Home to the UK's second-largest Pride celebration, Birmingham is also host to the well-established gaybourhood of Hurst Street –– not to mention world-renowned shopping (discover treasures in the Bullring), some of the country's very best Asian restaurants, and more canals than Venice (really!). Catch up on emails during the hour-and-a-half train ride from London, and before you know it you'll be reclining in a colorful narrowboat or sipping your new favorite cocktail in a revamped-warehouse-turned-bar. Get personal on the Loft Lounge's velvet couches, hit up the thermal pools at Hotel Indigo, and grab a little extra sparkle at the Jewelry Quarter just north of the city center.