Any tips for someone visiting Manchester alone?

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Tall Guy

Hi It depends whether you are talking about daytrip or you are going to stay over the weekend.

For a daytrip, Manchester City Centre and Manchester United probably would take whole day assuming 4 hour train tide round trip. You can do some shopping in Arndale since everything is much cheaper in Manchester than in London.

There are some castles in Manchester but they are unimpressive.

If you are staying over the weekend or more than couple of nights - I would recommend

Bolton
Bury
Preston
Blackpool
Liverpool
Southport
Chester

most of these places are just an hour train ride away.

Sounds like you are a foreigner. From personal experience I would suggest -

avoid traveling on Sunday because there is not that much going on on Sunday, Sunday night in particular and train rides are not as frequent as normal.

avoid traveling on Saturday, too crowded and train delays and too many drunk brits due to footie

which means I would suggest you go on Friday when you travel in England.

Northwest is the best place of England, you will love Manchester much more than London.

Timmy!

There is a YHA which is smack in the middle of Castlefield, one of the coolest parts of the city. There is a Roman fort there plus lots of restored canals and warehouses; it gives you a good idea of the city's industrial past.It's about 5 minutes' walk from the shopping area.
The city itself isn't that big, so you should be able to walk around the centre in half a day comfortably. The Northern Quarter is a good place to chill out, lots of cool cafes and bars,(and most of the bars have live music at weekends) plus Afflecks Palace which is a great place, lots of indie shops and retro clothing places. Old Trafford is about 2 miles outside the city, and the tours are pretty good and not expensive. Or you could slum it and go to Eastlands and see City's stadium, which was the Commonwealth Games stadium in 2002. Only joking, the stadium is really impressive, and far too good for that lot ;-)
To be honest, Manchester isn't that much of a tourist destination, and I speak as a lifelong Mancunian. The place has had millions and millions spent on it and now longer resembles a dump. The joke here is that when the IRA bomb exploded in 1996 it caused Â£100m of improvements!
Hope you enjoy your stay; ignore the comment elsewhere on your answers page, the people here are friendly and helpful. Bring a coat with you though, it'll almost certainly rain!

brianinchina2003

Mike L is the only answerer to take seriously.

I lived in Salford for 22 years and there are lots of interesting things to do and see in the area.

I believe that every city or region should make the most of what is special about that area; in Manchester it's firstly the industrial heritage, as Manchester was the world's first industrial city, birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.

Most of this heritage has been unceremoniously swept away, but the Greater Manchester Museum of Science and Industry is wonderful, the best museum in Britain in my opinion. It's at Castlefield, about 200 yards from the Youth Hostel Mike L mentions, and is free. It includes the world's biggest collection of working steam (mostly cotton mill) engines, an Apollo nose cone and enough to keep you absorbed easily for half a day.

There are lots of other galleries and museums including three much-vaunted new ones, the Lowry Centre, the Imperial War Museum North and Urbis, but these are rubbish by comparison.

Your secondary question - so many places. I'm from Bristol - you must visit the West Country with its coastline and hills, including the Cotswolds, Mendips, Quantocks, Exmoor and Dartmoor. Read about the 500 mile long Southwest Peninsula Coastal Path and choose a section to walk along - I don't know what to recommend as they're all so different. Lyme Regis to Seaton, Padstow to Bude, Lynton to Minehead - all so wonderful.

Wales is a must. So is Yorkshire with its Dales and so much more. Cumbria and the North-East. Scotland is a whole story again. Don't miss Edinburgh and Skye.

I don't want to leave out Northern Ireland which is one of the most beautiful and unspoilt parts of the UK.

Lilac Lady

Chester and Liverpool ar a must.
Chester has loads of nice sights, the river and the city walls as well as really good night life and shopping.
Same goes for Liverpool plus some. You've got ther Albert Docks, that's were they used to film This Morning and Fred and his weather map, the weather map is still there I think. There are great shops and great bars. And you may bump into someone from HollyOaks. You could take a trip on the ferry across the mersey or go on the Duck tour bus, get on at the Albert Docks and it takes you on a tour round the city centre then a little dip in the Mersey, don't worry you don't get wet.

Manchester is good for shopping and night life. The Printworks is good for bars and so is Canal street, renowed for it's gay bars but fun for all, a great place to go. They have a great Science Museum which is good if you like all that.

Both Manchester and Liverpool are easy to get to on the train and you don't need any buses etc once you're in the centre, you can walk to most places.
Manchester main Train stations are Victoria and Piccadilly.
Liverpool is Lime Street.

I mention Liverpool and Chester because I live nearby but other places that I'd reccommend visiting are York, Edinburgh, Newcastle and Cardiff. They are all beautiful places with culture and somethign special to visit. Look them up and you will see.

Nick G

Avoid Moss Side if you don't want to get shot, and there are a few good places to go such as the Printworks and if you want a laugh go to Afflecks Palace and is generally a pretty cool place for shopping aswel.

Tufty Porcupine

Brianinchina and Mike L have said just about everything you need to know about Manchester.
Liverpool's also worth visiting if you're up in the North West.

As for other places to visit.

I think Edinburgh is the best city in the UK, so I'd definitely give that a go.

If you like the countryside then visit the Lake District - Windermere/Ambleside perhaps, or Keswick.

Also worth visiting York, Chester or Durham if you're into historic cities.

Look on the bright side.

Try, www.visitmanchester.com This site should help you.

munki

Whilst visiting M/C you should try visiting any of the museums or galleries, the gay village is a nice place for a drink or a meal,and is a safe place for someone on their own.

For other places in the UK-try York,it's full of interesting historical sites.

china doll

I live just outside Manchester and most of us are nice and friendly. The atmosphere on a night out is great in Central Manchester so a good night out wherever you go is virtually guaranteed, the weather isn't very nice though as it rains a lot compared to London. Maybe i could meet up with you if you do come down and you won't need to be alone? I will bring my madcap friends and have a good time hopefully!

lifesagambol

Forget Manchester come to YORK, 2hrs by train from London Kings Cross and a wonderful ancient city with lots to see and do. For hostel accommodation try http://www.yorkbackpackers.co.uk/ a very central well recommended hostel, close to the center and within easy reach of all the attractions.York is a compact city, easy to see on foot. Good choice of of restaurants, cafes and pubs/bars and within easy reach of the Yorkshire coast and countryside.
Google ( York tourist) and check out http://www.visityork.org/ along with many other good sites such as
http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/places/united-kingdom/york/index.jsp
Email me if you want any more information or advice.

shazza68

i live about 10 miles out of Manchester i only really visit when i want to go shopping its great as there is a shop called primart its a very busy place at night

andrew g

forget manchester visit newcastle upon tyne lots to see and lots of history , newcastle was voted top 5 in the WORLD for night life as well. i am sure you would like a weekend here

charterman

Manchester is a sh*t hole and you'd be best avoiding the place. If you must go, stay in the gay village area, you will be safe and it is right in the heart of the city.
The boys will look after you but don't go into the Vanilla Bar unless a 20 stone dykes are your thing.
I would go to Edinburgh, beautiful city. Another old city that has kept all its charm is Norwich. York and Lincoln are a must too.

Citizen DeCat

I used to work in Manchester, and found the people rude and the place dirty. It has a reputation as a hotbed of popular culture, but the reality is a grimy, industrial wasteland, full of Terry Christian clones.

Go to the Peak District instead. Visit Bakewell.

Northern Lad

Walk around singing Chelsea Football songs, you`ll be sure to see the stars lol

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