Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton is in the West Midlands county of England. Whilst Wolverhampton isn't well known as a tourist attraction, those visiting friends at the University of Wolverhampton, 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.

In 2021, it was home to 264,000 people.

Understand

The city grew as a market town specialising in the wool trade. In the Industrial Revolution, it became a major centre for coal mining, steel production, lock making, and automotive manufacturing. The economy of the city is still based on engineering, including a large aerospace industry, as well as the service sector.

Visitor information

Get in

By train
  • 🌍 Wolverhampton railway station. Wolverhampton station is on the West Coast Mainline, so has frequent and regular services to London Euston, the North West and Scotland, as well as to the South West and Wales.
    Services to Birmingham New Street Station, one of the UK's largest rail interchanges, operate approximately every ten minutes. A more direct interchange with connection to the Midland Metro light rail scheme is planned.     (updated Apr 2022)

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.

By bicycle

Wolverhampton is on the Smethwick to Telford section of Sustrans National Cycle Network Route 81, which follows the Birmingham Main Line Canal towpath from Smethwick to Broad Street Basin, Wolverhampton where the route splits in two. The choice here is between riding the 21 locks section of the Birmingham Main Line Canal to Aldersley Junction, or taking the Cross-City route braid to visit the city centre, West Park or Smestow Valley Leisure Ride before returning to Aldersley Junction. NCN81 continues to Autherley Junction along the towpath of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal and then along the east bank towpath of the Shropshire Union Canal as far as Pendeford Mill Lane before turning to Bilbrook in Staffordshire.

Get around

The suburbs of Wolverhampton are easily accessible by an excellent network of buses and, south of the city centre, by Midland Metro trams.

See

Do
  • Football: 🌍 Wolverhampton Wanderers, Molineux Stadium, Waterloo Rd, WV1 4QR. Wolves play soccer in the Premier League, England's top tier. The stadium, capacity 31,000, is half a mile north of town centre, just beyond the ring road. (updated Aug 2018)
  • 🌍 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. The 3,000-seat Civic Hall and Wulfrun Hall host concerts and other performances. The Slade Rooms is a 550-seat venue. The Civic and Slade host emerging and big names in pop, rock and comedy. Regular events include World Championship Darts, boxing, world-renowned circuses and psychic mediums. (updated Mar 2024)
  • 🌍 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)
  • Hike: a trail follows a former railway trackbed southwest to Wombourne (where it crosses the Staffs & Worcs Canal) then southeast to Pensnett on the edge of Dudley, 16 miles.
  • Speedway: Wolverhampton Wolves race in the SGB Premiership, the top tier of motorcycle speedway in Britain. The racing season is March-Oct. Their home track is Monmore Green, which is also the greyhound racetrack, a mile southeast of town centre.

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!

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

In addition to a wide choice of bars and clubs, centred 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 Hall, Wulfrun Hall and Slade Rooms on North Street in the city centre, 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 Wolverhampton.

Sleep
  • Best Western Connaught Hotel, 40-50 Tettenhall Road (20 minutes walk from the city centre, near Molineux Stadium and West Park), ☏ +44 1902 424433. 
  • Britannia Hotel, Lichfield Street (close to the railway station), ☏ +44 871 222 0091. A 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 (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 centre. 

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
Chester ← Newport (Shropshire) ←  NW  SE  → West Bromwich → Birmingham
Stafford ← Gailey ←  N  S  → Kidderminster → Worcester


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