If you're coming by train you'll probably be coming in to New Street Station in the City Centre. Then you've got the option of taking a bus and walking 1 minute, or taking a train just one stop and walking about 15 minutes. Or you could even walk from New Street Station, but it's about 1½ to 2 miles.

Assuming you want to take the bus, which is the best method, it's the number 66. As you come through the barriers of New Street Station turn to your left. You'll pass a shop on your left that sells books and magazines. Go through the glass doors. When you come out of New Street Station, cross over towards Debenhams, turn right down Smallbrook Queensway, and you will eventually find the No. 66 bus stop a bit before the roundabout with the Chinese Pagoda on it.

From roughly here you should be able to see the back of New Street station where you just came out of, with the Pallasades on top. The road you're standing on is Smallbrook Queensway. If the driver looks friendly you can always ask that they tell you when to get off - the stop you want is the first stop on Icknield Port Road.

Look out for Ladywood Middleway (a different stretch to the one you'd driven along), which is a dual carriageway mostly downhill and as it sort of starts to level out there's a small police station on your left. Then you come to a roundabout with a church on the left of the exit taken (you basically go straight over), which is Icknield Port Road (which technically starts out as Wood Street). This is your stop. Cross the road and walk down Monument Road - the first right off Icknield Port Road, and you'll enter a car park with a big, colourful mural. The entrance to the centre is in the diagonally opposite corner of the car park to the corner you've just entered from.

If you prefer to take a train for one stop and walk 15 minutes, when you come out of New Street station buy a ticket for Five Ways (Edgbaston), then go back in to the appropriate platform. When you come out of Five Ways station turn left uphill. (Hopefully there's only one exit out of the station). You are walking up Lee Bank Middleway, which changes into Islington Row, towards Five Ways roundabout. Use a subway to go sort of straight across the roundabout so you end up going down Ladywood Middleway, which has a Tesco on the right. Not far is the Broadway Plaza on your left. Further on on your left is a small police station. Go straight across at the roundabout, entering Icknield Port Road (church on the left). The first on the right (Monument Road) before the fire station leads into the car park of the Centre, which is the one with the mural, as explained above.

The most direct route is to drive into Birmingham and leave the M6 at Junction 6. This junction is actually part of Spaghetti Junction. Take the slip road that leads to the right onto A38 (M) towards the city centre, heading sort of south-west. The A38 (M) is a short stretch of contraflow motorway that lasts for roughly 2 miles. After about 1 mile there's a sort of slip road that leads to a roundabout (Park Circus). This is signposted as "Aston Waterlinks" and "Birchfield" and "Perry Barr". You don't want this one - keep going straight on.

At the end of the 2nd mile(ish) you come to a 2nd slip road that leads to a large roundabout (Dartmouth Circus). You do want this one.

This is signposted as "Ring Road". A4540 is the road you'll be turning into, although this road number is not signposted on this roundabout. It's basically a right turn - the 3rd exit.

Be careful about changing lanes because it's a bit awkward because there's traffic lights all over this roundabout. The turning you want is signposted "West Bromwich" and also "Hockley". The road you've just turned into is Newtown Middleway, which soon changes into New John Street West.

You go straight some sets of lights at crossroads that are fairly close together. You're going to come across 4 roundabouts at fairly regular intervals. At the first roundabout go straight on (2nd exit) - this is still the A4540. You go through a short tunnel thing under a fly-over and come to a 2nd roundabout with a Jet petrol station on your left.

There's only 2 real turnings here : straight on or turn right. You need to go straight on (slightly bearing left). You're still on the A4540. You're driving up Icknield Street, and you need to get into the middle lane otherwise you'll be forced to filter left at the 3rd roundabout. At this roundabout go straight on (2nd exit) - still the A4540 but now called Ladywood Middleway. This is all dual carriageway.

