1

There have been a couple of posts recently about Manchester, eg, this one:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2175649

So have a browse through those. Manchester has plenty of hotels at all budgets so you're just as well off browsing through TripAdvisor. And hostels too - you could go for a private room? Try www.yha.org.uk.

From Manchester it's easy to get to either the Lake District or the Peak District - both lovely so you're spoilt for choice. I'd say Peak District, basing yourself in Buxton maybe.

2

try....TRAVELODGE.CO.UK /
........PREMIERINN.COM /
go to Liverpool as well.
converting $ 2 £ see......XE.COM /

Edited by: yofletch

3

Agree with above. Chester is only an hour by train - old roman town with city walls etc. A bit further west brings you to the North Wales seaside resorts - Rhyl, Conway, Llandudno. York is a bit further than Chester in the opposite direction, about 1 1/2 hours by train, but probably more to see if you like museums etc. Peak District is really good, south east of Manchester with regular trains to Buxton and smaller places like Edale or Hathersage on the train line towards Sheffield - a bit further away north east brings you to Yorkshire Dales. Hope this give you some ideas to follow up.

4

Good shout by *1.... CustardCream.
Also - check-out....

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2179467

Best of luck with everything.

5

If you're big music fans the Northern Quarter (around Oldham St) is a good place to explore - heaps of record shops & my fave place is the Richard Goodall Gallery, which has some amazing screen print posters of various bands & artists. http://www.richardgoodallgallery.com/ There's also lots of great cafes & bars in that area.

Can't recommend this because haven't done it but looks interesting:

http://www.manchestermusictours.com/

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Thanks much! I love thorn tree posters!

7

As above: the Lake District, Peak District, Yorkshire Dales and North Wales are all within easy reach, and teeming with accommodation from B&Bs to posh hotels as a quick google will reveal. Tons of options and sights. My personal favourite out of that lot is the Lakes. Keswick is a good base. If you're into a bit of hill walking, the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel in Great Langdale is a good spot. There's the posh hotel side and the climber's bar with great beer, company and atmosphere, and plenty of wet socks drying on the stovepipe fire. You could splurge and stay in the hotel or camp in their field next door, amidst great scenery.

York's a great city: very historic, lots of historic ruins and buildings (Roman, viking, medieval), great museums (e.g. Castle Museum, Jorvik Viking Centre, National Railway Museum), tons of traditional pubs (including the Micklegate Run pub crawl) and definitely a bit of a student music scene, which you'll find in all British cities somewhere, to be fair.

The whole countryside in the north of England and North Midlands is full of old stately homes, some dating back to medieval days and others built by folk who made their money during the Industrial Revolution. If you get a hire car and decide to take in places like the Yorkshire Dales and York, you're not too far from Castle Howard, a particularly notable one and the place where Brideshead Revisited was filmed. Closer to Manchester, Chatsworth House in Derbyshire is also good, as mentioned above.

Many old castles in the north of England were destroyed in the Civil War in the 1600s, but there's still plenty of stuff about. Conisbrough Castle near Doncaster is still in decent nick and dates back to 1086 (the church is older still), and that's not too far from the Peak District and Sheffield.

Getting back to music, Liverpool's just down the road from Manchester if you wanted to do a bit of a Beatles Magical Mystery Tour.

Basically, tons of options for 10 days with Manchester as a base. Have a great trip and happy 40th to your dude!

8

Hi Kendra,
There's loads of good advice for you in the post here and plenty for you to research! Just a couple of things to add. If you are going to visit the lakes and / or a couple of country houses take a look at national trust membership. As well as free entry you get free parking, so if you a hiring a car it might save you some money. A joint membership is £88 - but it can cost you £20 for two people to get entry to one Estate. Dunham Massey is a good one to check out that's near Manchester: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/dunham-massey/

Music wise Laura is right, the Northern Quarter is a great spot for record shopping and live music. Google Matt and Phreds Jazz Club, Night and Day and Soup Kitchen for some smaller live music venues in that area.

Manchester is my home town and I love the North of England so I hope you have a great trip!
G

9

Hi Kendra,

If you're other half is into his music then Manchester is a great place to go. It arguably has the biggest pull of any UK city outside London in terms of touring bands, and some great venues. Check the listing for the Apollo, Academy, The Ritz, Deaf Institute, Manchester Opera House (no, really. I saw Gil Scott Heron there a couple of years ago, which was just magic.). There are other smaller venues, along with the MEN and GMEX, but these two places are soulless arenas that I'd suggest avoiding. Having said that they do get some bigger (greedier) artists as they are the biggest venues.

The Academy has gigs on pretty much every night, and 3 different arenas, so there should be something to his fancy there.

Enjoy your trip

10

I agree with the above two, one of the good things about Manchester is lots of smallish concert venues that have some very good bands playing. The big arenas I'd avoid.

11

#11: The Revolution will not be televised.

Just avoid Lincolnshire. People there are not the same. (As Borat might say, "High six!")

12

Below is info which we compiled for wedding guests last year which hopefully will be of interest to other visiting Manchester, I have copied and pasted so the links are missing.

