The first industrial city, still arguing
An independent guide to Manchester — 27 landmarks, museums, parks, venues and neighborhoods, walked and written up first-hand.
The ones you came for
John Rylands Library
A widow spent a cotton fortune on a cathedral for books. It is free, and it is the most beautiful room in Manchester.
Science and Industry Museum
Built on the oldest surviving passenger railway station in the world, and free.
Castlefield and the Roman Fort
A rebuilt Roman gate, the world's first industrial canal basin, and a garden on a Victorian viaduct — all in one basin.
The Northern Quarter
Record shops, murals, coffee and late licences in the streets the city forgot about for forty years.
People's History Museum
The national museum of democracy, in a pump house, holding the largest collection of trade union banners in the world.
Manchester Town Hall
Waterhouse's Gothic town hall, the most confident building in the city, back after the longest restoration in its history.
Manchester by category
Day-by-day itineraries
Neighborhoods
The essentials
How to get in from all three airports, how the subway and the ferries actually fit together, and the history that explains what you're standing in front of.
From the guide
Eating in Manchester
A city that had no Michelin star for forty-two years, and what it built instead.
Getting Around Manchester
Walk the centre, use the tram for everything else, and know why the buses suddenly turned yellow.
How Much Does Manchester Cost
Three honest daily budgets, and the reason the museums make this cheaper than it looks.