By rail
Manchester Piccadilly, trains from London Euston
United Kingdom
Manchester, United Kingdom
Industrial heritage, music and football
Getting there
By air
Manchester Airport (MAN), ~14 km
Best time to visit
May to September — milder, drier days
Don't miss
The John Rylands Library
The Science and Industry Museum
Manchester Cathedral
The Northern Quarter
Things to do
Football at Old Trafford or the Etihad
The Northern Quarter's cafés and music
Museums of science and industry
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Mark Andrew · CC BY 2.0
What to pack
Layers, a rain jacket
A quieter corner
The John Rylands Library's Gothic reading room
Questions travellers ask
When is the best time to visit Manchester?
May to September — milder, drier days. What to pack: Layers, a rain jacket.
How do I get to Manchester?
Fly into Manchester Airport (MAN), ~14 km.
What is there to do in Manchester?
Football at Old Trafford or the Etihad, the Northern Quarter's cafés and music, museums of science and industry. A quieter find: The John Rylands Library's Gothic reading room.
What should I eat in Manchester?
Lancashire hotpot, curries on the Curry Mile and Manchester tart.
About Manchester
- Inland
Where it is
Manchester is a city in north-west England, United Kingdom, at the heart of Greater Manchester, on the River Irwell south of the Pennine hills.
History
Manchester was a Roman fort and later a market town, and in the late 18th and 19th centuries it became the world's first great industrial city, built on cotton mills. Its later life gave the world the computer, Manchester United and a famous music scene.
People
Mancunians are known for their accent, their humour and their music, and the city's long history of migration has made it one of Britain's most diverse.
Known for
- Its industrial heritage
- Manchester United and Manchester City
- Its music scene
- The Northern Quarter
Did you know?
In 1948 the Manchester Baby became the first computer to run a program stored in its own electronic memory.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.