Calling Manchester Mumsnetters…

Recently visited to be fair it well lit up and hotels are close x

Another way is to exit the station at the front of the building on the concourse level, go across the walkbridge, turn back towards London Road, turn right, walk down to the Piccadilly Hotel (which is more of a pub), turn the corner and you are at the Motel One. Even with my dodgy hip it took me about 5 minutes to walk there.

Just seen your update on hotel - it's across the road from the station and she will be perfectly fine. Ignore all the comments and tell her to walk in the morning - trams, buses and taxis will all take longer! It's an easy walk straight down Whitworth Street to the junction of Oxford Road at the Palace Theatre/Refuge hotel and then a left turn towards the uni further up Oxford Road. It'll take her 10 minutes to get there. Man Met is on the right hand side of the road and has buildings both sides of All Saints park. Manchester is a fab city

Your daughter will be fine walking to her hotel but she shouldn't walk with her phone out she needs to put in one ear bud and have her phone tucked away out of site. The city is busy even on an evening so she won't be alone on the streets. Stick to the main streets and don't walk directly through Piccadilly Gardens as it is a bit notorious for being a hang out for sketchy characters. Everywhere else is fine. She doesn't need to get a bus or taxi to the uni either. Depending on where she's staying it'll be a 10-15 min walk to Oxford Road. It's easy to navigate and very busy. Look at google maps before she goes so she's familiar with her route

Motel one is almost inside picadilly, you could barely get closer. If she follows the directions the previous poster gave, she be outside for about 2 minutes max and nowhere near picadilly gardens

She needs to leave via the back way - to the taxi rank and it’s much quieter and safer that way as well as more convenient for the hotel

Around Piccadilly was supposed to be really dodgy in the early 1990s but I never had any problems even then. It's a lot smarter now.

this is route from hotel to MMU 16min walk or 13min by bus

@MimiGC have your daughter download citymapper

eta; she can keep her phone in her bag/pocket and listen to audible directions with earbuds

She will be fine!
Airpods in with maps giving directions so no need for her phone to be out.

A taxi would take her longer to get there than by foot. She's staying at Motel One which you can see from the station - and she doesn't have to go via Piccadilly Gardens to get there.

She can take a taxi from the station straight to her hotel. Part of the Bee bus network travels free between the main line stations in a loop so she could use that. There will be plenty of people around at the time when your DD is arriving so no worries. I lived near Manchetsre city center when I first arrived for uni and was on a very tough council estate. As for the beggers I always walked swiftly past without making eye contact. Dont feel bad about this. Many of them are not genuine homeless - especially in the city center. Picadilly Gardens can be intimidating so best to keep her phone out of sight and valuables close.

If she's staying at Motel One she needs to follow the blue signs inside the station for buses and taxis, metrolink and way out (Fairfield St). She will have to go down some escalators within the station to get down to street level and will come out on the corner of Fairfield St/London Rd able to walk over London Rd and right towards Motel One. It will take her two minutes and she shouldn't have any hassle at all.

Try google mapsing a walking route from inside Picadilly (I chose Sainsbury's as a starting point as I know it's near the way out she needs to use). Most of her steps are within the station to get her down to street level. She will be absolutely fine to get to the hotel from the station, I promise!

Everyone else has explained the buses and google maps will see her right there, too.

ETA She doesn't need to go anywhere near Piccadilly Gardens on her walking route between station and hotel. The hotel is between the station and the Gardens so she's perfectly placed for getting transport the next day (I assume)

Piccadilly Gardens is an absolute cesspit but outside of that she should be fine. I’ve been here two decades and the amount of aggressive begging in the city centre was getting ridiculous. I actually think it’s fallen away though.

I understand your worry about your daughter being alone in an unfamiliar city for the first time.

There are two main exits from Piccadilly railway station. One is next to the taxi rank on Fairfield St (at the junction of Fairfield St and London Rd, near a Costa and cash machine on Google maps) and the other is kind of up a side road/spur called Station Approach which runs from street level up to the station alongside London Road, which is a busy road.

I've just looked on Google maps. On Streetview, it looks like there's an entrance to the hotel on London Rd not far from the Fairfield St/London Rd entrance (?).

To get to the Oxford Rd campus of MMU, there are many, many, many buses from Piccadilly Gardens (I think 42,142,43,143 as well as several others, she can ask a bus driver there tomorrow. I'm sure they'll help). There are also regularly trains between Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Oxford Rd stations, although the university is a walk or bus ride from the station.

From Manchester Oxford Rd station, which the buses mentioned above will pass) your daughter, should walk down the approach road (down the hill to the junction), turn right onto Oxford Rd so that Sainsburys and the Palace Theatre are both on her left, cross the main road (Oxford Rd) to the bus stops on the other side and then get the bus south away from the city centre towards the universities). She could also walk down the same road to the university. It's one straight road to where the Oxford Rd buildings are.

If she's going to the newish campus in Hulme, she will need to check which bus goes there (I think one is a Trafford Centre bus, but I'm not sure). It's potentially walkable but several blocks further so probably easier to get a bus or taxi the first time.

Google maps is usually pretty good at planning a route worth public transport.

I do live in a city - not London and Ubers are really cheap in Manchester and very quick to arrive too. Buses are fine to get around on.
Do parents not go on university tours these days? I remember my dad coming to all of mine.

Buses which would take her to the Man Met area of Oxford Road include the 42 (heading to Stockport), 43 (Manchester Airport), 142 (East Didsbury), 111 (Southern Cemetery), 15 (Flixton), 85, 86 (Chorlton Bus Station). There are others too but she should be fine with any of the above as there are so many buses so frequently along that road. If she goes to Piccadilly bus station in Piccadilly gardens she can pick up any of them from there

The entrance is on whitworth st for sure. Very close to the corner of London rd/whitworth St.

OP I hear your concerns which I feel are valid as based on your experience. It’s normal. It’s an unfamiliar city. The city centre is busy all the time these days as so many people live in town. Just apply normal common sense for any city. Good advice on here and ignore people saying you over anxious

Google maps works great for walking directions and public transport. Tells you exactly which stop, what bus number, when it’s due. Also Bee Network app for Manchester specific public transport guidance

It will be busy, there are streetlights and cctv, she has a mobile phone you probably track.

Just tell her to be aware of jer surroundings, not have earpods in etc.

She would be fine even walking through Piccadilly until about 9pm I would say. Darkness means nothing in the city in early evening, it will be well-lit and very busy.

Yes there are all sorts of characters in the city but that is a city. You and she don't need to be worried, as long as she is aware of her surroundings.

Why doesn't she use Google Streetmaps to look at the route to her hotel? She can view the streets and landmarks so she knows exactly where she is going. I always do that when I don't know a place.

Getting to Man Met is easy the next day-- go back to piccadilly gardens, the side which has a tesco and spa, a Bullgogi restaurant on the corner and the big ugly Mercure hotel. She can get any bus 142, 42, 143, 43, 250, 84, 85 and it will go right past there. Or the free bus but that goes everywhere else in the world too and potentially the stops are less clear. It is even walkable easily from Piccadilly Gardens if she uses her phone and very safe, busy main streets etc.

If you want to message me the approximate place she is staying I can advise on how best to safely walk there, I have lived in and worked in Manchester for years at the uni so have seen many open days! Manchester is great.