Area Attractions

Old Trafford is one of the world’s most iconic stadiums. The Manchester United Museum and stadium tour experience offers the history of the club, behind the scenes experiences and access to exclusive areas like the press room and VIP room. The Megastore located at Old Trafford’s East Stand is the biggest shop devoted to football with thousands of items available on the shelves.

Manchester City Football Club was crowned Premier League champion for the fifth time in 2018. The new Manchester City stadium tour of Etihad is the most immersive experience in Premier League football. Feel engaged via the new 360° cinema experience and be wowed by the stunning audio-visual experience in the First Team's changing room.

Lancashire Cricket Club calls Emirates Old Trafford its home and is considered to be a world-class sporting venue. With over 150 years of history, the Club is one of the most sought-after venues for international cricket and has witnessed some of the sport’s most iconic moments. In 2019, for the first time in 20 years the ICC Cricket World Cup came back to Manchester with six nerve-wracking ties taking place at the event.

The Aquatics Centre was built in 2002 for the Manchester Commonwealth Games and is one of the biggest swimming facilities in the country. There are two 50-metre swimming pools with diving pool of varying depths, a fun pool with slides, a sauna and steam room plus other mixed leisure facilities locates right in the heart of Manchester’s bustling student area.

After the Whitworth’s stunning £15 million development, the gallery now is fully integrated into the park it now calls home. Find inside the garden an area by Sarah Price which includes a sculpture terrace and orchard garden, alongside a landscape gallery and a café in the trees which all reflect the beautiful setting. With double the room, and with exhibitions of new work by some of the world’s leading artists alongside eclectic exhibitions drawn from its internationally rated collection of British watercolours, textiles, wallpapers and fine art, the Whitworth has become one of the city’s must-see cultural destinations.

Explore the world within Manchester Museum with its four floors of displays and exhibitions in 15 galleries, featuring collections from all over the world. Founded as a natural history museum in 1821, the University of Manchester-owned museum has grown to play host to a fascinating collection of exhibits including a fossilized Tyrannosaurus Rex named Stan, anthropology collections from South America and the Museum’s Manchester gallery. In addition to the permanent exhibits, regular special exhibitions take place throughout the year. A highly recommended spot for a break, The Café at the Museum sits right next door.

The Palace Theatre has been part of Manchester’s cultural scene since 1891. The Palace plays host to a wide range of musicals, drama, children’s shows and major concerts. As one of Manchester’s premier venues for live theatre, they are proud to be bringing a wide range to top-quality productions that reflect that diversity of taste in the Manchester audience

The Manchester Apollo is one of the premier concert venues in England, with shows from every major rock, pop and comedy act on the touring circuit. The breadth of styles of events covers every market from the cutting edge of modern British music, concerts from the most popular artists worldwide, comedy shows and more. With both fully seated and part-standing formats, this versatile venue increases its footfall and presentation year on year. Art Deco in style, the Grade ll listed building has been central to the British touring circuit for decades, attracting Best Venue nominations and patrons from across the globe.

Manchester Arena is Europe’s largest and most impressive indoor concert venue with a staggering 1.2 million customers every year. Voted International Venue of the Year, 2002 and officially the Busiest Concert Venue in the World in 2004, the Manchester Arena hosts a wide range of entertainment from rock, pop and classical music concerts to family shows and world class sporting events.

The Lowry is named after L.S Lowry (1887-1976) – an artist who spent much of his life in Salford and whose work is strongly associated with the city. A magnificent building alongside Salford Quays, inside visitors will find three stunning theatres alongside the Lowry Galleries which showcase changing exhibitions by one of Britain’s best loved artists, as well as paintings, sculpture and photography from around the world. With a high variety of performances, the Lowry’s lyric and Quays Theatres offer a wealth of fabulous entertainment, including West End musicals, the very best drama, live bands, famous comedians, world class dance and opera.

The John Rylands Library, one of the world’s finest collections of rare books and manuscripts that includes the oldest know piece of the New Testament, the St John Fragment and other treasures of a vast and varied collection include magnificent illuminated medieval manuscripts and a 1476 William Caxton edition of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. This masterpiece of Victorian Gothic architecture looks more like a castle or cathedral. When John Rylands died in 1888, he was one of Manchester’s most successful industrialists with a personal fortune of £2.75 million. The library was commissioned in 1890 by his wife Enriqueta Rylands in memory of her late husband.

The Royal Northern College of Music is an international-acclaimed conservatoire and a thriving performance venue delivering and eclectic programme of music and opera. Two auditoria make this a major venue for classical music, jazz and opera performed by top international professionals as well as the RNCM’s acclaimed student ensembles. RNCM trains students to world-class levels in music through a specialised learning programme of the highest quality, delivered by internationally renowned teachers and underpinned by a unique artistic programme of performance.

The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester is a place full of amazing objects and world changing ideas. It is the world’s oldest surviving passenger railway station and the world’s first railway warehouse, built in 1830. Find out how the revolutionary railroad changed Manchester and the world forever. Be inspired by the wonder of science, enjoy live demonstrations of historic working machinery, take part in fun shows and lots more.

IWM North is part of Imperial War Museums – the world’s leading museum of war. Its unique purpose-built exhibition gives powerful voice to the extraordinary experiences of ordinary people forced to live their lives in a world torn apart by conflict. Walk through a timeline of history from the First World War to the present day. This is a place where every object on display, every contemporary work of art and every special exhibition is designed to live long in the memory.

LEGOLAND Discovery Centre Manchester is the ultimate indoor LEGO Playground and offers and inspirational and unique day out for all the family, it is designed specifically for children aged 3-10 years to enjoy – everything is child sized. There are over 2 million LEGO bricks under one roof and much to see and do such as: Kingdom Quest Ride, MINILAND, LEGO 4D Cinema, Ninjago City Adventure Playground, Merlin’s Apprentice Ride.

Enjoy visiting the world’s biggest and best football museum, delve into the social history and culture of the much-loved sport, with fascinating objects and exhibitions showing how football has become the game of our lives. The museum has a range of tours available every day with a host of family-friendly activities running across weekends and throughout the school holidays.

Manchester Arndale offers a huge selection of exciting shops from the leading high street names and various food outlets all under one roof. Manchester Arndale is the city's main shopping centre, and is located close to bus, tram and train networks which are easy to get to.

The intu Trafford Centre boasts over 200 popular shops and 60 amazing restaurants. There are options and choices for all - those who are more of a big day out shopper, or would like to catch the latest blockbuster at the Odeon IMAX, go deep underwater at Sea Life or explore the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre and Namco Funscape and Laser Quest. Delve into the Trafford Centre and enjoy all it has to offer.