One of the finest small art galleries in Europe, hidden away in south Birmingham. When Lady Barber set up the gallery in memory of her husband, she specified that the artworks collected should be of the standard of the National Gallery and Wallace Collection. The result is an exquisite, wide-ranging collection with works by many of the greatest Old Masters and Impressionists. Entry to the gallery is free. There are also regular concerts in the splendid wood-panelled concert hall in the centre of the building. While visiting the gallery, take a short wander around the attractive adjacent campus of Birmingham University, the original 'redbrick' university.

Off Edgbaston Park Road, Birmingham B15 2TS. www.barber.org.uk/ +44 (0)121 414 7333. 10 minutes walk from University Station, on the Cross City Line from New Street.

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If Brindleyplace is the crowning glory of Birmingham's canalside redevelopment, the Ikon is the icing. Plain, smooth, white icing it may be, but then that's what this gallery does best. Small but perfectly formed within its imposing neo-Gothic shell, here you can soak up the minimalist modernism in a lunch hour, soothed by a sea of white.

1, Oozells Square, Brindleyplace; www.ikon-gallery.co.uk; Tel: 0121 248 0708 for more details

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Tucked in the corner of the city's main family park, the Midlands Arts Centre is a cultural oasis providing art-house films, intimate theatre productions and various creative courses. But by far its quirkiest and most imaginative space is the compact open-air Arena, a miniature concrete mock-up of a classical amphitheatre. Lying dormant for much of the year, it fills to its 470 capacity for the Sounds in the Round summer music festival.

Cannon Hill Park, Edgbaston - visit www.macarts.co.uk or call 0121 440 3838 for more details.

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