The 4th and final roundabout is a slightly strange shape. As you get close to it you may be able to see a large and colourful mural to your right. This is the side of the building that you are heading for. At the roundabout itself you need to take the last exit, which is the 3rd one, called Icknield Port Road (which technically starts out as Wood Street). There's a church on your left as you take the turning off the roundabout. IMMEDIATELY SIGNAL RIGHT - the turning is just before the keep left signs in the road, and the road sign on the turning says Monument Road. If you go past the fire station (on your right) you've gone too far.

You will end up in the car park of the Centre itself, with the large and colourful mural. The entrance to the building is in the opposite corner of the car park to the one you drove into.

Bristol Road (A38)

I'd strongly recommend this route as it's probably the quickest. You come off the M5 at Junction 4, and turn basically right (3rd exit off the roundabout) onto the A38 going north-east.

The A38 is mostly known as "Bristol Road", but just to confuse everyone the stretch here is called "Birmingham Road", changing into "Rubery By-Pass" and then "Bristol Road South", before it becomes "Bristol Road" proper. After roughly 3 miles you come to a roundabout where you may be able to see some industrial sites. Turn left here to stay on the A38 going north.

From here it's a pretty straight run going towards the city centre of Birmingham. At some point you may notice Birmingham university campus on your left - there's a tall red-brick tower thing with a clock on it. Then there's a stretch of dual carriageway with lots of trees. At the end of this you come to a cross-roads where there should be a sign for the cricket ground and the B4217, but go straight on.

After roughly a mile or just over, you'll come to a major cross-roads with a McDonalds (a big Drive-thru ) on your left on the corner. There should be a sign with "Ladywood" on it or at least "A4540". You need to turn left here, onto Lee Bank Middleway. After roughly another mile or so you'll come to a roundabout with 5 exits (called "Five Ways, Edgbaston". The exit you want is basically straight over, it's the 3rd exit, still the A4540, and called Ladywood Middleway. There's a Tesco to the right of the exit.

After less than half a mile, you come to another roundabout, after passing a small police station on your left. You basically go straight over, taking the 2nd exit, with the church on your left, into Icknield Port Road (which technically starts out as Wood Street), and IMMEDIATELY SIGNAL RIGHT - the turning is just before the keep left signs in the road, and the road sign on the turning says Monument Road. If you go past the fire station (on your right) you've gone too far. You will end up in the car park of the Centre itself, with the large and colourful mural.

The entrance to the building is in the opposite corner of the car park to the one you drove into.

Hagley Road (A456)

This may be the most direct route, but you probably find more stretches of road where you can't go as fast as on the Bristol Road.

Leave the M5 at Junction 3, taking the A456 North (3rd exit). Technically, the A456 here is the Quinton Expressway. After about a mile it bends right under a sort of fly-over, and becomes "West Hagley Road". You swerve right down a hill and come to a small-ish roundabout with a green petrol station (BP?) on the right. Go straight on up the hill. You'll go through 3 separate sets of fairly standard-looking traffic lights, all crossroads.

At the 3rd set is the "Midland Wheel Club" on the corner on your right. The 4th set of traffic lights has a road coming in from your left at a slightly funny angle (Portland Road : B4125) whereabouts you may notice the Rainbow Casino on your left. It's not actually on the Hagley Road but lots of people notice it - it's all lit up at night and has a fountain outside. Go straight on.

Very soon you'll see a row of various shops on your left and then a crossroads with more traffic lights. The Ivy Bush pub is on the corner. The road you are on has split into about 3 or 4 lanes and this is the turning for Monument Road (B4214). Turn left here. Just to confuse you, this road has the same name as another one that you'll be turning into soon. If you miss this turning, don't worry - you'll soon end up at Five Ways roundabout where you need to turn left down Ladywood Middleway (see "Bristol Road option"). It's basically straight down Monument Road and towards the end of this road it bends to the right (Alston Street) and you'll come to a roundabout.

