Flight time
No flight needed from most of the UK
Best season
Year-round
Budget
Budget to mid-range
Best for
Music, food, football, culture, value
Overview
Why Manchester for a city break?
Manchester is the most significant city in England outside London — the city that invented the Industrial Revolution, produced more great bands than anywhere in Britain (the Smiths, Oasis, Joy Division, the Buzzcocks, the Stone Roses, New Order, Take That), and that has transformed a post-industrial landscape into one of the most vibrant urban cultures in the country. The Northern Quarter is one of the finest independent neighbourhood districts in Britain. The Whitworth Gallery and Manchester Art Gallery are both free and genuinely world-class. Old Trafford and the Etihad between them make it a footballing pilgrimage site for millions.
Manchester is at the centre of the UK's rail network — from London Euston it's 2 hours on the fast service; from Leeds 55 minutes; from Edinburgh 3.5 hours. Manchester Airport (10km south, Metrolink tram direct) also serves the city for those arriving from further afield. The city is excellent value — significantly cheaper than London for hotels, restaurants and entertainment. The food scene, anchored by Ancoats's restaurant strip and the Northern Quarter's independent cafés and bars, has genuinely arrived as a serious destination in its own right.
Where to stay & explore
Manchester's best neighbourhoods
Northern Quarter
Manchester's bohemian heart — independent boutiques, the finest café culture in the city, record shops on Oldham Street, vinyl bars, the best street art and the Northern Quarter's extraordinary independent nightlife.
Ancoats
The former industrial district east of the Northern Quarter, now the city's finest restaurant neighbourhood — Rudy's Pizza, Elnecot, Mackie Mayor, the Refuge. The most exciting new food district in the north of England.
Castlefield & Deansgate Locks
Manchester's Roman fort site and Victorian canal network — the Museum of Science and Industry, the finest canal-side bars in the city, and the Manchester Arena district.
Things to do
What to see in Manchester
1
Whitworth Art Gallery
The finest free gallery in Manchester — the Whitworth holds extraordinary collections of British watercolours (Turner, Constable), textiles (the largest collection of wallpapers and fabrics in the UK), and modern and contemporary art (Hockney, Freud, Kapoor). The 2015 building extension into Whitworth Park is itself a remarkable piece of architecture. Free; in the south of the city near the university.
2
Museum of Science and Industry
Manchester invented the Industrial Revolution and this museum tells that story on the site of the world's first railway station (Liverpool Road Station, 1830). The working steam engines, the history of computing (Alan Turing's work is represented), the cotton textile machinery and the extraordinary social history of the city's transformation from market town to global industrial capital. Free; in Castlefield.
3
Football Museum & Old Trafford or the Etihad
The National Football Museum in the city centre (free entry to the permanent collection) covers the history of the world's most popular sport from its codification in 19th-century England. For the stadium experiences: Old Trafford museum and stadium tour (book online), or the Manchester City stadium tour at the Etihad (book online). Both are remarkable pilgrimages for football fans.
4
The Printworks & Free Trade Hall heritage trail
Manchester's music heritage is everywhere — the Haçienda site (now apartments on Whitworth Street West, a blue plaque marks it), the Free Trade Hall where Dylan went electric and the Sex Pistols played their second gig, the International 2 where Joy Division played their last show, the Boardwalk where the Smiths formed. Pick up the Manchester Music Heritage Trail map from the Tourist Information Centre; the walking route takes two hours.
Food & drink
Where to eat in Manchester
Mana
One Michelin star / Ancoats
The finest restaurant in Manchester — Simon Martin's tasting menu produces some of the most technically ambitious cooking in the north of England, using foraged and locally sourced ingredients in a spare, confident style. In Ancoats. Book weeks ahead.
Elnecot
Modern British / Ancoats
The most consistent modern restaurant in Ancoats — a menu of British cooking with Nordic influences, using excellent northern ingredients (Lancashire cheese, Goosnargh duck, Pennine lamb). The weekend brunch is one of the finest in the city. Book ahead.
Mackie Mayor
Food hall / Ancoats
A beautifully converted Victorian meat market in Ancoats housing six independent food vendors — Tender Cow steaks, the Gooey cookie bar, Elnecot's sister concept, Japanese gyoza and more. The finest casual lunch in Manchester; go on a weekday when the queues are manageable. The building itself — 1858, with the original iron market hall structure — is beautiful.
Itinerary
3 days in Manchester — a suggested itinerary
Day 1
Northern Quarter, music heritage, an Ancoats evening
Manchester Piccadilly is the main rail terminus; Manchester Victoria is for Northern services. Walk to the Northern Quarter from Piccadilly (10 minutes): the independent boutiques along Oldham Street, Vinyl Exchange (the finest second-hand record shop in the north), the street art along Stevenson Square, coffee at one of the Northern Quarter's excellent independent cafés. The National Football Museum is a 10-minute walk in the Cathedral Quarter — the history of the game, the shirt collections, the interactive exhibits. Manchester Cathedral (free, often overlooked, genuinely beautiful — the medieval choir stalls are extraordinary) is next door. Ancoats for dinner: Mackie Mayor for a casual early evening, then Elnecot or Mana (if booked well ahead).
Day 2
Whitworth Gallery, Deansgate, Museum of Science and Industry
Metrolink to the Oxford Road area for the Whitworth Gallery (free) — the Turner watercolours, the textile collection, the contemporary art, the building's relationship with Whitworth Park. Walk through the university campus (the Manchester Museum, also free, has an extraordinary Egyptian collection including a real mummy) to the city centre. Museum of Science and Industry in Castlefield (free) — the working steam engines, the 1830 station, the computing history (Manchester was where the first stored-program computer ran in 1948). Lunch at one of the Castlefield canal-side bars. Deansgate Locks for the afternoon, the John Rylands Library (a spectacular neo-Gothic library of 1900 with extraordinary medieval manuscripts — free) in the city centre, and dinner in the city centre or Northern Quarter.
Day 3
Music heritage trail, Salford Quays, MediaCityUK
The Manchester Music Heritage Trail on foot from the Northern Quarter — the Haçienda site, the Free Trade Hall, the Boardwalk. Two hours, with a coffee stop at the Café Pop music café on Oldham Street. Metrolink west to Salford Quays: the Lowry (LS Lowry's paintings of industrial Manchester, free permanent collection) and the Imperial War Museum North (Daniel Libeskind's shattered globe building on the Quayside, free, one of the most powerful museum buildings in Britain). MediaCityUK next door for the BBC and ITV studios — the tour is available if booked. Last train south from Manchester Piccadilly or Victoria.
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