Essential guide to Manchester

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This was published 12 years ago

Essential guide to Manchester

Spectacular ... Manchester's Imperial War Museum North.

Spectacular ... Manchester's Imperial War Museum North.Credit: Getty Images

Old Trafford and a legendary music scene are just the beginning, writes David Whitley.

STAY

Budget

As always when visiting a British city on the cheap, the first step is to check whether Manchester's Travelodges (travelodge.co.uk) or Premier Inns (premierinn.com) are on sale. They frequently are, from £19 and £29 a night, respectively. Otherwise, the Gardens Hotel (55 Piccadilly, 236 5155, gardenshotelmanchester.com, doubles from £55) might look abominable from the outside but the rooms are decent. Best at the budget end of the scale, however, is the Oxnoble (71 Liverpool Road, 839 7760 , theox.co.uk, from £49.95). This foodie pub has a few rooms above it that feel as though they belong in a modern, unchintzy, mid-range hotel.

Mid-range

Palace (Oxford Street, 288 1111, palace-hotel-manchester.co.uk) has Manchester's most spectacular lobby. The stained-glass dome and stone archways are hugely impressive. Doubles are available from £69 a night but make sure you ask for the refurbished contemporary rooms. Each room at the gay-friendly and engagingly exuberant Velvet (2 Canal Street, 236 9003, velvetmanchester.com, from £88) is wildly different but any ideas about understatement are merrily swatted away. Best value, however, can be found at the Atrium (74 Princess Street, 235 2001, atriumapartments.co.uk), which has well-decked-out studio apartments that can be snapped up for £63.97 a night.

Luxe

Manchester is big on serviced apartments and Staying Cool offers the most engaging. Spread across the city centre, the apartments marry the hip and the practical, from £119 a night. 11 Didsbury Park (11 Didsbury Park, 448 7711, elevendidsburypark.com, from £106) comes with a gorgeous walled garden. The Midland (Peter Street, 236 3333, qhotels.co.uk) has a long history of business meetings. This was where Mr Rolls first met Mr Royce. The £100-plus rooms are bright and colourful.

Lash out

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Celeb hot spot The Lowry (50 Dearmans Place, Chapel Wharf, 827 4000, thelowryhotel.com, from £165), has the most spacious rooms in town. Leather lounge chairs and marble bathrooms are in the mix, although a touch of character wouldn't go amiss. Housed in the grand sandstone Free Trade Hall, the Radisson Edwardian (Peter Street, 835 9929, radissonedwardian .com, from £150) has a spa and pool to go with large and stylish rooms. The Great John Street Hotel (Great John Street, 831 3211, greatjohnstreet.co.uk) is the most fun, though. This converted schoolhouse has en suite steam rooms and split-level sleeping quarters with lavishly enormous curtains. The duplexes cost from £197 a night.

Hot tip

In many ways, Manchester is a better entry point to Britain than London. For outdoorsy types, it's on the edge of the Peak District and close to the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales. It is also properly connected — direct trains go from the airport through central Manchester to other northern cities such as Leeds, York, Newcastle and Liverpool. Then there are the budget flights to Europe; in London, you have to struggle across from Heathrow to Gatwick, Luton or Stansted to catch them but in Manchester, they go from the same airport as the long-haul arrivals.

Getting there

Singapore Airlines (singaporeair.com), Emirates (emirates.com) and Etihad (etihadairways.com) all offer flights from Sydney to Manchester, with stopovers in Singapore, Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively. April to June is the cheapest time of year for flights; expect to pay between $1500 and $2000 for a return fare.

Visas and currency

Australians don't need a visa to enter Britain. The currency is the pound and £1 is about $1.55.

Calling Britain

The international dialling code for Britain is +44 and the Manchester city code is 0161. To call from overseas, add +44 161 to the numbers listed, except to those with asterisks.

More information

visitmanchester.com.

SHOP & PLAY

To market

Manchester has cleverly brought a wealth of markets together under the Manchester Markets banner (manchestermarkets.com). None of them are huge but all have specialities. The Fashion Market takes place in Tib Street every Saturday, with an emphasis on hand-made clothes and accessories by local designers. You'll find everything from adapted net curtains and screen-printed T-shirts to customised hats. For foodies, the Real Food Market takes place on the second and fourth Fridays and Saturdays of each month in Piccadilly Gardens. The Church Street Market on High Street is the generalist catch-all affair open Monday to Saturday.

Go shop

A new, snazzy shopping centre appears to pop up in Manchester every few days. For high-end goods and designer labels, however, New Cathedral Street is the Holy Grail. Be-seen department stores Selfridges and Harvey Nichols line up opposite each other, encouraging a credit card splurge. For bargain hunters, the Lowry Outlet Mall (lowryoutletmall .com) at Salford Quays is the place to nab Nike, Gap and Marks & Spencer goodies on the cheap. The most interesting indie shops, however, are to be found in the Northern Quarter, particularly around Oldham Street. Thunder Egg (22 Oldham Street, 235 0606, thunderegg.co.uk) has some particularly cool trinkets among the distinctive clothing.

Live music

Band on the Wall (25 Swan Street, 834 1786, bandonthewall.org) is a legendary part of the Manchester music scene, being the starting point for Joy Division and the Buzzcocks in the 1970s, among others. It still has a dedication to breaking new bands today. The Deaf Institute (135 Grosvenor Street, 276 9350, thedeafinstitute.co.uk) is equally cherished — it's part cafe, part bar and part music hall and regularly hosts gigs that span the genres from gangsta rap to garage rock. You'll find more-established touring acts playing at the Manchester Academy (Students Union, Oxford Road, 275 2930, manchesteracademy.net).

