To think that Manchester is awful?

🙄

Not keen on Manchester, although I live not too far away. Things I like to do are too far spread out, it doesn’t have a cohesive feel, like Liverpool, which I prefer. And Liverpool has a river, which always makes a difference.
I also find Mancunians can be a bit dour and not that great company, unlike scousers!

Agree (except Real Madrid are the best team in the world).

National sport too. Niche😂

Football. Yawn. It's really niche tbh.

One of the biggest clubs in the world and probably the best team in the world. In one city. So niche.

It's got the best job market up north and one of the best outside London in UK (including Salford Quays as well).

Students are less likely to stay in somewhere like York as it won't have the same job opportunities.

If you want to fit in get an Oasis hair do, a fancy cagoule and do that walk like you’re wearing a full nappy.

But seriously, a handful of people are chippy everywhere. And why shouldn’t some of them be in Manchester? It’s punched above its weight culturally for years.

Liverpool is Ok - a bit small though, same with Leeds.

Have u tried Brum - that’s my favourite city!

I'm a city girl, and a northerner. I'm not fond of Manchester. There's only so many times you can have something to eat in a day and beyond the restaurants and bars there isn't a great deal to actually do. When you consider Liverpool is about 40 miles down the road and is packed full of touristy stuff, tours etc there isn't really a comparison.

I also find the atmosphere markedly different during the day and in the evening. I'm always glad to be leaving as people are pouring into the city for their nights out as there's quite an aggressive vibe.

I also am not keen on the nasal accent, but my own accent is also one that many dislike (including me!)

I'm as urban person as you can be and have never voted Tory in my life.

I've lived in Manchester on and off for several years. I find Manchester ugly. Liverpool and Newcastle are much more attractive cities. Leeds is ugly too but has a better vibe There is nothing about Machester's nightlife, food scene that isn't bettered by London.

And while MOST Mancs are fabulous and fun, a handful are chippy as hell and a downer to be around - you're one of them. Someone doesn't like your city, doesn't make them sneery fascists.

Oooh if you haven't already, I'd recommend the Grand Union canal walk from Paddington into the North-west surburbs towards Wembley way - you get to see the area's industrial history which is still present today with all the factories located that way up near the canal (McVities etc.). If you come up from the canal to the streets, you can explore Kensal Rise cemetery (one of the great Victorian ones) or walk further along to Wembley where they are loads of streets full of asian food and jewellery/clothes shops - it's always been there, but is being reinvented as one of the Mayor's Creative Enterprise zones... But along the way, there are loads of suburbs that are great for wandering around with lovely little gems (such as the massive temple in Neasden, or for something completely different, Ace Cafe!!

Most people do it the other way and walk to Paddington basin but that's bit boring I think!

Ooh, any recommendations? I'll be staying in moorgate so starting off from there and likely ending up in islington. But I'm quite familiar with islington as my in laws live there so probably won't spend too much time stravaiging there!

I'd never heard of it before - what a lovely word! The quieter London suburbs are particularly great for this. Enjoy the wandering - am jealous!!

Exactly.

Most of the haters probably live in some tedious Tory voting S.E. commuter town.

Anyone who doesn’t like Manc doesn’t like urban life.

I've been a couple of times, and I find it a bit meh. Once for work, did have a good night, ended up in a jazz bar, then once to go see the Corrie set. Actually, just remembered I've been there another time in between those times, to stay with my husband when he was working there, and I was working not too far from Manchester at that time. But yeah, it's not a place that my husband and I particularly enjoy going to to be honest. Maybe I've been conditioned by my husband's football chanting of "oh Manchester, is full of shit, oh Manchester is full of shit". Apologies Mancunians, I can't stand his football chants either. I'm not a fan of the accent either (runs for cover).

I went to uni there. It’s a horrible city. The uni is good but I would never have stayed there post-graduation.

I went to manchester university in 1998 and graduated in 2001 it was still the victoria uni then separate from umist.

It is vastly different now the maths tower and precinct centre with the bridge over oxford road have been knocked down.

I have appliied for a job at the uni.

I live in middleton so i didnt need to stay in halls of residence.

On every northern thread someone has to be a dick 🙄

We’ve got Roman ruins in a really lovely grassy spot near Castlefield/Deansgate which is perfect for picnics on sunny days like today and yesterday

See. We are talking all kinds of stretching when we are using the Roman ruins.

Next you'll be saying 'take a walk through the city along the canal whilst dodging the human shit, it's great.

Honestly. I know there's local pride, but it's really not a particularly tourist friendly city.

No one who isn't from Manchester would rave about it like this!

The imperial war museum is great but I'm not sure how many under tens id take. I do rate that.

Salford Quays is unbearably soulless. The BBC used to do tours but they used COVID as an excuse to discontinue them permanently. I don't do Corrie so that's lost on me completely.

The art galleries are a bit meh and small if you are used to other cities of much note. I've never felt the need to go back, compared to Liverpool's.

Mosi is great. However the closure of parts of it in recent years is a little disappointing.

Football. Yawn. It's really niche tbh.

You can't get near the town hall due to the renovation. Hopefully it'll be great once done though.

Afflecks. Good in the 90s when you were in your teens and early twenties. Now? Meh. Massively over rated especially by locals.

The Northern Quarter is still a bit meh if you aren't eating or drinking. If you are eating or drinking it's cracking. Fred Aldous excepted (I could quite happily spend thousands of pounds I don't have in there). Even then there's better parts of town now for eating and drinking - people who recommend the Northern Quarter are stuck in a bit of a time warp tbh.

