Exploring Coventry, England: The Underrated City You NEED to Visit
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- čas přidán 8. 06. 2024
- Join us as we spend two unforgettable days in Coventry, England. Often overlooked, the 2021 UK City of Culture is a hidden gem you NEED to visit. Explore with us as we uncover amazing things to see and do like the Coventry Music Museum, Coventry Transport Museum, and the Phil Silvers Archival Museum. We check out local pubs and try local delights like Coventry Godcakes, wander through the bustling Coventry Market, explore the medieval Spon Street, and marvel at the history of places like Coventry Cathedral. This is Coventry - an underrated city bursting with culture, history, and amazing food. Don't miss it!
Check out our video trying street food in Coventry: • Trying BRITISH STREET ...
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![Coventry - City Tour 2024| Walking The Streets of Coventry | Central Coventry Walk [4K HDR]](/img/n.gif)
What are other good places to visit in and around Coventry? Leave a comment and let us know!
New here? Check out our video trying street food in Coventry: czcams.com/video/Fn-47RgRfvM/video.html
Warwick,Kenilworth or Hatton locks(all 21!). Then there is Stratford upon avon too!
Edit forgot about Royal Leamington Spa!!
Was someone a little bit tiddly at the end of the video? 😂😂😂
@@markwalker2627 And the Black Country Museum.
Coombe abbey park is beautiful
Gardens by capability Brown a famous English landscaper
Kenilworth castle Warwick castle royal leamington spa
Rugby, Warwick and Warwick Castle, Kenilworth and Kenilworth Castle, Royal Leamington Spa, Stratford, Coombe Abbey - I think it’s a lovely place to live x
I’m a Coventry lad and I’m glad to see someone being nice about Coventry ; it really is a nice place , despite the bad press it gets
I've only been to Coventry once or possibly twice and only remember visiting the cathedrals. I need to go back and check out everything I missed! ❤
I'm a Manc lad but I've been living here for the last 6 years. Great city! Sure, it has its down points, but where doesn't? The bits around the cathedral ruins remind me of York, and it does make me a little sad to think of what the city would be like today had the Luftwaffe not bombed it to ruins. I am very excited for the regeneration of the main shopping centre, though.
I lived in and then near Coventry for about 10 years.
Really not a place that I clicked with. Far too much concrete. It's almost that it's so bad it's good; that inner ring road !
Love the true emotion in your voice when talking about Coventry cathedral and the bombing. Very respectful.
I'm not sure if it was the emotion, or my connection. It had me going almost
One of the seminal experiences of my life took place in Coventry. Benjamin Britten wrote his War Requiem in 1961. It was composed for orchestra, soloists, a full choir, and a boys choir. The world premiere was in May 1962, with soloists from the US, UK, France, and Germany. It took place in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral. I was privilaged to be one of the boy choristers there. I'll never forget how moving this experience was for a 12-yr old boy.
what a great experience. Great comment, thanks for sharing.
What a marvellous memory to treasure. It must have been an incredible moment, former adversaries coming together in peace, to share such an incredible piece of music. Thank you.
Absolutely wonderful! I'm a researcher (and Cov kid): Would you mind saying a bit more about how the seating was arranged in the ruins? Wikipedia says the opera was performed in the new cathedral. Thank you!
A loot of people slag Coventry off as being boring. I found it interesting on my visit, the ruined cathedral, the story of the blitz in the museum and the way it was rebuilt as the first pedestrianised city centre with main roads going around rather than through the centre.
I come from about 40 miles south east of Coventry and know the city well as studied at Warwick university. Your review is amazing. Many British people simply mock Coventry and don’t take time to look into its history
As a Coventry and also a graduate of Warwick university, thank you.
I was at warwick 1985 89. Classics
I must admit being a soft southerner Coventry on first impressions is really rough around the edges. However now based in Warwickshire and the fact that Cov has all the investiment from city of culture programme, its getting better and deserves its place in history being the automotive hub of the UK, in some respects it still is!
