willit

I've been to Manchester several times - but by "been to" I mean "seen the inside of a football stadium" or "attended a business meeting".

On Friday I am attending a friend's stag party at the Manchester Beer Festival, and am flying back from Manchester on the Saturday evening. This gives me 5 or 6 hours between being kicked out of the hotel until needing to leave for the airport.

Can anybody suggest something to do? I'm open to suggestions - Museums/art galleries/markets/interesting walks - just nothing too strenuous in case my head hurts.

I'll be in central Manchester, and reliant on public transport.

bilboburgler

Two fine art galleries and China town for eats.

http://www.manchestergalleries.org/ (next to China Town)

http://www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk/ about a mile and a half's brisk walk

ESW

The Manchester Museum of Science and Technology is exxcellent.
http://www.mosi.org.uk/

Rubicund

Have a lookin Rylands library on Deansgate and St Ann's Church in St Ann's Square.

Alternatively take a look inside the Town Hall and then St Mary's church on Mulberry St just behind Albert Sq. All of the above are within a three minute walk of each other.

Morgana

The pre-Raphaelite paintings at the Manchester Art Gallery mentioned above are amazing.
Agree that the Museum of Science and Technology is excellent too. It covers a huge area and if you are feeling a little 'delicate' it has lots of benches and seats in quiet corners where you can rest up.
If you are feeling delicate though it might be wise to avoid the mock up of the Victorian Sewer complete with authentic smells!

dotheboyshall

http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-north

dfourh

Ditto on the Manchester Museum of Science and Technology - - it's more than just nuts and bolts, it gives you a real sense of history.

And then there's the curry mile...

dfourh

Another fun thing to do is take the light rail out to Bury. In addition to a picturesque transport museum, there is a classic indoor market there (where you can get some of the famous Bury black pudding grilled up fresh).

willit

Thanks for all the suggestions - I like all of them, but the nerd in me is going to insist I go to the Museum of Science and Technology.

Rubicund

dfourh, forget the Curry Mile. A lot of the restaurants that weren't closed for hygiene reasons are now Shisha cafes.

Rubicund

Good choice willit. You're surrounded by good places to have lunch too, to get that hangover beaten!. Try:

Albert's Shed in Castlefield, across the road from MOSI. Great food.
Dimitri's, corner of Deansgate, Greek/Mediterranean
Akbar's Pakistani/Punjabi 150 yards down Liverpool Road
Evuna opposite Dimitri's Spanish-Great tapas

RM67

We liked Velvet Hotel (Canal St) for the affordeable and decent quality lunch and dinner set menus. I had masala fish on bombay potatoes and loved it. They also have a cocktail bar.

I wish I could come up with something that didn't involve shopping or eating (Selfridges and dim sum were our other 'activities' when we visisted last spring). Oh, and there might be something on at the Royal Northern College of Music worth a couple of hours - we saw Agnes Obel there.

PalenQ

and smackopposite the fabulous science museum is the old set or Coronation Street - think they have visitors but not sure - if a Corrie fan check it out - the new set is in the docks I believe and not open for visitors as the old one was.

check out the world's oldest railway station - part of the Underground Manchester museum of the Victorian sewage system, etc.

I loved Manchester and Manchurians!

PalenQ

Oops - natives of Manchester are not called Manchurians but Mancunians!

Rubicund

True, Pal but I have been a candidate. The original Coronation St set has reopened to visitors: http://www.coronationstreettour.co.uk/

It was open in the 80's, but closed in 1999.

As a Corrie afficionado Pal, had you heard that Anne Kirkbright, who played Deidre, passed away a couple of days ago from breast cancer?

willit

Thanks again for all the suggestions. I did enjoy my visit.

The beer festival was overwhelming - just too much choice with well over 400 beers. Sitting in a Velodrome, drinking with friends, and watching the UK national team preparing for the forthcoming world track cycling championships was highly entertaining.

On the Saturday, I took dfourh's advice and took the tram to Bury - spending a short time at the market and sampling the Black Pudding. I think I'll put the latter down to experience

I then returned to Manchester and spent about 3 hours at MOSI. I particularly loved the working steam engines - some parts of the male brain just never grow up.

ESW

"some parts of the male brain just never grow up."

It's not just the men - daughter aged 8 was fascinated by them too... Tere is something so evocative about the smell of them.

Rubicund

Bury Market is worthwhile if you want to shop there, not sure about as a tourist attraction! The Velodrome is a fantastic place, one of the main reasons that the British Cycling team did so well in the Olympics.

The beer festival was excellent and well worth the trip.

willit

"Bury Market is worthwhile if you want to shop there, not sure about as a tourist attraction! "

I just fancied the tram ride out there - see a bit of the surrounding areas, and I've rarely met a market I didn't like.
Besides, my head hurt, and I thought it might be a gentle start to the day

willit

If it wasn't for the call of the MOSI, I might have caught the bus from Bury to Ramsbottom - if only because I loved the name.