I'd also argue with this a bit as dated:
Chinatown is a bit gritty but you can get some really decent food in the basement restaurants (if you're prepared to endure bad service, formica tables and plastic cutlery for amazing food

The redevelopment of Oxford Road has changed things a lot and expanded Chinatown really. I'd argue there's Old Chinatown and New Chinatown now. There's some great little places in the newer part which aren't 'gritty' at all. And I have to say some of the restaurants in the older part aren't as bad as you suggest at all and are very good value for the city centre

There's a bunch of really good craft breweries and taprooms which are fab if you like your beer - and they are reasonably priced.

I go into town a lot, but really, no I don't rate it as somewhere to take visitors for a 'tourist' day.

Don't get me started on the Christmas Markets. They've firmly jumped the shark and the city is even more hellish than it needs be in December (I'm a Christmas nutcase who loves sparkly Christmas things, but it's over priced, sprawling and unbearably busy to the point it felt like a crush risk the last time I went.

And yes I'd argue that in a lot of ways it's peaked and seen better days.

I love Manchester but... It doesn't compare as a tourist city well.

Lots of superior Londoners/ Southerners on this thread. I like London but everyone I work with in London lives at least 90mins from our west end office in shiity boring places I won't name for fear of being just as obnoxious as the Manchester haters. If you actually live in Central London I would say lucky you because it costs a bomb but I don't fancy the attitude or the lifestyle.

End of the summer hols I jump on a tram for 15 mins, take DS to the science museum for a play (cos it's raining, of course) then on to the free bus and head over to the Northern Quarter to a shop selling manga and funkopops, he loves it there, then we went to his fave Japanese restaurant in Chinatown for conveyor belt sushi and dessert room upstairs. He picked up a leaflet about the mid autumn harvest festival whilst we stopped to get dragon fruit and seaweed from the Chinese supermarket. So last weekend he drags me off to that festival and it was fabulous. A really welcoming, cultural insight into Chinese traditions. Its great living somewhere where that's on your doorstep. I take my dc to the Halle or to the lowry and royal exchange theatre. There's loads of great parks and museums. It's not London but it is good fun here.

YANBU left 18 years ago and every time I go back I’m glad I don’t still live there. Even the “naice” suburbs are traffic congested and boring AF.

Give over, there's hundreds of millions of United fans. Manchester is only a couple of million population. So yeah, most of them will not be from Manchester. Same with Liverpool. The two biggest English clubs by some distance.

Love Manchester. 💕

@IDontHateRainbows exactly this! You can walk and walk in London and see so much. The Thames path from the south right into London Bridge is amazing, through Rotherhithe and Wapping and seeing all the history there. And then the city, Covent Garden, soho and the amazing restaurants, the west end and the canals in north London. You can never get fed up of it and although I lived in SE London for 15 years I never felt out of place, which ironically I did when I returned home. I sort of hate the fact it's so much better, but it really is something else to live in London and experience everything it brings.

If you like galleries, we have the Whitworth and Manchester Art Gallery.

John Rylands Library on Deansgate is phenomenal, Chetham’s is the oldest public library in Britain and my personal favourite is the Portico, a former private library tucked away behind a seemingly innocuous door on the street near Manchester Art Gallery - they do amazing gourmet toasties.

Northern Quarter is trendy and buzzing - some really lovely cafes - and home to the superb Matt and Phred’s if you’d rather a drink with live music.

Plenty of decent shopping heading down towards Victoria and another favourite pub, Sinclairs Oyster Bar (cheapest drinks, best quality and in a quirky old building nestled in the shadow of the Cathedral - well worth a visit).

The Cathedral itself is well worth looking up, as is St Ann’s Church and a tiny hidden church tucked away between super tall buildings near Lincoln Square that we always called the Hidden Gem (but actually known as St Mary’s!). I was a bit shocked a couple of weeks ago to find they’d knocked all those buildings down to show off the church (and a bit sad, really, as it always felt like the best little secret).

We’ve got Roman ruins in a really lovely grassy spot near Castlefield/Deansgate which is perfect for picnics on sunny days like today and yesterday.

Theatres - oh, you missed a treat if you didn’t find the Royal Exchange theatre, near the equally lovely St Ann’s Square. The arcade is gorgeous and again, some top notch cafes. There‘s the Opera House, Palace and Contact theatres too.

There’s also the square and exhibition space at HOME - the buildings in that end of town are ace! One is made of overlapping bronzed scales, another completely covered in greenery. They’re new since I left a decade ago but holy heck, they’re new faves since I made it back!

Super close on the tram to Salford Quays, which now has a really nice waterfront thanks to Media City.

Platt Field’s Park is a lovely spot of an afternoon, with the lake and the ducks, as is Whitworth Park for that matter.

Mostly, though, it’s the vibe of the place. Just look at the buildings as you walk by…when you really look at them, they’re all uniquely beautiful. Each different but all interesting. Take some of the back streets and you can practically see the last 300 years of history unrolling in front of your eyes.

I’ve missed so much but gone on enough - I love my home town. I tried to leave after school but came back. I tried to leave after uni…but came back. It’s gritty and alive…with pockets of breathtaking beauty that are all the more so for being so unexpected.

You shoulda come with me - I’d have shown you all the good spots!

Her house isn't in a great part of town