15 unusual wedding venues in Manchester

Afflecks, previously known as Afflecks Palace, is a hip indoor market spread over four floors. Established in 1982, it’s a Manchester institution.

It’s a dream come true for kids of the 90s: a chance to show off your skills on the legendary TV game show, The Crystal Maze.

The East Lancashire Railway has a long and rich heritage, stretching all the way back to when the first trains steamed into Bury in the 1840s.

Visitors to Elizabeth Gaskell’s House can explore the author’s home where she wrote most of her novels such as North and South and Cranford.

With five cinemas, two theatres, a bookshop, and over 500 sqm of gallery space, HOME is one of Manchester’s biggest and most dynamic arts venues. 

Hotel Football is about as near to Old Trafford as you can get without camping on the penalty spot. Located directly opposite Manchester United’s ground, the hotel is as on-brand as you’d expect. After all, it’s the work of Gary Neville and some of his Class of 92 counterparts.

Mosey down Mosley Street between Piccadilly Gardens and St Peter’s Square, and you can’t miss the Greek columns that flank the front of Manchester Art Gallery. It’s one of Manchester’s most visited cultural attractions thanks to its central location and extensive collection of historical and contemporary art.

Manchester Museum reopened in February 2023 following a £15m transformation to make it more inclusive and more imaginative in how it tells its stories.

The People’s History Museum tells the story of the development of democracy in Britain. It’s the only museum in the UK that focuses on the revolutionaries, reformers, workers, voters, and citizens who believed in ideas worth fighting for, like equality, social justice and co-operation.

The Portico Library is as peaceful and relaxing as any library could be, despite being situated on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre with trams zipping past every few minutes.

Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre is an exciting clash of modernity and history and the same can be said of its programming.

For spine-tinglingly close views of the huge planes landing and taking off at Manchester Airport, head to the Runway Visitor Park.

Boxing has been taught at Salford Lads Club since it opened back in 1903. The founders, the Groves brothers, wanted to get the local lads off the streets and out of the gangs, and boxing was one way to do that.

Much like the once mighty industrial power of the North, Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum has shrunk noticeably over the years. But it’s still well worth a visit.

Only open on Wednesdays (and closed entirely during the winter months), Victoria Baths isn’t fully geared up as a visitor attraction. But it’s still one of Manchester’s most beautiful and best-loved buildings. If you get an opportunity to see inside, take it. You’ll be smitten.