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Manchester

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Travel Guide Europe United Kingdom England North West England Manchester

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Introduction

Manchester

Manchester

© All Rights Reserved S_Deisler

Nowhere in England is the contrast of Victorian Industrial past and affluent modern present clearer than in Manchester. Cotton mills and canals sit alongside the shiny complexes of multinational business, restaurants and bars. Manchester is a thriving centre for culture and music, it boasts a multitude of music venues, museums and shops. With it's feet in an impressive musical history Manchester is home to New Order, The Smiths, Oasis, The Verve, Spiral carpets, Mr Scruff, Lamb, Elbow and the scene that grew up around the Hacienda among a million others including the bubbling and very current music scene. Manchester is the not to be missed, laid back and cool capital of the north.

Terminology
For a brief period in the later 20th century there was a Metropolitan County Council for Greater Manchester. The City of Manchester was the largest of the Metropolitan Districts in this area. All these are now unitary authorities and the City of Manchester has no local government control over the others. However it is quite common to find the term 'Manchester' used to cover some areas outside of the city - such as Salford and Trafford in this article.

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Neighbourhoods

Manchester is composed of many districts. Those of the most noteworthy:

  • City centre
  • Rusholme (for the famous curry mile)

South

  • Fallowfield (student accommodation campus).
  • Withington
  • Chorlton-cum-Hardy
  • Old Trafford
  • East and West Didsbury

West

  • Salford and Salford Quays

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Sights and Activities

Museums and exhibition centres

  • The Lowry Centre is an intriguing complex containing a collection of Lowry's paintings as well as two theatres.
  • Manchester Museum has had a wide variety of collections and exhibitions, including a large collection of Egyptian artefacts. The museum is in the University area.
  • Whitworth Art Gallery is award winning and recently refurbished.
  • The Urbis hosts various exhibitions and events.
  • Imperial War museum North (Salford quays) is a small but well put together museum with a viewing tower to look out over the quays.

Music and clubs

Manchester boasts a thriving club scene as well as many fantastic venues for live music. Indie and Rock as well as dance are all the main big time players in Manchester and you will never be short of somewhere to go.

Smaller venues for live music include:

Larger venues:

Night clubs

Many and varied! For more main stream evenings try the Deansgate and Printwork areas of the city centre.
South has a reputation for a crackin Indie friday night.
The warehouse project and Sankeys both run notorious dance nights. For student type evenings with Indie/rock you won't find better than 42nd Street or 5th Avenue.

Theatre, Dance and Classical music

See the Theatre calender for what's on.

Other main attractions

  • Manchester Town Hall is the most imposing town hall in Britain.
  • Old Trafford is home of http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={63600C0C-B276-4CB1-8FB1-3460BE926722} (< ERROR: the link title is too long!).
  • The city centre is a World Heritage area covering the cotton mills and canals.
  • John Rylands Library is a recently restored beautiful Victorian Gothic library.

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Weather

As with anywhere in Northern England, don't be surprised if there's a little rain. Summers are around 20 °C lasting from June to early September. Winters are mild with occasional frost or snow possible during the December to February period.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg Max6.4 °C6.6 °C8.9 °C11.6 °C15.3 °C18.2 °C19.6 °C19.5 °C17 °C13.7 °C9.1 °C7.1 °C
Avg Min1.3 °C1.2 °C2.5 °C4.3 °C7.3 °C10.2 °C12 °C11.9 °C10 °C7.5 °C3.6 °C2 °C
Rainfall69 mm50 mm61 mm51 mm61 mm67 mm65 mm79 mm74 mm77 mm78 mm78 mm
Rain Days18.213.115.614.415.114.413.6151516.51717.4

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Getting There

By Plane

Manchester Airport (MAN), located about 14 kilometres from the centre of Manchester, is well served, including many intercontinental routes. Quite a few budget airlines use Manchester Airport as well.
Some of the main destinations served include Ljubljana, Cork, Dublin, Paris, Antwerp, Malta, Toronto, Chicago, New York, Cyprus, Tenerife, London, Lyon, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Belfast, Geneva, Mallorca, Brussels, Gothenburg, Prague, Atlanta, Copenhagen, Corfu, Crete, Helsinki, Marrakech, Munich, Zürich, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Milan, Glasgow, Düsseldorf, Reykjavik, Budapest, Dubrovnik, Rome, Venice, Cancun, Orlando, Luxor, Mombasa, Doha, Karachi, Oslo, Stockholm, Riyadh, Singapore, Istanbul, Philadelphia, Athens, Barbados, Las Vegas and dozens of destinations around the Mediterranean.

To/from the airport

  • Rail: Manchester Airport railway station is located between Terminals 1 and 2. It is linked to the terminals using a Skylink moving walkway. Trains are operated either by Northern Rail or TransPennine Express and connect the airport to Manchester Piccadilly Station and other railway stations mainly throughout northern England, although some trains even go to Edinburgh in Scotland.
  • Bus: Buses serve many locations throughout Greater Manchester, including the 24-hour bus service Skyline which runs every 10 minutes or so (every 30 minutes at night) to Manchester city centre. There is also Skyline operating every hour to Altrincham via Wythenshawe and Sale. National Express has buses to places further away, even to Dublin.
  • Car: The airport is a 20-minute drive from Manchester city centre and is reached by the M56 motorway, with a dedicated approach road from the motorway at junction 5. There are many parking places at the airport, and rental cars and taxis are all widely available.

By Train

Trains in and out of Manchester run frequently. There are three main city centre stations, Picadilly for main access, entry straight to the city centre, Victoria also in the centre and Oxford road which is closest for University access.
See National Rail for more information about schedules and prices.

