The best free days out in Manchester
Manchester has plenty on offer for free. Lighten the load on your wallet by visiting some of the city's top attractions that don't require you to part with any cash.
All of the places listed are in the city centre itself, so are readily accessible either by walking, or using the Metrolink system.
The Museum of Science and Industry
Liverpool Rd, Castlefield,
Manchester M3 4FP
Tel: 0161 832 2244.
Open 10am to 5pm daily.
The world's oldest surviving passenger railway station is the remarkable home of the Museum of Science and Industry, which dazzles due to its sheer size. Manchester's largest museum (at a whopping 2.8 acres) provides a stimulating day out for the whole family, and there's plenty going on, with a full size walk-through replica sewer and a rebuild of the world's first computer among a huge array of attractions.
Castlefield Urban Heritage Park
Southwest Manchester.
Southwest of the city centre is Castlefield, Britain's first urban heritage park. Canals, bridges and railway viaducts define the landscape, and it is also home to the city's museum of science. Castlefield is the place to go for picturesque canal-side wanders as well as for its excellent selection of restaurants and bars.
People's History Museum
Left Bank,
Spinningfields,
Manchester M3 3ER
Tel: 0161 838 9190
Open Mon-Sun, 10.00am - 5.00pm. Open bank holiday Mondays.
The People's History Museum has recently been spruced up with a lavish £12m makeover, and is the UK's national centre for collecting, recording and documenting working life in Britain. As well as laying claim to the sunniest riverside terrace in Manchester, the museum boasts the largest number of trade-union banners in the world, and the desk at which Thomas Paine wrote The Rights of Man.
Manchester Art Gallery
Mosley Street,
Manchester M2 3JL
Tel: 0161 235 8888
Open Monday - Sunday 10am - 5pm, including bank holiday Mondays. Late night opening on Thursday until 9pm.
The publicly owned art gallery in Manchester is one of the city's premier destinations. It has recently re-opened after an extensive £35m renovation that has doubled its available space. Its breath-taking permanent collection includes works by Rosetti, Gainsborough, Turner, Bacon and Freud.
John Ryland's Library
The John Rylands Library,
150 Deansgate,
Manchester, M3 3EH,
Tel: 0161 306 0555
Open Sunday and Monday 12 - 5, Tuesday - Saturday 10 -5.
John Ryland's Library is an uncommonly beautiful building and library in its own right, and its Victorian gothic architecture is somewhat incongruous in a street of predominantly modern buildings. But inside it is an entirely magical place that would not look out of place in a Harry Potter film. The library resembles a vast church full of books, with row after row of shelves. It even has an original fragment of the Old Testament. It is recognised as one of the most beautiful libraries in the world.
Manchester Cathedral
Manchester Cathedral,
Victoria Street,
Manchester M3 1SX
Tel: 0161 833 2220.
Open daily until 6pm.
Manchester Cathedral is not among the largest cathedrals in Britain, but it is one of the most fascinating. With evidence that a church has stood on the site for over 1,200 years there is a vast amount of history contained within its walls. It is also noted for some of the best medieval woodwork in the north of England. Ask one of the guides for a personal tour, or buy a low-cost guide to the wood carvings and see if you can find the rabbits cooking the huntsmen. Also, try to find the rebus, discover and understand why there is a Fire Window and find the monument that Robert Lever put up to his dead children in the 1600s - the poem on the tomb is particularly moving. If you have a chance, attend the Choral Evensong.
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