Four days in Manchester
 

Hi, our plans are shaping up for later this spring/summer and I just wanted to run this rough draft by you -- thanks for your feedback. There will be four of us (two parents, two teens) and it's possible the kiddos may split off to do some of this on their own or do different things altogether. This is a budget trip for us with a primary focus on checking out the uni one daughter likes and getting a feel for the city/area before we head on to London and Frankfurt.

Day 1
- arrival in Manchester 9am
- take Nat'l Rail from airport into city so we get free public transit the rest of the day
- drop off luggage early at hostel, then get SIM cards and groceries
- explore Deansgate/Castlefield area
- check into hostel, nap if needed
- optional: evening, explore intu Trafford Centre and Chinese lantern festival

Day 2
- a.m. check out John Rylands Library and/or city hall
- weather permitting, day trip to Edale for short Peak District hike (get Wayfarer tickets which are cheaper than buying individual tickets)

Day 3
- use free Metroshuttles to get around
- day: uni visit for daughter
- evening: Canal Street, Chinatown? (or relax in hostel)
- night: laundry and pack up

Day 4:
- use free Metroshuttles to get around
- a.m. uni visit continued
- early afternoon: depart for London

Trafford Center ain't all that. It's just a big shopping mall. The restaurants there are forgettable. But the movie theater is pretty nice.

Chinatown is very, very, very small and it can be done in about an hour. Two hours if you take a leisurely lunch.

I am saddened to see that you have not planned to explore Curry Mile. I'd do that over going to Trafford Center.

http://theculturetrip.com/europe/uni...art-galleries/

The Whitworth is probably world class if a little small, the others are generally good

Trafford Centre! You have got to be kidding me.

Where is Rubicond when you need him.

sparkchaser, the Curry Mile isn't what it used to be, with most of the restaurants now converted into Shisha cafes and the overall standard of food down there is pretty poor. There were a number of the original places closed by the authorities for poor hygiene which started the House of Cards syndrome. The ones that appear to be "recommended" are the ones still paying to advertise on certain Manchester websites. Rusholme is best left to students who want to eat down to a price level.

The better Indian (and I include Pakistani/Bangladeshi/Punjabi/Nepalese) are mostly in the City centre:

Akbars -- Liverpool Road
Lal Qila -- Deansgate
Rajdoot -- Albert Square
East z East (two locations) Blackfriars St & Princess St

I've listed them in order of nearness to the OP's accommodation.

That may be but Curry Mile is still an impressive sight for an American. Plus, the sooner the daughter sees it, the better because as you pointed out it's cheap non-pub grub for students.

I had a list of about a half dozen places that a coworker recommended to me but that email is long gone. :(

Rubicund, since I have your ear: where is the best market for fresh seafood in Manchester? A coworker is convinced that the only place in Manchester one can buy live crab is from a single Asian grocery store, but I figured that if the Warrington covered market has a guy selling live crab then surely Manchester has a handful of places where live crab can be found.

I'm sorry to hear about Rusholme.
I remember shopping with an Indian fried for a wedding sari.

In one shop, we were told, "You'll be back. You won't get quaity like this in any other shop".

After traipsing for miles and going to every sari shop in Rusholme, we did return.

The owners laughed like drains.

bilbo, I agree that the Whitworth is world class--we saw an exhibition of Japanese photography there not long ago, it was stunning.

The OP could also have a look at the People's History Museum on Bridge Street, much nearer to her accommodation, for a feel of Northern Life. My daughter is crating an exhibition there later in the year.

Kandace, while your in Manchester and if you have time, have a look at the two main websites for walking tours around the City Centre and see if any of the walks coincide with your dates:

www.manchesterguidedtours.com/
www.newmanchesterwalks.com

There's evening as well as daytime events.

sparky, there's a fish market at the High Street end of the Arndale Centre in town, but there are good fish markets in Bury and Bolton. I understand that the big wholesale Smithfield Market on Ashton Old Rd in Openshaw (10 minutes out of town) has fishmongers who sell to the public. It's worth a visit up there.

Thanks. I will pass on the information.

Thanks, I'll check into your suggestions! Will definitely add the Curry Mile to our list, but not sure about four days in a narrow boat -- we've already made hostel reservations, and we *need* to be in the city for two of the four days (including one entire day), for daughter's uni visits. I did look into whether there are any shorter-term canal boat rides but it seems we'll be too early for that. Water taxis are coming to Manchester soon, too, but not in time for our visit.

I only included the big mall because of the Chinese lantern festival -- nothing like that where we live! -- and because I doubt there's a mall even one-quarter of that size in a four-hour radius of our little farming village.

Kandace, by the way, there's still no date set for the Wayne Rooney Testimonial, originally due on the 3rd August. My contact at the ticket office tells me that there could well be an announcement after both of tonight's Liverpool game and the West Ham replay.

My daughter is crating an exhibition there later in the year.

That should have been "curating" not crating, but you never know!

I haven't seen live crab on Bury market where I go most weeks - fresh but not live.

One of the best curry houses (Manchester) is "This and That" which features on most national lists for good curry. Its dirt cheap but packed and the ambience isn't great and doubt if its open late night.....I'm talking myself out of going. But Rusholme certainly has the better atmosphere.

The Manchester walks are indeed very good.

Four whole days in Mankieland!

Just say No.

Trains were invented solely to let poor sods stuck in Manchester escape to civilisation in Liverpool. From the essential human need to get away from Mancherster, all of Western society's wealth and prosperity developed.

And the underlying logic is as relevant today as it was almost 200 years ago. If you're in Manchester and want decent Chinese food, or serious museums (OK: John Rylands I grant you, but...) or proper pubs or real architecture: get on the train and go west.

Sea breezes, great buildings and a real city: all just 40 minutes away.

200 years ago it took two agonising hours. See what progress does?

It opened the way for the Scousers fleeing Liddypool to get to Manchester where they can park their cars without getting their wheels nicked! ;)