Things to Do in Manchester
Walkable quarters, match days, trams to the water
Manchester keeps its days out close together. The civic centre around St Peter's Square and Deansgate holds the shopping and the landmark buildings, the Oxford Road corridor runs south through the universities, and Castlefield, the Northern Quarter and Spinningfields sit within a few minutes' walk of each other. Salford Quays is one tram west.
Where it clusters
Most of the centre is a twenty minute walk end to end. St Peter's Square is the civic set piece, the Arndale and Market Street take the shopping, and Castlefield drops you into canal basins and viaducts behind Deansgate. The Northern Quarter is the one to wander without a plan.
If the weather turns
The city is built for it. Central Library, the Arndale and the covered quarters absorb a wet afternoon, and Barton Square at the Trafford Centre is the family fallback, about half an hour out by tram or car.
Arriving and getting about
Piccadilly is the intercity gateway, Victoria the combined rail and tram interchange, and Oxford Road the stop for the university corridor. Metrolink links all three to Salford Quays, MediaCityUK and the Etihad Campus. Coaches use Chorlton Street.
Things to Do in Manchester
Kimpton Clocktower Hotel
Large historic hotel
Grade II listed former Refuge Assurance building with its landmark terracotta clock tower; around 270 rooms, with the Refuge bar and dining rooms open to the public.
Oxford Street, Manchester, M60 7HA
Manchester Airport
International airport
The UK's third busiest airport, around seven miles south west of the city centre, handling roughly 32 million passengers a year across two active terminals, with its own rail and coach station.
Manchester Airport, Manchester, M90 1QX
Manchester Arndale
City-centre shopping centre
One of the largest city-centre shopping centres in the UK, bounded by Corporation Street, Withy Grove, High Street and Market Street, with over 200 stores across two levels.
Market Street, Manchester, M4 1AZ
Manchester Central Convention Complex
Conference and exhibition centre
Grade II* listed former Central Station of 1880, converted in 1986; around 23,000 sq m across the main hall, the Manchester International Convention Centre and a seminar centre. A regular host of party political conferences.
Windmill Street, Petersfield, Manchester, M2 3GX
Manchester Chorlton Street Coach Station
Coach station
The city's National Express hub, about 480 metres from Manchester Piccadilly station, with a direct airport coach link.
Chorlton Street, Manchester, M1 3JF
Manchester Metropolitan University
University campus
One of the largest universities in the UK by enrolment, on a consolidated All Saints campus on Oxford Road adjoining the Manchester School of Art.
All Saints Building, Oxford Road, Manchester, M15 6BH
Manchester Oxford Road station
City-centre rail station
Grade II listed 1960 station with distinctive timber conoid roofs; serves the Oxford Road corridor, the universities and the Palace Theatre and HOME.
Oxford Road, Manchester, M1 6FU
Manchester Piccadilly station
Principal rail station
Manchester's busiest station and the main intercity gateway, managed by Network Rail; direct Metrolink tram connection and roughly 20 minutes by train to Manchester Airport. Postcode is published variously as M1 2PZ and M1 2PB, so confirm before printing.
Station Approach, London Road, Manchester, M1 2PZ
Manchester Victoria station
Rail and Metrolink interchange
Grade II listed station rebuilt with an ETFE roof in 2015; combined heavy rail and Metrolink interchange sitting directly beneath the AO Arena.
Hunts Bank, Manchester, M3 1WY
Manchester Visitor Information Centre
Tourist information centre
The city's visitor information service relocated into Central Library after the former Portland Street centre closed. Visit Manchester also deploys City Hosts on the streets seven days a week, including at Piccadilly and Victoria stations.
Central Library, St Peter's Square, Manchester, M2 5PD
MediaCityUK
Mixed-use waterfront and broadcasting quarter
Waterfront development at Salford Quays housing BBC and ITV operations, hotels, the Metrolink MediaCityUK stop, and neighbouring The Lowry and IWM North.
MediaCityUK, Salford Quays, Salford, M50 2NT
Piccadilly Gardens bus station
City-centre bus interchange
Central Bee Network bus interchange next to the Piccadilly Gardens Metrolink stop, and one of the busiest pedestrian points in the city centre.
Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester, M1 1RG
The Edwardian Manchester, A Radisson Collection Hotel
Large city-centre hotel
Built behind the retained facade of the Grade II* listed Free Trade Hall, the former home of the Hallé; around 263 rooms in the Peter Street hotel cluster.
Free Trade Hall, Peter Street, Manchester, M2 5GP
The Midland Hotel
Large historic hotel
Edwardian railway hotel opened 1903, around 312 rooms; the hotel publishes M2 3NQ as its satnav postcode. Reputedly where Rolls first met Royce in 1904.
16 Peter Street, Manchester, M60 2DS
The Trafford Centre
Out-of-town shopping and leisure centre
Super-regional centre of around 1.7 million sq ft with over 200 shops, restaurants and attractions, reported at more than 30 million visits a year. Barton Square houses SEA LIFE and LEGOLAND Discovery Centre.
Trafford Park, Stretford, Manchester, M17 8AA
The University of Manchester
University campus
The largest single-site university in the UK by student numbers, anchoring the Oxford Road corridor; its estate includes Manchester Museum, the Whitworth, the John Rylands Library and the Whitworth Hall.
Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL
Manchester, asked.
What can you see in Manchester in one day?
Plenty, if you stay central. St Peter's Square, Deansgate, Spinningfields and the Northern Quarter all connect on foot, and the Manchester Visitor Information Centre inside Central Library is the sensible first stop. Add Salford Quays only if you are happy to spend fifteen minutes on the tram.
How do you get from Manchester Airport to the city centre?
By train, roughly twenty minutes into Piccadilly. The airport has its own rail and coach station seven miles south west of the centre, and National Express runs into Chorlton Street Coach Station, a few minutes' walk from Piccadilly. Taxis take longer at peak times.
How do people promote a show in Manchester?
Word travels where visitors already are. Audiences pick up printed what's on guides and leaflets in venue foyers, at the visitor information desk in Central Library and in the Peter Street hotel lobbies. Posters along Oxford Road and around the Northern Quarter do the rest.