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Meet you at the mall: 10 things to do at the Trafford Centre

1 month ago

Hanging out at the mall isn’t just for teenagers, you know. Particularly when that mall is Manchester’s mega-shopping-metropolis, The Trafford Centre. Because aside from the hundreds of stores and restaurants, there’s a bunch of cool activities and tourist attractions there too, ranging from adrenalin-pumping extreme sports to ultra-calming aquariums.

Here we’ve listed ten of our favourite things to do at The Trafford Centre (and in its general vicinity) including new places that have just opened in 2024. From sledging on real snow to getting stuck into a group Lego build, a day out at The Trafford Centre can be about doing things you’ve never done before (as well as buying things you don’t really need, of course). Who needs retail therapy when you’ve got a starfish to stroke?

  • Archie's Atomic is one of Confidential Guides recommended things to dear near the Trafford Centre
    Trafford Park

    Archie’s Atomic

    Activities

    Archie’s Atomic is a neon pink roller rink from the local burger and shake supremos. With a giant glitterball and a colour scheme that would make even Barbie wince, it is very on-brand. The American diner goes disco.

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  • Trafford Park

    Chill Factore

    Activities

    With 180m of downhill skiing and snowboarding, Chill Factore is the UK’s longest indoor real snow slope. And though you can’t compare it to the glistening slopes of Chamonix, it offers enough action to make a day trip there a must for anyone interested in snowsports (or just larking about on a sledge).

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  • Dino Falls Adventure Golf is one of Confidential Guides' recommended things to do at the Trafford Centre
    Trafford Park

    Dino Falls Adventure Golf

    Activities

    Dino Falls Adventure Golf is the only landmark kids care about in Manchester. You can’t miss the volcano and huge dinosaurs as you drive past on the M60.

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  • A man indoor skydiving at iFLY Manchester
    Trafford Park

    iFLY Manchester Indoor Skydiving

    Activities

    If you like the idea of skydiving but not so much the idea of jumping out of a plane, this could be for you. At iFLY Manchester Indoor Skydiving, you get the weightless, flying experience without having to launch yourself off anything – the wind lifts you up rather than gravity pulling you down.

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  • King Pins Trafford Palazzo, a great place for bowling and more
    Trafford Park

    King Pins Trafford Palazzo

    Activities

    King Pins Trafford Palazzo markets itself as ‘the crown jewels of bowling’, but to be honest, they’re selling themselves short. It’s a right royal entertainment centre with bowling just one part of it.

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  • Legoland Discovery Centre Manchester - one of our recommended things to do in the Trafford Centre.
    Trafford Park

    Legoland Discovery Centre Manchester

    Activities

    Legoland Discovery Centre is Manchester’s ultimate Lego playground. If your children like building and creating with those brightly coloured blocks, then they will love it. There are evening sessions for adults available too so serious Lego architects can geek out undisturbed, otherwise adults (15+) must be accompanied by a child to visit.

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  • Nerf AX interior, a games venue at Trafford Palazzo
    Trafford Park

    Nerf Action Xperience

    Activities

    If you love charging around waving a Nerf blaster with foam ammo popping all around you, then you’re going to be excited about this.

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  • ODEON Manchester Trafford Centre is one of Confidential Guides' recommended things to do
    Trafford Park

    ODEON Manchester Trafford Centre

    Cinemas

    ODEON Manchester Trafford Centre is the shopping mall’s only multiplex with 20 screens including a massive IMAX screen. It’s enormous and a little impersonal but given its mammoth size, the ODEON is usually showing whatever it is you want to see.

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  • Tube slides at Play Factore in Manchester
    Trafford Park

    Play Factore

    Activities

    Play Factore is like a super-sized version of the traditional indoor play centre.

    It’s enormous; crawling through tunnels, clambering through spider nets and zipping down slides is only the start of it. One of the highlights of the huge play frame is the big red slide – the biggest indoor slide in the UK. There is also a toddler area with mini slides, soft play and sensory lights for age-fives and under.

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  • Trafford Park

    Sea Life Manchester

    Museums

    Sea Life Manchester is the city’s only aquarium. It isn’t enormous – for something bigger you’d have to travel to Blue Planet in Ellesmere Port – but there is plenty to keep the kids entertained for an afternoon.

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