Visit Manchester

Manchester City Center

In downtown

Amid the welcoming bustle of the city centre, Piccadilly Gardens is a green space with a difference. Redesigned by a Japanese architect, these 21st-century gardens are cool, modernistic and controversial. Take a bird’s-eye view from the Manchester Wheel, then steady the vertigo with a real ale at the KRO Bar.

Places to stay from $27 a night

Didsbury

4.2 miles from downtown

The streets of the outer suburb of Didsbury are peppered with Victorian mansions, homes of the mill owners who prospered there in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This district’s gracious, old-village atmosphere makes it the ideal place for quieter nights out in stylish surroundings. Pop in to the village for a choice selection of restaurants.

Places to stay from $47 a night

Old Trafford

2.3 miles from downtown

Manchester United. For many, they are the only reason they have even heard of the city. The stadium stands like a sporting skyscraper, with upwards of 70,000 people regularly packing into the arena, turning the surrounding streets into a sea of red. Hungry on match day? Stop at one of the fish and chip shops for an English tradition.

Places to stay from $35 a night

Fallowfield

2.6 miles from downtown

With a large student population, there’s always something afoot in Fallowfield. Local bars and restaurants specialise in catering for champagne lifestyles on lemonade wages. It's worth venturing here if only for is fabulous comedy club XS Malarkey. The atmosphere is young and lively but you don’t have to be a student to get a kick out of this area.

Places to stay from $216 a night

Northern Quarter

0.1 miles from downtown

Don’t dismiss Manchester’s most “alternative” quarter as merely a hipster’s paradise. Sample a dizzying range of beers – locally brewed and from all parts of the world – in Port Street Beer House. Then soak up the brews with a chewy, cheesy, crispy pizza in “Dough”. There’s lots to do in this night-owl’s hotspot.

Places to stay from $34 a night

Castlefield

0.8 miles from downtown

Tradition meets inner-city calm. That’s what you’ll find in Castlefield, another area which proudly demonstrates the proud canal based history of the city. Recent redevelopments have not detracted from the charming character of this part of the city, with the Bridgewater Canal and the red brick bridges in particular worth a special visit.

Places to stay from $57 a night

Salford

1.9 miles from downtown

Salford has arrived at last! Investment life-blood has transformed this urban wasteland into urbane sophisticate. The theatres and art galleries of the Lowry Centre – named for Salford’s most famed “matchstick men” painter – ensure that the area is beyond cool. And the presence of ITV and the BBC ensure the city’s role as MediaCity UK.

Places to stay from $41 a night