CATEGORY · RAINY DAY APPROVED

Caves, Mines & Underground in Birmingham

Not much of this is properly underground, so it pays to know what you are booking. Drakelow Tunnels Museum, a drive out to Kidderminster, takes you through a real WWII and Cold War tunnel network with rock houses cut into the hillside above, though you do need to book ahead. Closer in, Wren's Nest at Dudley is free and outdoor, with fossil trails where you might spot the Dudley Bug on a guided walk, and the Lapworth Museum of Geology on the University of Birmingham campus is a free indoor collection of fossils and rocks with no booking needed. For toddlers and pushchairs, Lapworth is the easy choice, flat, indoor and free, with baby change on site. Wren's Nest suits older children happy to walk a trail and hunt for finds outdoors. Snibston Colliery, a longer trip out to Coalville, is free with a cafe and parking, but it is surface tours and the Into the Dark coalface simulation rather than a real tunnel, worth knowing before you go. Further still, Glenfield Tunnel near Leicester runs seasonal, donation-based walks into an 1829 railway tunnel, booked through LIHS.

✓ 5 places✦ 4 free to visit