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Looking for the best things to do in Manchester? We are here to help!
Located in Northern England, Manchester is one of the most vibrant cities in the UK. There is so much to do, in the city centre and in the rest of Greater Manchester.
Manchester is famous for many things including football, music and nightlife. If you are into any of these things, you can be sure to have a good time in our beautiful city.
But that’s not all, for those who prefer culture and art, Manchester also has plenty to offer. Visit the iconic Manchester City Hall or the Museum of Science & Industry for some history and cultural insight. For a unique experience, visit Whitworth Art Gallery or explore the street art around Ancoats.
When it comes to food there is something for everyone from traditional British dishes to the innovative street food available around the city.
In this article, we tell you everything you need to know about the best things to do in Manchester. Whether you are a first-time visitor or a local, you will find something here!
Walking tour of the City Centre
One of the best ways to explore a city is by doing a walking tour. It’s a great way to discover the most famous landmarks in Manchester as well as learn more about its history.
Manchester is known as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution and there is a lot to know about it.
If that’s something you are interested in, opt for the free walking tour of Manchester.
It starts every day at 11AM. The meeting point is the Alan Turing statue in Sackville Gardens. You can book online here and head to the meeting point on your chosen day.
The guides are absolutely fantastic and will tell you everything you need to know about the history of Manchester, important events and the culture.
This includes facts about the Suffragettes, Oasis, music in general, Vimto and more.
The tour lasts around 3 hours and will take you all around the city centre.
It’s also a great way to discover local spots. Don’t hesitate to ask the guide for tips and recommendations for food and drinks.
Please note that while this is called a ‘free’ tour, it would be more accurate to call it a tip-based tour. At the end of the tour, you can give whatever you thought it was worth.
Regardless, that’s still one of the best cheap things to do in Manchester.
Visit Old Trafford
Calling all Manchester United fans for this one!
Old Trafford is the home of Manchester United Football Club and it’s a must-visit when in town.
The stadium is iconic and has been home to some legendary players, including Sir Alex Ferguson and David Beckham.
You can take a tour of the stadium that takes you behind the scenes and into areas usually reserved for players only.
The tour lasts a couple of hours and includes the stadium as well as the Manchester United Museum.
Visit Manchester Museum
If you love museums, then you will be in for a treat in Manchester. There are so many of them and Manchester Museum is one of the most famous.
It was closed for renovation since 2019 but re-opened in 2023 so you can now get the full experience again.
Manchester Museum houses a fantastic collection of natural history, art and culture.
It also has an incredible dinosaur section that is perfect to explore with kids.
The museum is open every day from 10 AM to 5 PM and is free to visit.
It’s located on Oxford Road and can easily be reached by foot or public transport from the city centre.
Explore John Rylands Library
Located in Deansgate, John Rylands Library is one of the most beautiful landmarks in Manchester and yet, most locals don’t even know about it.
From the outside, it doesn’t look that amazing and it’s easy to walk past it without even noticing it but inside, it’s an absolute beauty.
This neo-gothic masterpiece houses one of the most extensive collections of rare books in the world and is architecturally amazing.
It looks like Hogwarts! As a matter of fact, a lot of Harry Potter fans come to visit John Rylands Library for the Harry Potter vibe even though it’s not technically linked to it.
The library was founded by Enriqueta Augustina Rylands in honour of her late husband, John Rylands who was Manchester’s first multi-millionaire.
The library is open from Wednesday to Saturday and is free to visit. It’s split into two parts, the modern and old sections. Make sure you visit the old part since that’s the truly impressive one and where you can find the exhibitions as well.
Visit the Science and Industry Museum
The Science and Industry Museum is located on Liverpool Road, where was the old Manchester Liverpool Road station, the first passenger railway station in the world.
It showcases the city’s industrial background and has several exhibitions about the textile industry, computers (including Baby, the first computer in the world) and a transportation part.
It’s a rather big museum so you can easily spend the afternoon or even the day there.
The exhibitions are very well done and include both reading and interactive pieces, making it a great place to visit with kids.
You will learn plenty about the history of Manchester but also technology and science concepts.
The MOSI is open every day and free.
There also is a café at the entrance where you can grab food or a hot drink.
Walk around the Northern Quarter
The Northern Quarter is a super trendy neighbourhood full of independent shops, cafes, and street art.
It’s the coolest place in Manchester and it’s always buzzing with people.
You can spend hours walking around and exploring the area, popping into various shops, cafes or pubs along the way.
It’s a great place to find unique gifts and craft products since there are a lot of independent shops and centres such as Afflecks Palace or Manchester Craft and Design Centre
You will also find some of the best street art in town including some famous pieces from Akse P19 who famously painted a portrait of Arya from Games of Thrones.
The Northern Quarter is also a great place to check out in the evening since it’s full of cocktail bars, speakeasies and bars with live music.
See a show at Manchester Palace Theatre
London West End might be the most famous spot in the UK for theatres but Manchester also gets some amazing productions and if you are a theatre fan, you will be spoilt for choice.
The main theatre in Manchester is the Palace Theatre, right by Oxford Road Station. It’s an ATG theatre and hosts the most famous plays and musicals in the UK.
If that’s something you are interested in, you can easily book a ticket on the ATG website or from the box office.
Other theatres worth checking out are the Royal Exchange, The Opera House and HOME which showcases more independent productions.
Shopping on Market Street
Market Street, as the name might suggest, is the main shopping street in Manchester.
It goes from Piccadilly Gardens to High Street.
You will find all your favourite shops there including Primark, H&M and TK Maxx.