Nightclubs

Forget the outdated "Madchester" scene and Hacienda club — they're long gone. The newly opened FAC251 (112 Princess Street, 272 7251, factorymanchester.com), in the old Factory Records office building, has appropriated some of the spirit, though. It hosts live gigs but mainly functions as an indie club with soul, Motown and dubstep offshoots in the back rooms. Bijou (1 Chapel Street, 834 6377, bijouclub.co.uk) places itself at the classy and expensive end of the scale but generally pulls in footballers and ladies who want to meet footballers. You can also indulge in Manchester's obsession with drag-queen cabaret at the riotous — if hens' party-packed — Birdcage (Withy Grove, 832 1700, birdcagelive.com).

SEE & DO

Icons

Two major Manchester icons line up on either side of the Ship Canal. The Lowry (Pier 8, Salford Quays, +44 843 208 6000, thelowry.com) is a fabulous arts complex, with a huge collection of paintings by L.S. Lowry, the city's most famous artist. Opposite is the Daniel Libeskind-designed Imperial War Museum North. It's a spectacular building, although the displays feel rather bitty until the exhibition-filling Big Picture Show starts. It's an extraordinary barrage of sound recordings from witnesses, and heart-tugging projected images. Nearby is Old Trafford, home of Manchester United. Match tickets are like gold dust but the behind-the-scenes stadium tours (Sir Matt Busby Way, 868 8000, manutd.com, £13.50) are highly regarded.

Culture

The Lowry hosts theatre, opera and ballet as well as big-name comedy shows. The Manchester Opera House (Quay Street, 828 1700, manchesteroperahouse.org.uk) tends to focus on touring shows from London's West End and big musicals, while the Royal Exchange Theatre (St Ann's Square, 833 9833, royalexchangetheatre.org.uk) is arguably the city's most exciting. Plays are performed in the round and the audience is virtually on the stage. For art-house cinema, The Cornerhouse (70 Oxford Street, 200 1500, cornerhouse .org) is a much-loved stalwart that also features a gallery and cool cafe.

On foot

Visit Manchester hosts a series of downloadable MP3 walking tours on its site (visitmanchester.com). Topics include Manchester: Then and Now and the Salford Quays, plus a few real ale pub-crawl routes. If you want to give your boots a proper outing, however, the Peak District is right on the doorstep. The Hope Valley train line from Manchester to Sheffield stops at numerous villages — such as Edale and Hope — on the way. They all take less than an hour to get to and most are perfect starting points for walks. www.visitpeakdistrict.com.

Follow the leader

Most of Manchester's tours work on a private booking basis where the price is entirely dependent on how big a group you can get together. Those interested in the Manchester music scene can take a two-hour walking tour (+44 7958 246 917*, manchestermusictours.com) of the major historic venues with Craig Gill — formerly of Manc band, the Inspiral Carpets. It's also possible to tour the BBC television studios (+44 1732 427 770*, www.audiencetours.co.uk/bookings, £6.15), which includes the opportunity to play at weatherman or girl. Tour Manchester (431 7030, tourmanchester.co.uk) runs themed walks for £6, with topics ranging from the city's cotton history to gangs and slums.

EAT & DRINK

Cafe culture

The Northern Quarter is crammed with eccentric cafes and the Nexus Art (2 Dale Street, 236 0100, nexusartcafe.com) is arguably the most loveable of them. Run as a non-profit organisation, this basement joint doubles as an art gallery and has some great cakes and jacket potatoes to go with the video projections and carefully curated jukebox. Equally odd is Oklahoma (74 High Street, 834 1136): part idiosyncratically furnished toastie, cake and soup dispenser, part quirky gift shop. For a good people-watch, try KRO (1 Piccadilly Gardens, 244 5765, kro.co.uk), where the roof-to-floor windows and Danish-influenced menu make an agreeable mix.

Snack attack

This and That (3 Soap Street, 832 4971) looks like a grubby dive but is one of those places that has acquired legendary status. Rice and three curries are slopped up at a bargain rate and Mancunians won't hear a word against it. Smarter, and with a scatter-gun pan-Asian noodle bar ethic, is Tampopo ( 16 Albert Square, 819 1966, tampopo.com). Think Nasi goreng, pho, ramen and beef rendang. Otherwise, Arndale Market (49 High Street) is, in effect, a slightly upscale food court with everything from burritos to baguettes.

Top of the town

The giant windows in Second Floor at Harvey Nichols (21 New Cathedral Street, 828 8898, www.harveynichols.com) offer great views and the menu has inventive twists on British dishes. Gluttonous five-course meals are available from £60 ($91). Competing for the title of best in town is Michael Caines at the Abode Hotel (107 Piccadilly, 247 7744, michaelcaines.com), where the emphasis is on locally sourced ingredients and the wine-matched, eight-course tasting menu, from £105, is the top-line indulgence.

By the glass

For a bar crawl with cred, the Northern Quarter — particularly Thomas Street — is the place to head to. Elsewhere, Cloud 23 (303 Deansgate, 870 1688, cloud23bar.com), at the top of the Hilton Hotel, has sensational views of the city, an enormous cocktail menu and cool chairs shaped like puckered lips. Considerably less classy but absolutely unmissable is the Temple of Convenience (100 Great Bridgewater Street, 228 9834). This former underground public toilet still has the lavatory decor and pumps out rock tunes to go with a surprisingly extensive beer list. The Briton's Protection (50 Great Bridgewater Street, 236 5895) is fab — especially with more than 200 whiskies and a host of real ales to choose from.

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