i will be landing in manchester on a saturday in march, and by monday or tuesday fly out of stansted.

what interesting/scenic towns can one visit, (on public transport)?? between these two cities or their environs?

any names of nice b+b/ clean 1-2 star hotel would be appreciated, restaurants, etc.

Cambridge is close to Stansted, with lots of historic college buildings. The journey to Stansted takes about 30 - 45 minutes by train or bus.

Getting from Manchester to the Stansted area isn't necessarily straightforward.

Go to http://www.centraltrains.co.uk/_your...timetables.htm for a map of the railway line from Manchester to Cambridge. You want to download details of the Liverpool-Norwich and the Birmingham-Stansted routes.

On that line Peterborough's a run of the mill town with a wonderful medieval cathedral. Ely is a wonderful little town, much of it medieval, with an even better cathedral.

The stopping train from Manchester to Sheffield goes through glorious scenery, best appreciated by walking through it (there are circular walks from most stations once you get into the scenic bit, but you need to pre-research them). The only man-made thing worth seeing on this bit is Chatsworth House, which is a bit of a detour, but is worthwhile.

Between Sheffield and Ely, you're in a bit of a visitor desert. If you lived here, there'd be quite a lot of things worth seeing: if you're here for three days, just get a train through it.

Manchester city centre has quite a lot of interest, with many museums, art galleries, shops, etc.

http://www.manchester.gov.uk/visitorcentre/

The Peak District is lovely but the weather could be variable in March. Chatsworth is open from 16th March but might be a bit out of the way.

Why not stay in Manchester for a couple of nights and then on to Cambridge.

after researching a bit more, looks like manchester merits the entire weekend. stansted flight not purchased yet so might just stay in manchester area.
that said, any very close by village worth going to for the morning or day or lunch, weather permitting?

next request.. good clean b+b or non-luxury hotel under 80 pounds in town u can recommend?

For something different, you could jump on a train in Manchester to Buxton, in the Peak District.

http://www.buxtononline.net/

For reasonably priced accomodation, you could stay in a Travel Inn:

http://www.travelinn.co.uk/TI/index....inn&id=364

- or you may like the historic city of Chester, another train ride from Manchester

http://www.chester.gov.uk/main.asp?page=47