This is the Manchester Travel Guide with some great travel tips before you travel to Manchester. A city with over 500.000 inhabitants, in the city center, and it is the fourth largest city in England. Manchester is a university city which makes Manchester rich in different nationalities. During the industrial revolution, a long time ago, the city mainly grew as a textile city.
Travel to and in Manchester
The easiest way to travel to Manchester is by airplane and the airport is located around 14 kilometers outside the city center. From the airport you can use a bus or train service and the train service is quick. It’s only a 15 minutes ride for around 7 euros. During my visit there was a strike and I used the tram service. It’s the same price but the journey took around 1 hour!
Manchester City Center
The city center isn’t that big and easy walkable. The heart of the center area is the St. Peter’s Square.
Here you’ll find the Manchester Town Hall but during my visit it was closed due to construction work. And they work on it till 2024 that’s for a really long time.
Other big attractions over here are the Manchester Central Library. Inside you will find the biggest and oldest music library of the UK with more than 200 thousand pieces. You can visit this building for free.
Another big attraction is located here the Manchester Art Gallery in a beautiful building with really nice pieces of art. And a good thing is that you can visit it completely free of charge.
Best time to visit Manchester
That’s a good question because the weather is really unpredictable. Just like my own city Amsterdam in the Netherlands it rains quite often. In my opinion the best months to visit are in the summer June till August. Higher temperatures and longer days. You can check the actual weather in Manchester.
Football and Manchester
This city is really a football city. With Manchester United and Manchester City has the biggest clubs and there is also a real football museum. My advice is always to check the opening hours before you go there.
During my visit I went to the Manchester United museum with of course a lot of history and there are guided tours into the stadium.
A ticket costs around 18 euros.
Manchester Cathedral
The Manchester Cathedral is the seat of the bishop of manchester and it has been a center stage in the city’s history for 600 years. It is well known for the beautiful gothic style and you can visit it free of charge.
Shopping in Manchester
There are many possibilities to shop in the city. Of course the major brands are in the city center. There’s a big mall Arndale with 240 shops and 60 fashion retailers.
Northern Quarter and New Islington Marina
A place to relax just a little bit outside the city center is the New Islington Marina and it is located in the Northern Quarter.
Don’t forget to explore the northern quarter when you walk back from the marina to the city center. Here you’ll find the best street art in Manchester and the famous red brick buildings.
Gay Village
I love diversity and it’s good to say there is a special colorful part in the city center. It’s the Manchester Gay Village and the main street is Canal Street. This is also the place for the yearly gay pride. Even when you’re not gay it’s nice to meet people in one of the bars of restaurants.
Manchester Museum
A sad story is that Manchester is really under construction. That means that a lot of museums are closed as well. For example a must-see the Manchester Museum. I’ve heard good stories about the museum so hopefully you can visit the Manchester Museum when it opens again in 2023.
John Ryland Library
Another place to visit is the John Ryland Library. A beautiful library and actually it’s only open from Thursday till Saturday. So keep that in mind and there is no entrance fee.