The tourist Information office is in St Peter’s Square (behind the Town Hall), http://www.visitmanchester.com

Galleries:

There are many large and small independent art galleries notably: The Lowry: http://www.thelowry.com/exhibitions  Manchester Art gallery: http://www.manchestergalleries.org

Museums:
Many museums, notably: Manchester Museum  www.museum.manchester.ac.uk, Urbis www.urbis.org.uk, Museum of Science and Industry www.mosi.org.uk and the Peoples History Museum www.phm.org.uk

Shopping:
All shapes & sizes can be found from high street, through to the alternative Northern Quarter and onto high end boutiques. The Trafford centre is also a short journey away.

Sport:
Manchester has some great sport especially football & cricket. Manchester united has a museum and tour which is pretty good even if you don’t like football.

Architecture:
You can wander around Manchester and check out the local architecture including Manchester Cathedral, John Ryland’s library, central library, and St Mary’s church (a hidden gem).

Random:
Great obscure walks including the underground tours of Manchester  with access to the cold war nuclear bunker www.newmanchesterwalks.com/walks-tours/

Nightlife:
Gigs: Pick up the street press in the Northern quarter- venues include Manchester Academy www.manchesteracademy.net, night and day café www.nightnday.org, band on the wall bandonthewall.org/ and moholive www.moholive.com amongst many others

Concerts: Venues include www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk , www.chamberconcerts.org and the universities, especially the Royal Northern Collage of music: www.rncm.ac.uk

Comedy: Two main venues: www.thecomedystore.co.uk and www.frogandbucket.com 

Theatres: Many larger and small theatres including the Royal Exchange www.royalexchangetheatre.org.uk and the palace www.palace.com.au

Cinemas: From mainstream www.amccinemas.co.uk/amc-manchester/  to art house www.cornerhouse.org

Bars: They’re everywhere-some great, some rubbish check out a summary of the areas: www.manchesterbars.com/location.htm (we avoid Deansgate and the Printworks, loud pop & tacky hen/stag do's but many like it…)

Pubs: Manchester has some brilliant ye old type of traditional pubs: English lounge, Shambles Square, Bayhorse, The Britons Protection, Sams chop house, The Grapes, The Vine, The Town Hall Tavern, The Nags Head, The Rising Sun, The Peveril of the peak…

Restaurants: to name a few:…El Rincon www.restaurantsofmanchester.com/spanish/elrincon.htm,
Sams chop house www.samsmanchester.thevictorianchophousecompany.com,
Piccolino's www.piccolinorestaurants.co.uk, Mary Addy www.markaddy.co.uk,
English Lounge www.englishlounge.co.uk, Chao Phraya  www.chaophraya.co.uk,
Marble Arch www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/15/1519/Marble_Arch/Manchester www.michaelcaines.com/restaurants/manchester/lunch-menu,
'high tea' at Hilton Cloud 23 bar: www.hiltonebusiness.com/projects/cloud23/events.php
China Town: www.restaurantsofmanchester.com/chinatown.htm and the “curry mile” www.restaurantsofmanchester.com/rusholme.htm are both fun places to visit but we’ve heard quality has gone down over the years.

Inner south suburbs of Manchester such as Chorlton, Fallowfield & Didsbury are also good spots for a drink and a meal and are a short bus ride away.

Local countryside:
Saddleworth Moor is good for a pub lunch and walks including Dovestones reservoir www.visitoldham.com/site/attractions/saddleworth-moor. Derbyshire High peak area is beautiful including Castleton http://www.visitderbyshire.co.uk/towns-10.ihtml

Surrounding areas
Local counties: Cheshire www.visitcheshire.com, Derbyshire www.visitderbyshire.co.uk ,Yorkshire www.visityorkshire.co.uk ,Lancashire www.visitlancashire.com ,Merseyside. www.visitliverpool.com

The Lake District is amazing and if you can get there you must. www.golakes.co.uk

Seaside: Traditional Southport www.visitsouthport.com or tackier Blackpool www.visitblackpool.com

Good food in the forest of Bowland in Lancashire www.forestofbowland.com .

The Ribble valley www.visitribblevalley.co.uk
www.nationaltrust.org.uk including Dunham Massey which has a deer park and beautiful autumnal trees and the lovely old Stately home, Chatsworth House.

Getting around Manchester
General: www.travelplans.org.uk, www.traveline-northwest.co.uk
Airport: www.manchesterairport.co.uk/manweb.nsf, There are connecting buses (24hr), trains, taxis and coaches into the city centre taking 15 minutes
Train: www.nationalrail.co.uk Victoria & Piccadilly are the main Manchester Train stations. It’s worth mentioning that trains in the UK are massively cheaper if you book in advance.
National Coach: www.nationalexpress.com
Local bus/tram: www.gmpte.com including a free metro shuttle bus
Car parking: www.ncp.co.uk/find-a-car-park.htm#manchester,%20UK

13

Good shout by *14 on Manchester public transport.
There is also an 'Evening return train ticket' available in Greater Manchester.
The price is cheaper than a single ! !
Another main station in Manchester, is Oxford Road. Very busy - too.
Not 'All' train journeys can be booked in advance.
In many parts of the UK, there are both morning and evening 'Peak' fares.
In other regions - there aren't.