I can't come up with the right words to tell you how nice and refreshing it is to see visitors enjoying my home city and finding it full of charm and so many positive things to say about their experience! Vloggers who come to Cov for more than one day to properly explore it are RARE, wow. Thank you.
Thank you for reminding me and the people of Coventry how great our city is and for the passion and respect of our city
Born and Bred in Cov. You can climb the tower at the cathedral and see right across the city. There is also a Blitz museum there. Afternoon tea at Coombe Abby is good
Have lived in Coventry for 53 years now, at last it is nice to see someone have something positive to say. 👏
What a great little film about Coventry, so many interesting things to see and do. It's lovely to see you visiting towns and cities that are not on the usual tourist itinerary.
Many thanks!
I love The Magic Geekdoms vlogs of the UK, this is how you do it. Always a joy to watch!
I have been to Coventry a few years back i walked through the Catherdral and went in the transport museum which was great, from there we went to Stratford upon Avon and saw Shakespeares house and his wifes Ann Hathaways thatched lovely cottage.
Would like to go back to Coventry and sample some of those beers, wines and gins 😊 and the market looked cool.
Search out micropubs near where you live if you want to sample something a bit different.
They are run by people who appreciate a good pint, I've been in a couple of dozen such places and never had a poor quality drink.
@@paulhanson5164 Thanks for the info! just looked them up and theres one not to far, sounds great so will definitely check it out.
What a lovely review of Coventry. You both seemed to enjoy the visit and hopefully you will inspire others to go and enjoy the City. Like all Cities it has its good and not so good parts but you found some real gems there and highlighted them beautifully.
I feel ashamed. We live only an hour or so from Coventry, and we’ve never visited! It’s now on our list of places to visit. I’ll be retiring from work late September and am determined to catch up!
Sadly Cov has seen a huge increase of violent crime in the city centre, in recent years. When I lived there for 7 years...going back some near 30 years ago, I could walk through the city centre, from the London Road to Pool Meadow, with my little Dog, in the dark and feel safe as houses. I hope those days will return again. I really have a soft spot for Cov and some wonderful memories of living there. I still live close, but don't go in to the centre anymore. It just doesn't feel safe at the minute. I will never stop loving Cov though....this is temporary. I go to cannon park and torrington ave, all the time. Thankfully the bad things happen on Torrington Ave at night, when they do happen.
Coventry Carol is one of my favorite songs at Christmas. Thanks for showing me where it originated. 🎄
Oh wow I’m from Coventry. 😊 don’t get many vloggers coming here. ❤
My home city. Lived up north for 30 years but I'm still a Cov girl at heart ❤️
Coventry took one for the team in WW2 and was neglected badly and not rebuilt with the respect it deserved (apart from the cathedral). It is getting better but its been a struggle. Thanks for making a great video on Coventry, probably better than anything made in any official capacity.
As a coventry guy born and bred, I'm glad you enjoyed your time here.
It's definitely an underrated city for sure.
And I'm in a local ska punk band myself. So I'm glad that the museum got a mention.
If you had stayed longer, you could have also ventured out on local buses to nearby towns, like Kenilworth, and Warwick. Famous for their medieval castles. And Stratford upon Avon. Which is a beautiful medieval market town, as well as the birthplace, and final resting place, of William Shakespeare. Its also the home of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Which has produced many of Britain's great movie, tv, and stage actors/Actresses.
The river Avon runs through Warwick, and Stratford, and is a particularly beautiful stretch of river in these parts.
Glad you enjoyed your stay!! Keep making great videos!! 😊
Love this, Coventry is my home town.
I love that you guys are fully embracing seeing what is on offer outside of London (not many other people do)
You’d be surprised just how many things originated from Coventry. My old secondary school was on land that used to belonging to George Singer (fascinating man if you look into him), we used to have lessons in his actual house, the school emblem was a lion because he had a pet lion.
My great-grandfather was on duty during the night of the blitz and we have a picture of him guarding Winston Churchill when he came to survey the damage.
Coventry was largely also targeted during the blitz because it was an industrial hub, there’s stories that Churchill knew the city was going to be bombed because they had intercepted communications but didn’t want to let the Germans knew they were on to them so they let it happen.
