With multiple performance spaces, bars, restaurants and shops, this contemporary arts centre attracts more than a million visitors a year to its myriad functions, which include everything from big-name theatrical productions to comedy, kids' theatre and even weddings. The centre is also home to 300 beautifully humanistic depictions of urban landscapes by LS Lowry (1887–1976), who was born in nearby Stretford, and after whom the complex is named.
Lowry
Manchester
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
28.45 MILES
Britain's largest church, this magnificent neo-Gothic building is also the world's largest Anglican cathedral. It was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott …
29.21 MILES
Museums are, by their very nature, like a still of the past, but the extraordinary International Slavery Museum resonates very much in the present. It…
1.75 MILES
Manchester's rich industrial legacy is explored in this excellent museum set within the enormous grounds of the old Liverpool St station, the oldest rail…
1.87 MILES
The story of Britain's 200-year march to democracy is told in all its pain and pathos at this superb museum, housed in a refurbished Edwardian pumping…
2.82 MILES
Manchester's second most important art gallery is arguably its most beautiful, following a restoration that saw the doubling of its exhibition space…
29.21 MILES
Liverpool's most popular museum won't illuminate any dark, juicy corners in the turbulent history of the world's most famous foursome – there's ne'er a…
28.61 MILES
The city's foremost art gallery is the national gallery for northern England, housing an outstanding collection of art from the 14th to the 21st centuries…
28.61 MILES
Natural history, science and technology are the themes of the oldest museum in town, which opened in 1853. Its exhibits range from live bugs to human…
Nearby Manchester attractions
0.16 MILES
Inside Daniel Libeskind's aluminium-clad modern building is a war museum with a difference, exploring the effects of conflict on society rather than…
0.25 MILES
The BBC's northern home is but one significant element of this vast 81-hectare site. Besides hosting six departments of the national broadcaster (BBC…
3. Science and Industry Museum
1.75 MILES
Manchester's rich industrial legacy is explored in this excellent museum set within the enormous grounds of the old Liverpool St station, the oldest rail…
1.87 MILES
The story of Britain's 200-year march to democracy is told in all its pain and pathos at this superb museum, housed in a refurbished Edwardian pumping…
2.04 MILES
Less a library and more a cathedral to books, Basil Champneys' stunning building is a breathtaking example of Victorian Gothic, no more so than the…
2.15 MILES
Britain's largest municipal library was built in 1934 to resemble the Roman Pantheon. A major refurbishment has seen the addition of a wonderful Children…
2.18 MILES
Manchester's most impressive building is the Grade I–listed town hall, completed in 1877 after a design by Alfred Waterhouse. The Great Hall is decorated…
2.27 MILES
A superb collection of British art and a hefty number of European masters are the highlights at the city's top art gallery. It's home to the best…