

Fast forward to the summer of 2019, and my friend wanted to come visit from Germany. I was house sitting in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, a small town in Northern England, so we wanted to find a place that was close to an airport but also not too far from me. (The home owner I was house sitting for had asked me to stay longer than we’d originally agreed, and I’d already made these plans; so she found a couple to cover for me while I went away for the weekend with my friend!)
We’d narrowed our options down to London or Manchester but we’d both been to London before, and I wanted to find out what Manchester looked like in the daylight rather than an alcohol-fueled haze.


It’s such a pretty city, very compact and walkable (key for me), and it has a lot going on but doesn’t feel as overwhelming as London. We also happened to be there during the Manchester International Festival (MIF) so there were plenty of free concerts and events to attend.
Wondering what to do in Manchester THIS weekend? Go here for a list of upcoming events!

I hope you enjoy this Manchester travel guide.

HOW TO SPEND A WEEKEND IN MANCHESTER
THE NORTHERN QUARTER
After arriving (assuming you’re headed there sometime on Friday), get settled and head to the Northern Quarter for dinner and bar hopping. The Northern Quarter is a great place to go for nightlife, and is a trendy area with lots of bars and clubs.
Grab dinner at SOUP, a popular restaurant/bar that serves, you guessed it, soup! You can also order sandwiches, salads, and other mains.
After grabbing food at SOUP, we went to a random bar (sorry, I can’t remember the name for the life of me…). My favorite spot was Cane and Grain, in which the downstairs area is a chill, 80’s skate scene inspired bar, while the upstairs turns into The Liar’s Lounge, a really fun tiki bar! They were playing lots of early 2000’s throwback R&B music for people to dance to. That was fun, and made me reminisce about high school dances, ha.
I’d suggest walking around and seeing what calls to you! According to the internet, popular nightlife spots include:
- Dusk Til Pawn: A bar with a pawn shop storefront
- Hold Fast Bar: This bar is located at Hatters Hostel, and boasts a downstairs bar decorated in a nautical theme with a speakeasy vibe. There are lots of games to play too, from board games like Jenga, to old video and arcade games!
- Behind Closed Doors: A hidden basement bar that often has DJ’s spinning soul and funk music all night.
DAY 1 IN MANCHESTER
GRAB A PINT (OR 10) AT THE OLD WELLINGTON IN SHAMBLES SQUARE

Although there is ample outdoor and indoor seating, it gets really crowded (see photos above and below). We never actually grabbed a pint there because it was so busy, but it looked really fun. We mostly just walked by it every day and stared at its beauty. If we’d had more time we probably would have waited to sit, but we were on a mission to see everything we could in the city.
The Old Wellington was originally built in 1552 (!!!!!!!) and is one of the oldest buildings in the city. Over the years, it was home to everything from a draper’s shop to a fishing tackle shop to an inn. In the late 90’s, The Old Wellington and the rest of the buildings in Old Shambles were taken apart and moved to create Shambles Square.
The buildings in the square are so pretty and built in the traditional “half-timbered” Tudor style.

MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL

JOHN RYLANDS LIBRARY



It’s free to visit, but they have a cute gift shop by the entrance.
And you can actually study there (I mean duh, it’s a library at the University of Manchester, but it was funny to see people on their modern laptops in this beautiful old building), so I was bummed I wasn’t staying in Manchester longer. I would’ve loved to do some work while pretending I was an extra in a Harry Potter movie!
It took 10 years to build the library, and it became open to the public in 1900. It was also one of the first buildings to have electricity in the area!
ALBERT’S SCHLOSS

Evening entertainment includes live music or a DJ, dancers, and a dance floor. When I was there, the dancers were dressed in tennis outfits. I’m assuming it was because Wimbledon was taking place at the time, but who knows. Maybe tennis outfits are their thing! It doesn’t have a club vibe, though, and not everyone was dancing. It’s more of a chill, fun vibe, if that makes sense.

They do brunch and it looked DELICIOUS, but we could never get up in time. I’ve heard the food is fantastic, and that the bread is always made fresh in their in house bakery. Definitely stop in if you have time!
CANAL STREET
After Alber’ts Schloss, head to Canal Street! This is the gay area, and it is POPPIN’ and so fun. You’ll see drag queens, people in costumes, and all kinds of fun stuff. It kind of reminds me of the Castro in San Francisco.
It’s basically a small street lined with bars (alongside a canal, hence the name), so you can just easily pop in from one to the next!
DAY 2 IN MANCHESTER
MACKIE MAYOR


It can get pretty crowded, especially on a weekend morning/afternoon, so keep that in mind.
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY MUSEUM
From Mackie Mayor, head to the Science and Industry Museum. It’s quite a ways from Mackie Mayor, but you can either walk in about 30 minutes or take public transportation, which takes about 20 minutes.
We actually missed this, but I really wanted to go! It’s free and we meant to go each day but kept getting distracted by other things. There was brunch to be had, and lots of random street fairs that we happened upon. So we never ended up there, unfortunately. I’d love to check it out next time I visit as I’ve heard that it’s really cool!
ANCIENT ROMAN RUINS


WALK ALONG THE CASTLEFIELD CANALS



There were several other restaurants right on the water nearby, and each would have made for such a scenic place to sit and catch the sunset.
CLOUD 23 – HILTON BAR
If you have time before your flight, head to Cloud 23,聽a bar at the Hilton that supposedly has a GREAT view. I wish we had taken advantage of that, but I found out about it the last night we were there and it was already too late.
It does sound like the drinks are a little pricey, but just get one and sip slowly while you take in the view! You can also get afternoon tea if you really feel like getting your Brit on 馃槈
PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN MANCHESTER

If you’d rather take the tram, it’s certainly possible! The tram is called the Manchester Metrolink and stops in 99 different places. Check out this article for more information about getting around.
Manchester is about a 2-hour direct train ride from London, but 4 hours by car (so, definitely try and take the train!). I took the train from Saltburn-by-the-Sea, the small northern coastal town that I’d been house sitting in. It took me about 3 hours, even though it was closer, since I had to transfer and take a slower train. My friend flew in from Germany, and easily got from the airport to Manchester city center in about 25 minutes via another direct train.
WEATHER IN MANCHESTER

We visited in July, and were lucky that it was quite warm and sunny the whole time.
I hope you enjoy your visit to Manchester!
LOVE IT? PIN IT!
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