For reference Jaguar is pronounced Jag-Yoo-Arr
Coventry is basically the home of Jaguar, Frank Whittle (inventor of the jet engine), part of the Italian Job was filmed in the Coventry sewers, Clive Owen is from Coventry, the first twinned city, the first vaccination for COVID in the world was administered in Coventry hospital, all modern bicycles descend from the designs first pioneered in Coventry, the first indicators on cars… in sure there’s a ton I’m missing.
I live in Nuneaton now which is the next town over (not really worth visiting, so save your energy 😂)
I’d have recommended Coombe Abbey for a bit of exploration too… some other places interesting (not exactly in Coventry but around the outskirts) are Lunt Roman fort, Bosworth Battlefield, the general Warwickshire countryside and not far from Coventry you have Leamington (accessible from a short cheap bus ride in Coventry city centre), Compton Verney is quite nice too
Do you mean Sidney Stringer school per chance? Pre 2008 or after?
Thank you guys for a great trip down memory lane being a Coventry kid who moved to Gloucestershire 30 years ago. I dont vist my home city enough and must go back as it has changed and improved so much. The mention of the blitz reminded of the stories that my parents and grandparents told me of that night. keep up the good work I loved your video on the Cotswold as well.
I really like Coventry. The medieval stuff is great. If you ever do get the chance to get into the guildhall my favourite area inside is the old treasury room. It's empty now but it's fun to stand in there and imagine it hundreds of years ago filled up with stacks and stacks of gold. My favourite part of the city though is the central post-war area, I think the streets are at just the right width and the buildings at just the right height for it to feel like a really welcoming human-scale environment. Plus, the city planner who designed the area was an amateur egyptologist and based the layout on the ancient Egyptian city of Akhetaten. There are even little hieroglyphic easter eggs carved into the building stones to mark where the great monuments were found in the ancient Egyptian city.
We definitely need to come back because I need to see the inside of that guildhall!
My tenuous link: The statue of St Michael on the outside of the new cathedral is modeled on my grandmother's cousin.
Hardly a tenuous link :)
Love how you're reviewing the less popular places like Coventry and done with sincerity and true interest
Lovely film about Coventry! I'm 61 and have lived here all my life, you made me appreciate it again.
I live in Bedworth, just 4 miles away from 'Cov' as the locals call it. It was once an equal to York in its beauty, but as we say "what the Luftwaffe started, the council finished". you'd cry if you could see how much the city's own council destroyed 😞
Ah Bedworth is my home town. I haven't been back in a long time but still miss it
You're both Beduff born and Beduff bred....I'm not saying the rest, because it's cruel and not true. The Beduff lot are always alright to work with! 💪🙂👍
Indeed - the post war reconstruction actually resulted in the demolition of far more of the historic fabric of the city than was destroyed during the blitz. Talk about short-sighted planning!
Hello. I've just watched this great video for the first time. I have to confess that I didn't know much about all Coventry had to offer- so thank you very much for opening my eyes. Watched your chat with Mark from the States last week - loved that too.
I'm Cov born and bred, and still living here 😊👍👍👍
I’m from Coventry and it’s nice to see a positive view of the city , as it gets a lot of bad press, it had a pretty bad reputation, in the 70’s 80’s 90’s. The post war buildings are pretty brutal in my opinion. My Grandma always used to say it was such a beautiful city before the war, she always used to say that she remembers seeing Coventry burning during the blitz from where she lived on the outskirts of the city.
That bar you went to at the end is the latest incarnation of the pub...Micropubs along with micro breweries have become very popular in recent years.
The menus are usually extensive but many sell beer flight boards, that is beer served in third of a pint glasses, you pay for a pint of beer but get 3 different beers. Ideal if you want to try lots of beers and ciders without getting completely hammered.
If you like good beer and cider or want to try strangely flavoured beer and cider then micropubs are the place to go.
You really know your, History of England, great storytelling, thanks for sharing your adventures...
My home City! Glad you enjoyed it.
