Coventry

Coventry's skyline is defined by its cathedral — or rather, by two of them, standing side by side as a deliberate statement about the city's history.

The medieval St Michael's Cathedral was largely destroyed in a bombing raid in November 1940, one of the most severe attacks on any British city during the Second World War, and its roofless sandstone ruins have been preserved rather than demolished, left as a memorial garden open to the sky. Beside them stands the new Coventry Cathedral, consecrated in 1962, a strikingly modern design by Basil Spence with a huge tapestry by Graham Sutherland inside — the two buildings together are one of the more moving pieces of post-war British architecture anywhere in the country.

Beyond the cathedral

Coventry is also home to the legend of Lady Godiva, the noblewoman said to have ridden naked through the town's streets in protest at unfair taxation; a statue of her stands in Broadgate at the heart of the city centre, and the story remains part of local identity even though it can't be verified historically. The city's long association with cycle and car manufacturing is marked at the Coventry Transport Museum, which holds one of the largest collections of British-made road transport in the world.

Where to Stay in Coventry

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  Telegraph Hotel — housed in the former Coventry Evening Telegraph building in the city centre.
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  ibis Coventry Centre — a short walk from the cathedral quarter.
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  Premier Inn Coventry City Centre — near Broadgate and the Lady Godiva statue.
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  DoubleTree by Hilton Coventry — just off the M6, a common choice for business visitors.
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  Holiday Inn Coventry M6, Jct.2 — close to the motorway with its own conference facilities.

Getting around

Coventry railway station has frequent direct services to Birmingham, London and the wider rail network, and the city centre — including the cathedral quarter and Broadgate — is compact and walkable from the station. The University of Warwick sits just outside the city on the southern edge, with its own regular bus links into the centre.