At the roundabout take the first left (Icknield Port Road (which technically starts out as Wood Street)) with the church on your left, and IMMEDIATELY SIGNAL RIGHT - the turning is just before the keep left signs in the road, and the road sign on the turning says Monument Road. If you go past the fire station (on your right) you've gone too far. You will end up in the car park of the Centre itself, with the large and colourful mural.

The entrance to the building is in the opposite corner of the car park to the one you drove into.

The shortest route is to leave the M1 at Junction 23A, taking the A42 going south-west. After about 15 miles this becomes the M42. At Junction 8 of the M42 take the M6 heading West.
At Junction 6 of the M6 ("Spaghetti Junction") take the slip road that leads onto the A38 (M) towards the city centre, heading sort of south-west. The A38 (M) is a short stretch of contraflow motorway that lasts for roughly 2 miles.

After about 1 mile there's a sort of slip road that leads to a roundabout (Park Circus). This is signposted as "Aston Waterlinks" and "Birchfield" and "Perry Barr". You don't want this one - keep going straight on.

At the end of the 2nd mile(ish) you come to a 2nd slip road that leads to a large roundabout (Dartmouth Circus). You do want this one. This is signposted as "Ring Road". A4540 is the road you'll be turning into, although this road number is not signposted on this roundabout. It's basically a right turn - the 3rd exit. Be careful about changing lanes because it's a bit awkward because there's traffic lights all over this roundabout. The turning you want is signposted "West Bromwich" and also "Hockley".

The road you've just turned into is Newtown Middleway, which soon changes into New John Street West. You go straight some sets of lights at crossroads that are fairly close together. You're going to come across 4 roundabouts at fairly regular intervals.

At the first roundabout go straight on (2nd exit) - this is still the A4540.

You go through a short tunnel thing under a fly-over and come to a 2nd roundabout with a Jet petrol station on your left. There's only 2 real turnings here : straight on or turn right. You need to go straight on (slightly bearing left). You're still on the A4540.

You're driving up Icknield Street, and you need to get into the middle lane otherwise you'll be forced to filter left at the 3rd roundabout. At this roundabout go straight on (2nd exit) - still the A4540 but now called Ladywood Middleway. This is all dual carriageway.

The 4th and final roundabout is a slightly strange shape. As you get close to it you may be able to see a large and colourful mural to your right. This is the side of the building that you are heading for. At the roundabout itself you need to take the last exit, which is the 3rd one, called Icknield Port Road (which technically starts out as Wood Street). There's a church on your left as you take the turning off the roundabout. IMMEDIATELY SIGNAL RIGHT - the turning is just before the keep left signs in the road, and the road sign on the turning says Monument Road. If you go past the fire station (on your right) you've gone too far.

You will end up in the car park of the Centre itself, with the large and colourful mural. The entrance to the building is in the opposite corner of the car park to the one you drove into.

From the South-East - up the M1 Leave the M1 at Junction 19, taking the M6 heading west. After about 35-40 miles you'll get to Junction 6 of the M6 ("Spaghetti Junction").

At this Junction take the slip road that leads onto the A38 (M) towards the city centre, heading sort of south-west. The A38 (M) is a short stretch of contraflow motorway that lasts for roughly 2 miles.

After about 1 mile there's a sort of slip road that leads to a roundabout (Park Circus). This is signposted as "Aston Waterlinks" and "Birchfield" and "Perry Barr". You don't want this one - keep going straight on.

At the end of the 2nd mile(ish) you come to a 2nd slip road that leads to a large roundabout (Dartmouth Circus). You do want this one. This is signposted as "Ring Road". A4540 is the road you'll be turning into, although this road number is not signposted on this roundabout. It's basically a right turn - the 3rd exit. Be careful about changing lanes because it's a bit awkward because there's traffic lights all over this roundabout. The turning you want is signposted "West Bromwich" and also "Hockley".

The road you've just turned into is Newtown Middleway, which soon changes into New John Street West. You go straight some sets of lights at crossroads that are fairly close together. You're going to come across 4 roundabouts at fairly regular intervals.