Great video. The respect show was amazing.
Never thought of Coventry as a vacation spot,thanks for the upload!
Thanks for watching!
I was born and bred in Coventry, but now live in Ireland. It was so lovely seeing people enjoy my hometown. You brought back so many memories for me. I was delighted to see that the roundabout/carousel still exists outside the market. I remember riding that as a child back in the 60s. The city has changed but the fundamentals are still the same. Glad you enjoyed the Windmill which was a haunt of mine back in the 80s.
I love all your videos. They feed my love of the UK.
Thank you!
As Coventrian, you covered this brilliantly. The British decoded the German enigma machine prior to finding out that Coventry was on the Nazi bombing hitlist. Churchill decided to sacrifice Coventry to avoid suspicion. The true Coventry spirit came after the blitz when moral was low. However, after a few days ( around 4 in total) Coventry stuck their two fingers up at the Axis and quadrupled the output of everything we built here towards the war effort. That's where the rising of the ashes (Phoenix) comes from!!
We also have the largest tapestry in the world at the new Cathedral. The Sutherland tapestry of Jesus!
The history is massive including Guy Fawkes and his fellows using Coombe Abbey to plot blowing up the houses of Parliament in1605.
"Churchill decided to sacrifice Coventry" ... this is a myth. ie. it's not true, please look it up properly.
The Phoenix in the coat of arms represents Coventry as a city rising again from the ashes post WW2.
Coombe abbey is a must
Thank you !! What a great video !!
This is a really good reflection of an underrated city. It’s history is amazing but it’s not trendy or on the tourist route. You have researched so well and can teach the negative people of the city what an interesting place they live in. Thank you.
Thank you! It is a really nice city! We enjoyed our time there.
Great tour of my home town 😊. I've relocated in 1995, but it's was nice seeing Coventry again.
Fantastic stuff, great to see you..
Well done for being in our local newspaper. I hope it brings you more subs because you deserve it
Not far away is Coventry's cathedrals twin, Lichfield cathedral complete and the best example of true original gothic architecture. Well worth a visit. In the mid 18th/19thc Lichfield was an important coaching city half way from London to the north. There for Lichfield had more inns per square mile then anywhere else.
We'd love to visit Lichfield at some point, but I'm not sure if we'll make it there this time.
I visited Lichfield for the first time about 2 month ago, i enjoyed my trip, nice city.
Weren't Coventry and Lichfield joined in some way back in the day? The Diocese of Lichfield and Coventry? Super powerful and important?
Thanks for the video! Great to see people showcasing our city. Although I have lived in Coventry for 50 years and have never heard of that cake you eat 😂
Coventry is on our bucket list!
Mr GST's great grandfather was Mayor of Coventry when the new cathedral was opened. We have photos of him with the King!
When you see the old footage of them walking around surveying the damage from the Blitz with King George and Sainsbury's literally has a sign...yep, even back THEN..."We are still open"! 😆
Coombe Country Park would have been nice for you to visit. Its got a big abbey which is actually a 4 star hotel that you can actually stay in and get a taste of luxury
I spent two years in the Polytechnic in Coventry, (now Coventry University), living virtually next to the modern cathedral. Although it divides opinion, I love the new cathedral and the huge Baptistry window is my favourite piece of modern stained glass, I think it’s magnificent.
If your Ever in Coventry again you should check out, Coombe Abbey too. Alot of history
Yayyy! You went to Fargo and met Steve! He’s awesome and such a passionate Sgt Bilko fan. 😃
I lived in cove from birth, till 26. You should of gone up near the airport to the roman lunt Fort if it still there, combe Abbey. Sir Frank whittle if from Coventry the inventor of the jet engine
My grandparents lived about 40 miles to the north east of Coventry and would tell me when I was young about the skyline being lit up at night by the Coventry blitz.
Thanks for visiting our wonderful City! Caladon Castle Park is another place you could check it as it has bit of ruins of what was once a big castle! Lunt Roman Fort near the airport. World famous Binley mega chippy lol. Coventry building society arena where the football team play. Earsdon is good for a decent night out. 👍
Great episode. I love visiting Coventry.
