Flights to Manchester – Destination Guide!

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About Manchester

Manchester is a wonderful cosmopolitan city that is perfect for a city break. By day take a walk around the vibrant streets, admire the dramatic architecture and discover the laid-back café culture, by night explore the range of restaurants, bars, pubs and clubs.

Offering the best shopping, sport and culture with breathtaking stadiums, stunning theatres, award-winning galleries and hundreds of varied stores, providing visitors with a diverse and exciting list of things to see, do and explore. Manchester ’s music scene has earned it a fantastic reputation throughout the world and can be experienced at concerts, nightclubs and outdoor events in the city. Festivals are a key part of city life, with cultural, musical and sporting events taking place throughout the year, and many outdoor festivals throughout the summer months.

Visit Manchester for a city break and experience a warm welcome from a cutting edge city.

Places to Visit/ Things to do

The Quays

Situated just 15 minutes outside the city centre, The Quays – a unique waterfront destination – is the perfect place to spend a day. Sports fans should head to Old Trafford for an amazing behind-the-scenes tour, take in the glittering array of trophies and sit in the dressing room. Culture vultures will be in awe of the striking architecture of Daniel Libeskind’s Imperial War Museum North. Just across the Lowry footbridge is The Lowry, with a year round exhibition programme, two theatres, a restaurant and the largest collection by Salford artist LS Lowry. Shopaholics are also catered for by the Lowry Outlet Mall where designer bargains are available at up to 60% off the recommended retail price.

Northern Quarter

Manchester’s creative, urban heart is home to countless independent fashion stores, record shops, cafes and the world famous Afflecks, a rabbit warren of a building where the trend setters flock to stand out from the crowd & shop at the 50 independent outlets over 5 floors. Also in the Northern Quarter is the Manchester Craft and Design Centre, the perfect place to find something unique for that special someone.

Chinatown/Rusholme

For the heady scent of spices and a vibrant mix of colours and flavours its got to be Chinatown. The focal point of this vibrant community is the magnificent Chinese Arch, dotted all around is some of the best Oriental cuisine in the UK. Further south, Rusholme has a mile of Asian restaurants & shops offering fantastic value for money, good quality food and a fantastic atmosphere.

Shopping

Manchester has long been known as the fashion capital of the North, it is a city with a passion for fashion and shops to match every budget. From the elite stores of Harvey Nichols and Selfridges, the luxury labels Vivienne Westwood, Armani and Agent Provocateur on King Street, the flagship high street stores Next & Topshop at Manchester Arndale and the unique vintage boutiques in the Northern Quarter. Outside of the city visit the world famous Trafford Centre, with over 290 shops, restaurants, bars, cafes and entertainment venues all under one roof.

Events

A year-round programme of fantastic events in the city (many free to enjoy) means there’s always a good reason to visit the city. Summer 2008 brings the annual Manchester Jazz Festival, Manchester Pride and the outdoor food, drink and music fiesta Summer in the Park. In Autumn, there’s the Manchester Food and Drink Festival, Manchester Comedy Festival and Manchester Literature Festival. Winter is welcomed with a star-studded lights switch on and twinkling Christmas markets selling continental food and handcrafted goods. Spring is all about the Manchester Irish Festival (the largest in the UK), Futuresonic, an urban festival of art and music, and the LGBT festival, Queer up North.

In 2009 the biennial Manchester International Festival returns. The inaugural event’s ethos was to showcase new, original work, and attracted more than 200,000 visitors in 2007. The programme included ground-breaking theatre such as Damon Albarn’s Monkey: Journey to the West, and music from icons Lou Reed, Kanye West and PJ Harvey. Expect a new range of world premieres for 2009.

Around Manchester

As an international city break destination, Manchester has lots to offer visitors; cultural attractions, world-class entertainment and a wide choice of quality accommodation. What many visitors will be amazed to discover is the city’s proximity to rolling countryside, canals and striking industrial heritage – all of which are a short hop, skip and jump away from the vibrant cosmopolitan centre.

As the northern gateway to the UK, Manchester is a great base from which to explore the surrounding region. From the magnificent countryside of the Lake District, the historic city of Chester through to the coastal attraction of Blackpool, not forgetting European capital of culture, Liverpool. So as a base from which to see the north of England or as a starting point for your trip to the UK, Manchester makes perfect sense.

Special Offers

To help you get the very best value from your summer break, Visit Manchester have put together some exclusive special offers for accommodation, restaurants, shops and attractions. Click here for further details>>

For further information go to www.visitmanchester.com>>