Manchester is in the north west of England. The city proper has a population of around half a million, while the larger conurbation, referred to as either Greater Manchester or Manchester City Region, has over 2.5 million inhabitants.Manchester is known by some for its influence on the histories of industry and music, and for its sporting connections. It has a large number of students. It is seen by many as the "capital" of the north of England, the second city of the United Kingdom and is home to the UK's largest airport outside London, which is owned by the ten local authorities of Greater Manchester. Others viewBirmingham as the 2nd city, however it is not an official sanction and opinion is very much divided, whilst Leeds also lays claim to capital of the north.City information
Manchester is in the northwest region of England, about equidistant between Liverpool and Leeds. Due to its proximity to the Pennines ( the range which forms England's spine, from just south of the Scottish border down into the region known as The East Midlands ), which force the prevailing Atlantic westerly clouds to rise, it receives more than
its fair share of wet weather.Manchester once had a negative reputation derived from i
ts industrial past. Things have dramatically changed in the last decade and now the city has a vibrant, exciting air. Investment in the city's regeneration following the 19
96 IRA bomb and 2002 Commonwealth Games has paid off and Manchester is well worth a visit, even if just for a couple of days, or for longer, if you plan to use it as a base to explore northern England and North Wales.
Climate
Manchester has a temperate maritime climate and rarely gets too warm or too cold. The city receives below average rainfall for the UK. It is not significantly far behind London in terms of the average number of hours of sunlight per day (within nine minutes per day, based on the last 100 years data from Met office) though it does have a few more days with rain. However, as a result of relatively mild winter conditions, there is never a period that one should avoid visiting due to extreme
weather conditions. As with any city it puts on a good show when the weather is fine in spring and summer and there is a lot of al fresco drinking and eating. It does have its fair share of dull, grey days which can strangely add to its charm for the visitor!
Buy
Manchester's shopping district is one of the most diverse shopping districts in the UK and the majority of city centre shops are within reasonable walking distance of each other (15 minutes at most) and most are served by a metroshuttle service. Even in the most upmarket stores you are treated in a friendly manner, which many think is not the case in the capital. The recently redeveloped Arndale Centre is a large 1970's city-centre shopping mall, with 280 stores across just under 2 million sqft of retail space making it the largest city centre shopping mall in Europe, including the largest Next store in the world. The place retains some of its 1970's concrete charms and STILL some of the infamous yellow tiles that are a testament to bad urban planni
ng of that era. It is connected via link bridge to the Marks and Spencer and Selfridges department stores adjacent in Exchange Square. Part awaits an update to the exterior, but the section modernised after the 1996 bomb is a great improvement, although different to that of The Trafford Centre with a more modern simplistic feel compared with the grand exterior of the Trafford Centre. The inside has had a total revamp. It does get very busy at weekends and, unlike at The Trafford Centre, there are far too few places to sit down. If you do need to sit down there are a few benches on the lower floor around the staircase near the market.There are a number of large shops aimed at bargain hunters ,including the largest Primark in the country, which is great for a bargain and much loved by US cabin crew when in town, and an Aldi food hall on Market Street (just off Piccadilly Gardens).
Do
Free Go to Cloud 23 bar on the 23rd floor of The Hilton, Deansgate. A pricey bar, but you can have a look at the skyline for free if you ask.Visit the Trafford Area of this area of fascinating industrial heritage.Manchester has a couple of big multi-screen cinemas located centrally, AMC off Deansgate (as cheap as £3.20 if you're a student) and Odeon in the Printworks show the usual
Hollywood fare; the Cornerhouse onOxford Road tends to show smaller, independent, art house and foreign language movies. there is an Imax inside the Odeon in the Printworks.Shows in Manchester, Manchester has many theatres and live music venues so see what's on when and where.Hire a supercar in Manchester; Northern Ferrari hire offer self drive supercar hire in Manchester.Eat
As you would expect from such a cosmopolitan city, Manchester has a huge selection of restaurants and eateries that serve a vast array of cuisines. Look hard enough and you will be able find any type of international food. It is also worth exploring some of the suburbs for superb, small independent bistros / restaurants. West Didsbury and Chorlton are noted for their large number of great eateries. If you can get there, the quaintly named and somewhat trendy village of Ramsbottom, just north of Bury, directly north of Manchester, is said to be "the new Chorlton", as regards restaurants, and THE place to eat .In RamsbottomRansoms has won many awards both regionally and nationally. The usual, well established UK chains like Cafe Rouge, Pizza Express, Nando's, Bella Italia etc are all to be found in Manchester city centre and out of town too.
Drink
Manchester has a diverse nightlife and can offer a wide range of night-time activities. It has a vibrant and varied nightlife scene, including numerous clubs as well as a huge range of drinking establishments from traditional pubs to ultra-chic concept bars. Very high-profile, of late, is the Cloud 23 bar on the 23rd floor ofThe Hilton, Deansgate. A bit pricey, but with attentive table service, and worth it for the views alone. By the way the personnel is very friendly and won't kick you out if you just want to have a look - you can go up for free. To avoid the sometimes 2 hour long queues, try it during the week. The bars in The SAS Radisson andThe Aurora Hotel are also upmarket. For other upmarket venues (there are some very discrete ones catering for the most privileged in town ), your hotel concierge should be of help in pointing you in the right direction.For a slightly more querky place to have a drink, The Temple of Convenience is aptly named as it is a converted underground public toilet in the city centre. The bar receives many high reviews although it's quite small and may be crowded.Famed for its musical past, the University of Manchester Student's Union on Oxford Road hosts almost nightly gigs in its three venues on Oxford road ranging from local unsigned bands to international superstars. The Manchester Apollo in Ardwick is a slightly bigger venue having boasted appearances from Blondie to new-comers like Kasabian. Smaller bands can also be seen at a range of excellent venues in the city including the Roadhouse, Night and Day, both in the Northern Quarter, and Jabez Clegg, a pub/club offOxford Road.
Source: Wikitravel.org