Thank you for such a lovely video of my hometown.
Singers (the car manufacturers) was the first name of our football team (which became Coventry City FC). You may have seen the football bus in the museum? Also we had our away kit done in honour of the 2-tone history (which was extremely popular. If you went into the new cathedral, you would also have seen the magnificent stained glass window (which was also honoured by the football in another away shirt).
Coventry gets a bad wrap sometimes (mainly from people who live here) but it has some beautiful places and brilliant history
Thanks for coming to coventry guys glad you enjoyed it 😊 come again soon ❤️
love that village called fargo especially since it has comic books!
Definitely a cool place!
thanks for bigging in up my old birth place...cooooovvvvv👍
Hi both, I live NOT fair from fargow vilieg, AND SO glad you both had a good time in Coventry. 😄😄😄😄👍👍🐶
Yay my home city
Brilliant video!
Thank you!
One half of my family have historically been long time residents of Coventry (i live in nearby Warwickshire), nice to see the city getting more recognition.
You should check out the Motor Cycle Museum in between Birmingham and Coventry by the NEC/ Birmingham airport. It’s an amazing place. Had a huge fire a few years ago and they lost so many motorcycles. They have worked so hard to replace the ones lost and added some they didn’t have. The support they got across the country was amazing.
And if your staying near the city center ther Herbert art gallery is a must
The wooden Cross on the altar of the old Cathedral was put up by a firemen the day after it was bombed with burnt wood of the Cathedral as Phoenix of the Cathedral reborn from the fire 🔥
You should work for the Coventry Tourist Board, a very respectful tour. Making a concrete jungle like Coventry look appealing takes some doing. Well done!
You have inspired me to have a look around here myself Ive lived here all my life and never been to the transport museum
This is so nice to see. Never been to Coventry but I will now.
Coventry/Warwick Castle a must
Transport museum is next door to me. I remember one time when I was little I climbed into the Cockpit of Thrust 2 lol.
Hello to you both. I’ve recently stumbled across your channel and have watched several of your UK videos now. I was very pleasantly surprised to see you had visited my home town of Coventry and that you had really enjoyed not just the typical tourist attractions but ventured into a few lesser known local favourite spots. Highly recommend if you ever return that you visit Coombe Abbey. Also, Warwick and Stratford upon Avon (Shakespere’s birthplace) are well worth visiting. Apologies if you have already visited and I’ve not noted that yet.
There’s also a very unique attraction in Alnwick, Northumberland which is a poison garden.
If you ever revisit Scotland, I highly recommend you check out the Moray area. Best fish and chips in the UK (yes I said it and I have eaten at Whitby’s Magpie Cafe many times (2nd best Fish and Chips in the UK, of course in my humble opinion) are found at the Portknockie Fish and Chip Shop (although it is up for sale sadly so that may not be true whenever you next visit).
The inside of the new Cathedral is worth a look also.
I lived and went to college in Coventry but still managed to learn a few things from the video!
When we lived in Coventry, we got to know Frank and Lilly Watts. He was a firefighter during the height of the Coventry Blitz, so we heard his accounts of the burning buildings collapsing around him and his team, while the bombs continued to rain down. He was an unassuming quiet man, who took up painting in retirement and gave us one of his works. Bravery isn't an adequate word!
Hey from Palm Beach, Florida.. I was born in Coventry..stay at Coombe Abbey next time in a room in the main house not in the annex, Kenilworth Castle is worth a visit and a drive down to Warwick and the castle there is a great day or half day trip as well. The Old Mill Restaurant in Coventry does a nice Sunday lunch as is The Bull's Head pub in the village of Meriden. 🙂
Keep up the exploration and, as always, stay safe!
Explains the Coventry FC blue football shirt colour choice.
