What are the best places to visit in and around Manchester?
Manchester is many things - busy, proud, beautiful, sporty, hip and artistic - but, as with any big city it comes loaded with identikit chain restaurants, soulless shopping arcades and gritty housing estates; therefore you must search around for the best things to visit to make the most of your time in the city and see it to its full potential.
Whether you are a native Mancunian, you are planning on moving to the city or you are simply visiting for the weekend, there is always something unique and interesting to fill your time with, whatever your particular interests may be, from eccentric countryside getaways and outdoorsy activities to city centre art galleries and sporty days out.
Arty
There are a number of excellent, forward-thinking art galleries but as the self-described 'most progressive independent art gallery in Manchester' Artzu has to be the pick of the bunch.
Located in the Spinningfields area of Manchester city centre, Artzu displays a wide range of work, which might not get shown at your more traditional, stuffy gallery. Expect the likes of Rudinskas, David Hancock and Nigel Bird.
If you are looking for something on a larger scale and with more household names than Artzu then head to the Whitworth Gallery, which is home to works by Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso, David Hockney and local lad L. S. Lowry.
Football fans
Are you red or blue? Manchester is home to two of the biggest and best footballing side in the country, United and City. The clubs have a long-standing rivalry, with Man United historically on top. However, in recent years City have found themselves some wealthy backers and become serious rivals – winning the Premier League in 2012 for the first time in nearly half a century.
Even if your football allegiances lie elsewhere, every big sports fan should jump at the chance to catch a game at Old Trafford or the City of Manchester Stadium. If there are no games on during your stay then you could consider going on a stadium tour at one of the grounds.
If all that doesn't give you your football fix then head to the National Football Museum, which is located in Cathedral Gardens, where you can witness some of the of the best football memorabilia collections in the world.
Quirky
Hebden Bridge has been described as 'the coolest place to live in Britain' by the Times, the '4th funkiest town in the world' by Highlife and 'the town with most local identity' in the Independent. Around 35 minutes away from Manchester over the Lancashire border into Yorkshire, Hebden is a small town with a big music and arts scene, magical countryside, and bohemian, hippy residence.
The Northern Quarter in Manchester city centre is the hub of all things cool, independent and forward-thinking, with numerous bars, cafes, restaurants and shops, as well as thriving creative and media industries.
One highlights of the area is the Manchester Craft and Design Centre, home to 18 boutique studios and workshops where you can meet the residents and buy their work, which includes jewellery, art and pottery.
Affleck's Palace, an indoor market of vintage clothes shops, boutiques and other alternative bits and pieces, is perhaps the Northern Quarter's best-known landmark.
Outdoors
From horse riding, tennis, orienteering and bowls, to the community farm, which is home to cows, sheep, goats, pigs and ducks; Wythenshawe Park, which is located around 6 miles to the south of the city centre, offers plenty in the way of outdoorsy activities.
Situated around 4 miles out of the city centre, Heaton Park is a Manchester institution, with generations of families and friends visiting for days out. It is home to a farm, a boating lake, tram museum, golf courses and large outdoor concerts, such as the well-received homecoming shows from the Stone Roses and much more, all in easy access of Manchester city centre.
Shopping
Manchester is a great destination for shopping, as it has a variety of shops which cater to all tastes, and the centre and surrounding areas boast some of the most exclusive stores to be found in the country.
Not only are there the high street favourites such as Miss Selfridge and Tophop, Manchester also offers avid shoppers the chance to snoop around many unique boutiques and high street gems, especially around the streets of the quirky Northern quarter.
For those who enjoy making a day of it and mooching around the mall, Manchester is the perfect destination. It boasts many great outlets and shopping centres, such as the Arndale Centre, and the Lowry Outlet Mall. The Trafford Centre is also infamous as being a complete shopping and entertainment centre.
Seaside
Around an hour's drive away from Manchester on the west coast lies Blackpool. Historically this seaside town has acted as an easy-to-reach and cost-effective summer getaway for families throughout Northern England, such Manchester.
There are a number of destinations that cater for all kinds of tacky and very British fun in Blackpool, such as the Eiffel Tower-inspired Blackpool Tower, the Illuminations, which run for 66 days each autumn and offer 'the greatest light show on earth', and the Pleasure Beach, a world-renowned theme park, which is the UK's most visited tourist attraction. Other popular places of interest include a zoo, a water park and numerous bars and restaurants.
Foodies
Manchester is a richly cosmopolitan city with people with heritage from all over the world sporting the over-enunciation of vowel sounds. The fact that Manchester is a cultural hot spot means that the locals eat much more than just Betty's hotpot.
One of the most famous areas is Rushholme or Curry Mile as it colloquially known, which is home to around 70 restaurants of South East Asian and Middle Eastern decent, all along one street. Some of the best-loved Rushholme restaurants among students, locals and tourists include Shere Khan, Mughli and Nawaab.
Another key ethnic food area is Chinatown, which boasts Chinese, Japanese, Nepalese, Vietnamese and Thai restaurants, supermarkets and cafes. Some of the best places to eat include Red Chilli on Portland Street, which offers some of the best Szechuan food out of, well, Szechuan, and the confusingly named BBQ Handmade Noodles King, which offers excellent noodles and barbequed fish and meat.
However, the current leading restaurant has to be the Japanese Yuzu, where you will be hard pushed to find better sashimi and tempura.
Kids
Along with the Pleasure Beach in Blackpool, there are a number of other theme parks in the local region. One which is always worth a day out with your kids is Gullivers World in Warrington, which boasts a number of rides that are suitable for kids as young as 3 years old, as well as shows and a water park.
If you are looking for something closer to the centre of Manchester then consider Legoland Discovery World, which boasts laser quest, cinema, Lego workshops and of course plenty of innovative Lego models and designs.
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