Manchester

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Quick Facts

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Coordinates

• Latitude: 53.480712
• Longitude: -2.234376

On Travellerspoint

• 3 Manchester Apartments
• 2 Manchester Guesthouses
• 4 Manchester Hostels
• 13 Manchester Hotels

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Introduction

Manchester

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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.

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

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:

• Night and Day cafe
• The Dry Bar (Northern Quarter)
• Thirsty Scholar and the attic
• Jabez Clegg

Larger venues:

• Manchester Evening News Arena
• The Apollo
• Manchester Academies

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

• Library Theatre (St Peters Square)
• Royal Northern College of Music
• Palace Theatre
• Bridgewater Hall
• Lowry theatre

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 Manchester United.
• 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.

Events and Festivals

Weather

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

Getting There

By Plane

Manchester Airport (MAN) is well served, including many intercontinental routes.

Catch a bus to most areas of Manchester or a taxi.

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 (4-6) 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 and other destinations with National Express and Megabus

Getting Around

By Car

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 6am to 12.30am weekdays and to around 1am 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.

By Bike

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.

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.

Sleep

Budget

Mid-Range

Upscale

Work

Learn

• Manchester University

Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Post