Singers FC , now known as the sky blues
Born and bred in Cov, War Memorial Park is just outside of the town centre, if you head towards the train station but carry on up Warwick Road you can't miss it, huge park with a lovely cafe, they had nice, clean toilets and there's also a visitors centre which has a lot of information about the war and soldiers who lost their lives. Another great place is Coombe Abbey which is on the outskirts of Cov
What??? There's a café??? I'm never more than a few miles away or closer and I had no idea! Thank you! I like to drive my Mum out to new places to sit and have a coffee. The park is ideal, we hate being indoors, with lots of people. 👍🙂
I live in Ball Hill in Coventry (literally round the corner from the Music Museum) and I also love every single place you went to. I didn't know about Bilkos so that's next on my list to visit so thank you.
Oh nice! We love all the places we went too lol.
The Shakespeare performances at the Guildhall theory is true. In fact, if you stand at the entrance to the guildhall, looking at the old cathedral, you will actually see Shakespeare’s face carved into the stonework of one of the old cathedral stone window frames
Nicely done.:))
Brilliant tour and review thank you. One of the best I've ever watched. I've always had a lot of respect for Coventry, being from a nearby city. Even more so now, such a lot to see and do!
Never seen Bilko?? Hilarious! In a time of limited tv it was a must watch in our house in the late 50's/early 60's. I have dvds now.
Thanks again.
Great to see you visited my home town being Coventry, should have visited the CBS arena, PUSB.
If you liked those pastries, I'm sure you will enjoy Eccles cakes.
Great to see some less common tourist spots!
I'm from Eccles originally,yes there good,not much good to see there now,like a ghost town in the town centre x
Those bikes are called the Penny Farthing, from the days of pre decimal coins, a large one penny coin and a very small one farthing coin which was worth one quarter of the old penny.
Thank you!
I live in Nottingham, I love my city. I wish we had a council like yours, our destroys our history. We should be twins of the midlands.x
I'm so glad you've been to my home town coventry love watching your videos
Thanks 👍
Great vlog thanks 4 sharing
Thanks for watching!
"True as Coventry blue" was a phrase that meant the dye stayed true (ie. didn't leach and fade), not because of pollution in the river.
I know for a fact its a great city! I live there and its truly a great life here!
Amazing place to visit, thanks for bringing the film to us,have never been, enjoyed 👍✌️🙏
Hey Andy bro
@@kkrispy2009P hi kkrispy
Cov boy great to see someone positive about the place
Thank you I really enjoyed this and learning some new things along the way too.
Coventry surprised me too, THE COVENTRY CLIMAX
Head southwest out of Coventry along the Kenilworth Road to Kenilworth. There’s a ruined castle and a beautiful old High Street with some lovely old pubs and cafes. Or hop on a number 11 bus at the bus station and take it all the way to Leamington Spa.
Maybe next time! Thanks for the suggestion
Great
While you're in the Midlands (if you still are) you should check out the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley. Quite a lot of Peaky Blinders was filmed there.
With a quick trip up to Dudley castle! Some little gems around that way.
Proud Coventrian here, and I bloody love the Black Country Museum! I love that one visit grants you free entry all year as well. Such a journey back in time, and even my kid loves it.
I know you guys were delayed in posting your video. I hope all is well??? I loved this video ❤❤❤
Coventry born a bred... its good to see the city painted in a good light. It is a bit rough round the edges but its got its great bits. From industrial powerhouse (earmarked for the new captial over london) to a flatened city and rebuilt back to a ww2 powerhouse...there aint nowhere quite like Cov.
Can't believe you visited some where close to where i live it 20 minutes from Rugby you should visit rugby and do the rugby experience trial or visit the rugby museum or take walk through Caldecott Park is an urban park located in the centre of Rugby, England. Most of the land was purchased by the Rugby Urban District Council in 1903 from Thomas Caldecott, the last lord of the manor. There is loads of history in this small town you should visit some of the local restaurants like treacles or the Greek coffee shop. You should come here for our bike festival in june or September for our food festival.
Should have had a picturesque tour of Hillfields, Foleshill and Bell Green. Beautiful.
😂
Now, now, now 😂
Oh god no
It's at night when Hillfields really comes alive, well worth a visit 😂.
I've lived in the first two areas mentioned when I first moved here.