It's Friday 12:42am in Manchester
Tips for Manchester
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David suggestsAvoid "Deansgate" and "The Locks"
Added June 16th 2008Dreadful place, big brand corporate drinking and eating holes, big prices. Lacking atmosphere but plenty of attitude. Look for the Northern Quarter instead (while it lasts).
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Ed suggestsCity INN Hotel - Great connected rooms
Added January 3rd 2008Each room has a iMac, with full internet connectivity, itunes, Open Office great for road warriors without their laptops !
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jiveen suggestssuburbs for a drink or great meal
Added June 13th 2008West Didsbury
jump in a cab from the city to West Didsbury, just ask to go to 'Burton Road'.
Drinks
At night there will be a few options - 'The Met' Metropolitan, large pub with good food/restaurant - One Lounge, sometimes crowded cocktail bar - The Railway, local bar - The Drawing Room, small but with good atmosphere.
In all, a little less formal than a drink in town, but with a good couple of options to suit most peoples tastes and all next door to each other...Restaurants - book early for peak nights
Numerious, but try Greens for good vegetarian, Rhubarb is good, Chachumba (if you can find it, on Burton Road! great food)...I'll add more as I remember all the names -
Arnold suggestsGood conference at a top hotel
Added December 3rdWent to the Marriott Victoria & Albert. Good food. Great facilities
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Cheryl suggestsCloud 23 Sky Bar
Added October 31stHilton Hotel, Deansgate
Snazzy cocktail bar on the 23rd floor of the Hilton Hotel on Deansgate. Fabulous views (especially at sunset), great cocktails. Go early as it gets very full later , and then you'll have to queue for the lift and the service slows down a lot.
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DJ suggestsRoom Restaurant main courses for £7 before 7pm
Added July 18th 2008Top of King St, centre of Manchester
Room restaurant does nice cocktails (Room Stimulant!) and main courses for seven quid before 7pm. Worth a trip just to see the massive panelled main room, too.
www.roomrestaurants.com
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Getting There
Automobiles
The M56 leads to the joys of the M6, and London in about four hours, if you're lucky with the traffic around Birmingham. Be warned when parking in town: wardens hover like vultures.
Planes
Manchester Airport (+44 (0)161 489 3000) is a 15-20-minute train trip from Piccadilly station; a cab from the city centre should cost £20.
Trains
Trains to and from London Euston run as frequently as every half hour, with the journey on the Virgin Pendolinos taking just two hours and 20 minutes.
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Local Knowledge
Dialing
The code for the UK: 44. Manchester: 0161.
Reads
Dave Haslam's fantastic overview of Manchester pop culture Manchester, England (Fourth Estate).
Do go / Don't Go
Summer means long, laidback evenings on bar terraces. There's fun to be had all year round, though.
Cuisine
From trad (try a Lancashire hotpot washed down with Boddingtons) to world-class.
Taxis
Black hackney cabs can be hailed from the street; for a dependable private firm, try Radio Cars (+44 (0)161 236 8033).
Tipping
A discretionary 12.5 per cent is usual in UK restaurants.
Currency
Pound sterling.
Packing
A red scarf to wave from your seat in the Stretford End at Old Trafford; an umbrella, perhaps. The soundtrack to 24-Hour Party People.
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Worth Doing
Arts
Take a tram (Metrolink: +44 (0)161 205 2000) from Piccadilly Gardens to Harbour City, where you'll find the Lowry gallery (full of matchstick men and matchstick cats and dogs…) and the Daniel Libeskind-designed Imperial War Museum North. In town is the Manchester City Art Gallery on Mosely Street (+44 (0)161 234 1456) and the elegant Urbis building, Museum of the Modern City. For a lighter dose of Manc culture, head for the Comedy Store at Deansgate Locks (+44 (0)8705 932932), where stand-ups (good and bad) grace the stage from Wednesday to Sunday.
And...
Creative energy crackles through the studios and galleries of the Northern Quarter. Based around Oldham Street and Tib Street, it's full of fiercely independent boutiques and bars. Well-loved drinkeries include Cord on Dorsey Street, and Bluu, on Smithfield Market, off Thomas Street.
Shopping
A shopper's Shangri-la. Everything lies within easy walking distance - from Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and the boutiques of the Triangle (all based around Exchange Square); to stores such as Collezioni Armani and DKNY on King Street.
Viewpoint
The Beetham skyscraper on Deansgate is the tallest residential building in the UK , with a 24th-floor Sky Bar in which to sup bubbly and lord it over Lancashire.
Something
The Museum of Science & Industry (msim.org.uk) lies by the site of the original Roman settlement of Mancunium, detailing Manchester's industrial heritage. It also houses something that looks like the world's first-ever train station and is, in fact, the world's first-ever train station (does beg the question: where were the trains going to?).
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Diary
Early March There'll be music, comedy and Guinness at the Irish Festival (www.manchesteririshfestival.com). 22-30 July The Manchester Jazz Festival (www.manchesterjazz.com), with the Tord Gustafson Trio a star turn in 2006. 18-28 August The utterly fabulous Gay Pride. September Manchester Food and Drink Festival (www.foodanddrinkfestival.com), hailed as one of the best urban events of its kind. Mega music-industry schmooze-fest In The City (www.inthecity.co.uk) at the Midland Hotel. December Christmas markets in Albert Square and St Ann Square are perfect for giving you that festive-shopping tingle.
