From Steel to Fields: A Train Journey from Birmingham to Norwich

#myfavoriteroute Leaving Birmingham’s city centre by train feels like stepping out of glass and steel. The skyline—sharp with modern high-rises and buzzing with trams and traffic—fades quickly behind you as the train heads east. Within minutes, concrete gives way to countryside. Tall buildings shrink into hedgerows, and soon you’re passing wide fields brushed with yellow. In spring, the rapeseed (canola) flowers burst into bloom, painting the landscape in waves of gold. It’s the kind of view you can’t scroll past—you just stare, quietly, as it all rolls by. The journey to Norwich is long but gentle, unfolding through rolling farmland, quiet market towns, and the flat, open skies of East Anglia. One moment, you’re under the shadow of Birmingham’s towers. The next, you’re somewhere timeless, where the horizon stretches further than thought. A window seat, a good playlist, and this moving canvas of England’s shifting moods—sometimes, that’s all you need.