It’s also home to the Arndale centre, one of the main shopping centres in Manchester.
Here you can expect to find all sorts of shops such as the Apple Store, River Island, Kiko, Sports Direct and more.
Market Street is also a popular spot for street performers so if you head there (especially at the weekend) you will get to see local bands performing.
Also, if you fancied some street food, there are a couple of food trucks here where you can get Chinese pancakes, ice cream and hot dogs.
Go to the Gay Village & Alan Turing Memorial
Manchester is one of the most LGBTQ-friendly in the world and its Gay Village is something every visitor should see!
Start your visit in Sackville Gardens. You will find the statue of Alan Turing.
Alan Turing is famous for having cracked Enigma, the German encryption machine used during WWII.
Unfortunately, Alan didn’t get any recognition for his work while he was alive. He was prosecuted for being gay and had to go through chemical castration.
If you want to know more about Alan Turing, check out our articles about the history of Manchester.
Next to Alan, you will find the LGBTQ Bee. In 2019, the city of Manchester ran a big art contest.
Over 30 giant bees were installed all around the city. Most of them were sold at auction still but the city chose to keep a couple of very important bees including the LGBTQ one!
After that, you can head to Canal street, that’s where everything happens!
You will find plenty of gay bars and drag shows there. It’s a very lively street in Manchester, perfect for a drink.
We particularly recommend checking out the Union pub. It was one of the first gay pubs in the world.
They used to perform drag shows during WWII (way before homosexuality was legalised in the UK), quite cool right?
Discover the Northern Quarter
If there was only one place to visit in Manchester, it would be the Northern Quarter.
It’s the most lively and coolest neighbourhood in Manchester.
If you love street art, that’s the best place to go to. The Northern Quarter is full of murals!
If you head to Stevenson Square, that’s where you will find the most famous murals. We had Arya from Game of Thrones, David Bowie, Ariana Grande… and plenty more.
But that’s not all, just wander around and explore. You will find plenty of them! There even used to be a Harry Potter one!
Northern Quarter is also full of bars, restaurants and pubs, making it a very popular place to grab lunch or dinner!
In the evening you will find a lot of live music there as well (but we will get back to that a bit further in the article).
Visit the Manchester Art gallery
Located on the corner of St Peter Square, the art gallery is always a good idea!
The building itself is quite interesting as it’s completely different to everything else in Manchester.
It’s a big white building with greek columns at the front. Inside, there are a few permanent pieces but the most interesting part of the gallery is the temporary exhibitions.
Some collections travel all around the UK and always stop in Manchester.
They are generally free as well and will give you a chance to discover some wonderful and unique pieces. They often have temporary exhibitions such as the Da Vinci drawings so it’s worth keeping an eye on their website.
Go to the Trafford Centre
Trafford Centre is a massive commercial centre located in Trafford, South-West of Manchester.
It is for sure the most unique commercial centre you will get to see in Europe!
Each part has been built around a theme, it’s basically a shopping version of Universal Studios!
If you go to the food quarter for example you will go through the Japanese quarter then the Italian quarter and will end up in the main court which is a reconstitution of a cruise ship.
If you love going shopping, this will be your paradise. You will find every shop you can possibly think of.
And if you are not into shopping it’s still worth a visit because it’s so unique and beautiful that will be for sure an experience.
Check out Emmeline Pankhurst statue
Emmeline Pankhrust is one of the founders of the Suffragette movement.
It originated in Manchester and thanks to it, women in the UK got granted the right to vote in 1918. This is way before most European countries which is quite exceptional.
Emmeline Pankhrust was from Manchester. In 2019, a statue in her tribute was added to St Peter’s square.
It was the first statue of a woman (except for the statue of Queen Victoria in Piccadilly Gardens) in Manchester.
So as you are strolling around Manchester, go pay Emmeline a visit 😉
Visit Central Library
St Peter’s square is home to the central library. This round building is quite unique and offers a very different architectural style from the rest of the city. It’s worth going in to check the building out.
It was built as a rotunda shape, similar to the Pantheon in Rome! You will also find an exhibition with the archives about the city.
If you want to see photos of Manchester during WII or the industrial revolution, that will be the perfect place!
Check out the Midland hotel
The Midland Hotel is from far one of the most beautiful buildings in Manchester. Located by St Peter’s square, it’s very easily accessible. You can walk all around and admire the stunning architecture.
There is plenty to know about the Midland Hotel. Firstly, that’s where Royce and Rolls met and founded their famous car brand.
Secondly, it was one of Hitler’s favourite buildings in Europe. I know that doesn’t sound good but keep reading.
He and his wife loved it so much that they wanted to dismantle it, transport it to Germany and rebuild it there.
That’s why it’s one of the rare buildings in Manchester that was not bombed during WWII. Thankfully, it never was dismantled and we can still enjoy having it, right here, in Manchester!
The Midland Hotel is the most famous luxury hotel in Manchester. If you have the budget for it, it’s definitely somewhere you’d want to stay.
Go to the Printworks
Located in the Northern Quarter, near Shudehill Station, the Printworks is a massive entertainment complex. It was made using an old Manchester warehouse which gives it this special vibe, very Mancunian!
If you are looking for fun things to do in Manchester, the Printworks will be perfect for you! There are bars and restaurants including Hard Rock Cafe, Wetherspoons…
But also a cinema, mini golf… and plenty more!
Even if you don’t fancy spending too much time there, it’s at least worth walking through it. You’ll see, it’s very cool. It’s also one of the best Instagram spots in Manchester.
Now that you know exactly what to do in Manchester, it’s time to go out and explore.
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