At the first roundabout go straight on (2nd exit) - this is still the A4540.

You go through a short tunnel thing under a fly-over and come to a 2nd roundabout with a Jet petrol station on your left. There's only 2 real turnings here : straight on or turn right. You need to go straight on (slightly bearing left). You're still on the A4540.

You're driving up Icknield Street, and you need to get into the middle lane otherwise you'll be forced to filter left at the 3rd roundabout. At this roundabout go straight on (2nd exit) - still the A4540 but now called Ladywood Middleway. This is all dual carriageway.

The 4th and final roundabout is a slightly strange shape. As you get close to it you may be able to see a large and colourful mural to your right. This is the side of the building that you are heading for. At the roundabout itself you need to take the last exit, which is the 3rd one, called Icknield Port Road (which technically starts out as Wood Street). There's a church on your left as you take the turning off the roundabout. IMMEDIATELY SIGNAL RIGHT - the turning is just before the keep left signs in the road, and the road sign on the turning says Monument Road. If you go past the fire station (on your right) you've gone too far.

You will end up in the car park of the Centre itself, with the large and colourful mural. The entrance to the building is in the opposite corner of the car park to the one you drove into.

At the end of the M40 you come to Junction 3A of the M42, where it's best to take the M42 heading towards the north-east of Birmingham. There are shorter and more direct routes into Birmingham, but this is probably the most straight-forward to explain.

After roughly 10 miles on the M42 you come to Junction 7, where you need to take the M6 north-west. After about 8 miles on the M6 you come to Junction 6 ("Spaghetti Junction").

At this Junction take the slip road that leads onto the A38 (M) towards the city centre, heading sort of south-west. The A38 (M) is a short stretch of contraflow motorway that lasts for roughly 2 miles.

After about 1 mile there's a sort of slip road that leads to a roundabout (Park Circus). This is signposted as "Aston Waterlinks" and "Birchfield" and "Perry Barr". You don't want this one - keep going straight on.

At the end of the 2nd mile(ish) you come to a 2nd slip road that leads to a large roundabout (Dartmouth Circus). You do want this one. This is signposted as "Ring Road". A4540 is the road you'll be turning into, although this road number is not signposted on this roundabout. It's basically a right turn - the 3rd exit. Be careful about changing lanes because it's a bit awkward because there's traffic lights all over this roundabout. The turning you want is signposted "West Bromwich" and also "Hockley".

The road you've just turned into is Newtown Middleway, which soon changes into New John Street West. You go straight some sets of lights at crossroads that are fairly close together. You're going to come across 4 roundabouts at fairly regular intervals.

At the first roundabout go straight on (2nd exit) - this is still the A4540.

You go through a short tunnel thing under a fly-over and come to a 2nd roundabout with a Jet petrol station on your left. There's only 2 real turnings here : straight on or turn right. You need to go straight on (slightly bearing left). You're still on the A4540.

You're driving up Icknield Street, and you need to get into the middle lane otherwise you'll be forced to filter left at the 3rd roundabout. At this roundabout go straight on (2nd exit) - still the A4540 but now called Ladywood Middleway. This is all dual carriageway.

The 4th and final roundabout is a slightly strange shape. As you get close to it you may be able to see a large and colourful mural to your right. This is the side of the building that you are heading for. At the roundabout itself you need to take the last exit, which is the 3rd one, called Icknield Port Road (which technically starts out as Wood Street). There's a church on your left as you take the turning off the roundabout. IMMEDIATELY SIGNAL RIGHT - the turning is just before the keep left signs in the road, and the road sign on the turning says Monument Road. If you go past the fire station (on your right) you've gone too far.

You will end up in the car park of the Centre itself, with the large and colourful mural. The entrance to the building is in the opposite corner of the car park to the one you drove into.

(These maps and directions are originally on the 10th Circus convention website but were so good I decided to use them)