Centre, the newly refurbished Wulfrun and Mander shopping centers are home to all of the usual high street chains and the enormous Beatties department store is unrivalled in the region.

There is also delightful independent boutique The Sheila Cooke Foundation, where all the stock is made on the premises, or by equally lovely UK based companies. A must for anyone with an eye for detail and the unusual!

A listed early 17th-century timber-framed premises on Victoria Street houses an eclectic second-hand bookshop, also selling a wide variety of collectables, including vintage toys, militaria, local history, and a whole host of memorabilia from bygone days. The building is worth a visit for its attractive Tudor architecture alone.

Eat

A visit to Wolverhampton wouldn't be complete without trying a curry from one of the many Indian restaurants located in and around the city center. Of particular note is the award-winning Bilash Tandoori on Cheapside.

Other well-known restaurants include Bella in Chapel Ash (Upmarket Italian cuisine) Memsahib in Compton (Indian cuisine) and The Ship in the town center (its the only place in West Midlands that does a beef chilly fry!) Other popular eateries just outside Wolverhampton include: The Red Cow at Ackleton (on the way to Bridgnorth), The Cowshed in Pattingham and the Thornescroft Restaurant (once again on the way to Bridgnorth).

Drink

Wolverhampton's nightlife has improved considerably since the city's polytechnic became a university in the early 1990s. In addition to a wide choice of bars and clubs, centered around Lichfield Street and Queen Street, its live music scene is unrivalled by many larger cities in the UK. The main music venues include the Civic Hall, Wulfrun Hall and Little Civic on North Street in the city center, and the Robin 2 (near Bilston Central metro station)

For Real Ale, one might consider visiting one of Wolverhampton's CAMRA pubs such as the "Combermere Arms" on the Tettenhall Road in Chapel Ash, "The Newhampton" on Riches St off Newhampton Road in Whitmore Reans or "The Great Western" in Sun Street at the back of the railway station. "The Station" in Codsall (also a CAMRA pub) is known for its real ale; it is outside of Wolverhampton.

Sleep
  • Best Western Connaught Hotel, 40-50 Tettenhall Road (20 minutes walk from the city centre, and conveniently located for Molineux Stadium and West Park), ☎ +44 1902 424433. 
  • Britannia Hotel, Lichfield Street (located close to the railway station), ☎ +44 871 222 0091. reasonably priced hotel 
  • Holiday Inn, Gorsebrook Rd, Dunstall Park Centre. Part of the leisure complex at Wolverhampton's racecourse. 
  • Mercure Wolverhampton Goldthorn Hotel, Penn Road, ☎ +44 1902 429216. 3-star hotel with free wi-fi, parking and Health Club with pool. 
  • Novotel City Centre, Union Street (just 5 minutes walk from the city centre.), ☎ +44 1902 871100. 
  • The Mount Hotel, Mount Road, ☎ +44 1902 752055. Luxury hotel in a leafy suburb approx 4 km from the city center 

Go next

Wolverhampton is a few miles from the countryside of Shropshire. Nearby places to visit include Ironbridge Gorge, Weston Park and the market town of Bridgnorth.

Routes through Wolverhampton

Manchester ← Cannock ←  N  SE  → Birmingham
Shrewsbury ← Shifnal ←  W  E  → merges with
Stafford ← Gailey ←  N  S  → Kidderminster → Worcester


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