Manchester has a wide range of events and activities to enjoy during your stay in the area. Manchester caters for everyone and has extensive shopping facilities, stadiums, art galleries, museums, theatres and beautiful gardens.
Manchester is a city with a population of over 458,000 as well as a metropolitan borough with a population of over 2,562,000. Situated in the North West of England, Manchester is one of England’s core cities and is considered to be a centre of the arts, the media, higher education and commerce, and is often regarded as the second city of the UK behind London. Manchester is also the third-most visited city in the United Kingdom by foreign visitors and the most visited in England besides London. Also voted behind London as second-best place to do business in the UK, Manchester is the commercial, educational and cultural focus for North West England. The architectural style of Manchester varies from Victorian to contemporary architecture, and the city is well known for the use of red brick throughout.
Manchester Football Clubs
Manchester is the home of two Premier League football teams: Manchester United who play at Old Trafford, the largest club football ground in the UK with a capacity of 76,000, and Manchester City who play at the City of Manchester Stadium. Manchester United is one of the most successful England football teams whilst Manchester City has become the richest England club. With a fierce rivalry, a Manchester derby is a great way to spend the afternoon in Manchester, if you are lucky enough to get tickets that is!
Shopping in Manchester
Manchester is well known for its shopping facilities and is ranked as the third or fourth biggest retail area in the UK by sales. You will find everything in Manchester from chain stores to high-end boutiques, markets and shopping centres. One of these shopping centres is the famous landmark Manchester Arndale, the UK’s largest inner city shopping mall, built between 1972 and 1979 at a cost of £100m.
Markets in Manchester offer something a bit different. There is the Saturday’s Tib Street fashion market – the first dedicated fashion market in the North West featuring the latest up and coming designers from Manchester. From clothes, lingerie, bags, purses, hats and jewellery, the Tib Street fashion market is the place to buy individual and unique pieces at affordable prices.
For the food lovers there are the twice-monthly farmers’ & Producers’ Market at Piccadilly Gardens – the place to buy food that has been raised, caught or baked locally. Or the Manchester Fine Food Market at St. Ann’s Square with a range of speciality food either cooked on site at one of the market restaurants or available to take away.
Nightlife in Manchester
Manchester is a city that loves to party and combined with a huge student population, nightlife in Manchester is truly an amazing experience. The nightclubs in Manchester continue to draw-in crowds and there are plenty of smaller, edgier live music venues offering you a chance to catch the next Smiths or Stone Roses. Music from euphoric house, rock, northern soul to swagger, jazz, and big fat beats, you will find a venue catering for every type of music. From plenty of regular concerts and music events, the large music venue the ‘Manchester Evening News Arena’, and even top quality comedy at The Comedy Store Manchester and Manchester’s The Frog and Bucket, there really is something for everyone.
Manchester Airport
Manchester Airport is an airport located within the city of Manchester boundaries which has been flying passengers in and out of Manchester since June 1938. Considered to be the fourth busiest airport in the UK, the three terminals at Manchester Airport provide direct flights to over 200 destinations worldwide by over 90 airlines. Driving to the airport is easy as Manchester Airport is easily accessible and well sign posted from the access roads, making it an ideal way to fly to other parts of the UK from Manchester. There are a wide range of facilities for business, children and disabled travellers, and the range of valet, short and long stay parking are ideal for a business trip in Manchester or stay in one of the excellent Manchester hotels.
Public Transport in Manchester
There are many ways to travel around Manchester on public transport. There is the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Station – the first passenger railway in the world when it opened in 1830, and nowadays there are several smaller stations around Manchester city centre providing excellent transport.
There is also an extensive network of canals in Manchester, built for transport during the industrial revolution. Nowadays most of these canals are used for recreation and are an ideal way to see some of the city’s sights.
There is also a free Metroshuttle services that link important points such as Manchester Victoria, Piccadilly and Oxford Road stations with Chinatown, Deansgate, Salford Central, and Albert Square in Manchester.
Parks in Manchester
Manchester is home to 138 parks, gardens and open spaces, important places for people to play, socialise, exercise, learn about wildlife and take part in a wide choice of leisure activities and cultural festivals. In 2009, Manchester’s parks achieved 29 Green Flag Awards for meeting the national standard of excellence for parks and green spaces in England and Wales. Heaton Park is a large award-winning family park 4 miles north of Manchester city centre, 610 acres in size and with an animal centre, Heaton Hall and hosts many regular events.
Arts & Culture in Manchester
Manchester has a wide selection of public museums and art galleries, many of them with free admission and on many topics, such as the Museum of Science and Industry which is housed in the former Liverpool Road railway station with a large collection of steam locomotives, industrial machinery and aircraft. Carrying on the theme of transport is The Museum of Transport with a collection of historic buses and trams. The Imperial War Museum North in Salford Quays, a short distance from the city centre, is one of the five branches of the Imperial War Museum and the museum explores the impact of modern conflicts on people and society. The Manchester Museum opened to the public in the 1880s, and has about six million items from every continent, notable Egyptology and natural history collections.