By Car

Manchester has an outer ring road the M60 which is heavily congested at rush hour (4:00-6:00pm) but is useful for quick access. From the South use the M6 or M6 toll. From Leeds M62.

Driving into the centre is tricky and it is advisable to use the frequent and reliable bus services available. There are 'Park and Ride services' around the city. Check the GMPTE Busses website for more information.

By Bus

Direct services to London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham and many other destinations are available with National Express and Megabus

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Getting Around

By Public Transport

Manchester Piccadilly is the main station, with regular links to Manchester Airport. Manchester Victoria is the second biggest station, serving mainly local routes.

The Metrolink, the light rail system in Manchester, runs from Bury in the North right through to Altrincham in the South, passing through the city centre and Manchester Piccadilly. There is also a line running to Eccles from the city centre. Services on the Bury and Altrincham lines run from around 6:00am to 12:30am weekdays and to around 1:00am at weekends.

The free Metroshuttle bus leaves Manchester Piccadilly every few minutes and takes a route through the city centre and past the other major railway stations and tram stops along the way.

By Foot

The city centre is compact enough to access most places on foot.

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Eat

  • The Eighth Day is a long running vegetarian restaurant, it also has a health food store attached. On Oxford Road, near to the University Area.
  • San Carlo is an atmospheric Italian restaurant serving delicious food. On King Street West, off Deansgate.
  • Rice is an Asian fast food outlet in Piccadilly Gardens- quick and tasty, eat in or takeaway.
  • Arndale Market is the recently re-located and rejuvenated, the new market contains a range of delicious and reasonably priced eating options including sushi, Chinese, Italian, fresh soups and Indian.

For the best curries, head to Curry Mile, a short taxi ride or bus journey to Rusholme, just out of the centre.
Numerous options for Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi cuisine.

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Drink

  • Sinclair's Oyster Bar is in Shambles Square, one of the cheapest places in the city to get a pint.
  • Rodeo is a tiny little bar specialising in cocktails, in the trendy Northern Quarter.
  • Odd Bar is a cool and quirky little bar, also in the Northern Quarter.
  • Matt and Phred's is a Live Jazz Club, on Tib Street.

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Sleep

PropertyAddressTypePopularity
Amblehurst Hotel44 Washway Road Sale, CheshireHotel-
Elton Bank Hotel62 Platt Lane RusholmeHotel83
Hatters on Newton Street50 Newton StreetHostel83
Hawthorn Hotel137-143 Stand Lane Radcliffe, ManchesterHotel80
Hatters at Hilton Chambers15 Hilton StreetHostel84
Hotel International34 London RoadHotel-
Monton House Hotel116 -118 Monton Road MontonHotel75
New Central Guest House144 Heywood StreetGuesthouse-
Deansgate Apartment74 Bridge StreetApartment-
Pymgate Lodge Airport Hotel147 Styal Road Heald GreenHotel82
Stay Inn Manchester55 Blackfriars Road SalfordHotel82
The Grapes47 Market StreetGuesthouse74
Trafford Hall Hotel23 Talbot Road Old TraffordHotel79
Victoria Hall II281 Upper Brook StreetHostel77
YHA ManchesterPotato Wharf CastlefieldHostel81
Fairways Lodge and Leisure ClubGeorge Street PrestwichHotel84
Sandown Hotel745 Rochdale Road ManchesterHotel81
Hotel Inn Manchester187-189 Chapel StreetGUESTHOUSE71
The Handforth Lodge188 Wilmslow Road HandforthGuesthouse78
My-Places Serviced Apartments107 Chatsworth House 19 Lever StreetApartment-
Willow Bank Hotel340 Wilmslow Road FallowfieldHotel77
The Bowdon Hotel and Leisure ClubLangham RoadHotel-
Weston HallSackville Street ManchesterHotel81
My-Places Worsley Serviced AccommodationChatsworth Road WorsleyApartment-
My-Places Corporate Serviced Apartment 6868 Elizabeth StreetApartment-
My-Places Prestiege Serviced Apartment 33 Abbotsfield Court LancashireApartment-
Campanile Manchester55 ORDSALL LANE REGENT ROAD SALFORDHotel-
Walkabout13 Quay Street ManchesterHOTEL63
Butterfly Guest House89 Grove Lane, Cheadle Hulme, Stockport CheshireGUESTHOUSE76
Salford Arms Hotel146 Chapel Street Salford ManchesterHOTEL79
Ashton House HostelAshton House 196 Corporation StreetHOSTEL71
Ram Lodge393 Wilmslow Road ManchesterHOTEL70
Lansdowne Hotel Manchester346 Wilmslow RoadHOTEL-
My-Places Skyline Serviced ApartmentManchester City Centre Green QuarterApartment-
My-Places Albion Serviced ApartmentPolland StreetApartment-
My-Places Vallea Court Serviced ApartmentManchester City Centre Green QuarterApartment-
Castlefield HotelLiverpool RoadHOTEL-
Hendham House Hotel3-4 BeechmountHOTEL76
Iida Apartments1 Jordan StreetAPARTMENT-

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Keep Connected

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Post

The Royal Mail provides postal services in the United Kingdom. The Royal Mail's store fronts are called Post Office and offer services ranging from sending letters and packages to foreign currency exchange. Use the branch locator to find the nearest Post Office branch. An alternative includes TNT Post.
It's common for a post office to be incorporated into a grocery store, where there will be a small counter located at the back of the store for dealing with post related matters. All post offices are marked with signs that say 'post office' in red lettering. Post boxes can be found at any post office and standalone large red post boxes on the streets or red boxes in the sides of public buildings.

Quick Facts

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Coordinates
  • Latitude: 53.480712
  • Longitude: -2.234376

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This is version 51. Last edited at 12:50 on Apr 24, 13 by Utrecht. 129 articles link to this page.

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