Advice for Manchester holiday

[BillieHolliday]

Hi,
We have a long weekend in Manchester coming up. Me, DH, 5 yo and baby.
Neither of us have been before. We're flying in.
What is good to do with kids? Any good hotels to stay/ definitely avoid?
All advice welcome. Thank you 😊

As someone who lives here, just why?! 😂

Liverpool is tiny and pants compared to Manchester

the tram is your friend. You can get it to the Trafford centre (lego land, aquarium), Heaton Park (tons of stuff) and Salford Quays (media city, docks and war museum)

all these are a 15 min tram journey away

If your long weekend includes a full Friday or Monday, you can get an adult and toddler ticket for Legoland for £12. If it doesn't include a ticket, you can get tickets on cereal boxes, hand wash etc for 2 for 1 tickets. If DC is under 3, they go free, so you'll only need to pay for one adult.

Sealife Centre is okay but only lasts maybe an hour at most. So I'd do Sealife first then next door to Legoland - my DS can spend HOURS there.

There's a Premier Inn at the Trafford Centre and plenty of restaurants inside the food court, and there's a soft play in there, too.

The Play Factor-e is incredible but more so for older children. A toddler would get lost in there and the price is extortionate!

If it's easier for your DP to be in the city centre for a hotel, a tram out to the Trafford Centre, or a taxi, is easy enough. And within the city centre there's the Museum of Science and Industry which is fab.

Also if staying in Manchester, you can get a train from Manchester Victoria station to Halifax station which is next door to Eureka! which is absolutely fantastic for kids. It takes 42 minutes on the train and it kept my son busy all day.

Oh and the airport as PP said is a tram ride away

We love Manchester, been lots of times!
We always stay at the Salford Quays premier inn. You can walk along the quay, they've got the BBC buildings there. The tram goes into the city centre, there's a science museum as I recall. We're football fans so we go to the football museum but I guess that's not for you.

@jayhoo Lol, don’t be silly.

It just makes me laugh when I read that Manchester is crap for kids, but I really don’t think it is. There’s loads to do, all of the time - and loads for free.

Ok , a bit more love for Manchester coming in 🙂 thank you all. Especially @Motherofalegend
I'm about to go to sleep (happier with our long weekend than I was!)
I'll re-read those suggestions tomorrow. Much appreciated

At the Salford quays premier inn you can have breakfast looking out at the crazy people doing water sports in the freezing cold!
We also once got the tram to the end of the line at media city in the dark, when the kids were younger, and they loved it. We didn't get out - just rode the tram there and back for a treat!

@Motherofalegend you are too kind.

My experience is based on turning up I. Manchester and trying to find stuff to do, I've no doubt planning is you friend OP

Oh God, please don’t let your lasting impression of Manchester be the Trafford Centre!

What’s your budget for accommodation and what access to transport will you have while you’re here?

Depending on when you are coming, the Christmas Market starts in a few weeks. IWMN is worth a visit, as is Mcr Museum and the Lowry. We stayed in the Palace hotel but it was a fair few years ago; it's changed hands since but I think it's still a nice looking place. Heaton Park is lovely if the weather is good, and Salford Quays is nice for a walk around too - visit the Blue Peter garden and say hi to Shep.

If your 5-yr-old likes buses, have a look at the Bury Transport Museum/East Lancs Railway 🙂
(Bury’s at the end of one of the tram lines)
www.eastlancsrailway.org.uk/plan-your-day-out/bury-transport-museum/

Please don’t bother with the Trafford Centre!! As a northerner and someone with a deep fondness for Manchester, I echo a lot of the sentiments - Manchester isn’t a place for kids. Salford Quays is depressing as fuck and the city centre has lost its once vibrant atmosphere. I took a long walk there a couple of weeks ago and wouldn’t willingly visit again. One redeeming feature is that it is great for food.

Make sure you come back and tell us how you got on. It makes me nostalgic - I first took the kids on a whim when they were about 6 and 9, and we've been back several times since then. They're 13 and 17 now, so outgrown all our favourite haunts, but still talk fondly of our trips. We liked Liverpool and Leeds too but preferred Manchester.

All big cities have shit areas and can be run down in places. It's what you make of it. Do your research, plan some specific places (and book them if you need to), and you'll have a great time.

Raincoats and waterproof shoes.

Museum of science and industry. Aka mosi.

China town. Some great places to eat.

Heaton park is massive and a tram ride away.

Airport viewing platform always fun.

Also new park has just opened near Piccadilly train station

mayfieldmanchester.co.uk/the-park/

Following this thread with interest as I want to visit Salford for a weekend from South of England as I'm doing my family history so my grandparents are from there & apparently I have family up there who I never met.
Interested especially in the War museum & Lowry museum.
I don't have children to entertain though.
A colleague drives up to Manchester alternate weekends to see his girlfriend so I may pay half the petrol and get a lift.
Premier Inn at Salford Quays sounds like the right location for me.

I wouldn't bother with either Legoland or Sealife - both very small, expensive and don't engage children for long. The museum of science and industry is great. Manchester art gallery has a children's play/craft area and may have some child-friendly exhibition on. Salford Museum is really nice for children, there is a replica Victorian street with shops and they had some nice activities for children in other parts of the museum. The transport museum has limited opening hours/days but if your older DC is into buses it would be perfect for them (it's a little way out of the city centre but there are buses which stop nearby and if they have an event on at the museum there is a vintage shuttle bus which goes direct). Trafford centre is awful although my children loved watching the indoor fountains...
There is also RHS Bridgewater which I haven't been to but I know some people who absolutely love it, and there is a brand new park which has been created in the city centre called Mayfield Park I think, which my neighbour visited today and said was wonderful.

As PPs have suggested I would say a train to Halifax and Eureka! would be a great day out.

MOSI isn't great at the moment - the wonderful Air and Space hall is shut, permanently I think, and the Power Hall and 1830 station are closed for restoration.

This is the link for the Manchester transport museum, have never been to the Bury one so not sure what it's like. But when younger my DCs loved the Manchester one

Quarry Bank Mill is quite near the airport, that's good though it's expensive if you're not NT members.

If you do end up going to RHS Bridgewater book a table at Worsley Old Hall for lunch or dinner. Lovely pub, open fires and on the road parallel to RHS Bridgewater.

there is the marriot Worsley there, lovely, but probably too inconvenient, perhaps, for your plans.

also - just to reiterate, Manchester isn’t crap for children. Literally thousands live here - it can’t be that bad. Lol!

OP, I’d love for you to update after your visit and if you liked it, come back again :)

Manchester is great and Motherofalegend is spot on. This week I think Gandey's circus is at the Trafford Centre. There's loads of theatres - the Lowry, the Palace and the Opera House - but also places like Z Arts which has loads of kids activities. The central library and the Art Gallery (by St Peter's Square tram stop) always have lots of kids stuff over half term which is free and they are very close to China Town so grab some lovely Chinese food or explore Chinese shops. There's a skate park a short walk from Piccadilly Station if the kids want to try their hand at that and a massive outdoor skating rink is going up in time for a Halloween scare skate by Cathedral Gardens. There's also Gamebox, a few places that do escape rooms and plenty of hireable bikes in the city centre. The Christmas markets are arriving on 10th November, Hope you all have a great time

They do a lovely Sunday roast!