If im going to the O2 Apollo at Manchester tonight, where should I park?

[OnAMatOopEre]

Going to a gig and dont want to get stuck in post gig gridlock which happens every time I do something similar! Where can I park within short walking distance where im not going to be amongst hundreds of other cars all trying to escape at rhe same time?

I’d always take the train. Would you consider 15 mins to Piccadilly a short walk?
If you want to dodge gridlock either leave 15-30 mins earlier, or get a tea or something on leaving and wait out 30-45 mins before attempting to leave.

Im having to drive unfortunately :-(

Can you park at a train station a few stops away from the centre and get the train in?

There are loads of places to park around the Apollo. Avoid the two official car parks and use one of the many others. They are mostly just shop car parks which are empty at night so not that many cars in each. There will be people in Hi Viz jackets operating all of them.

The Apollo is quite a small venue so even the "official" car park doesn't take too long to get out of. It's not like the Coop or the MEN which can take an hour or more to exit.

We normally park at the APCOA car park near Manchester aquatic centre, about a 10-15 min walk to the Apollo but absolutely zero gridlock each time we’ve done this 😊

We use the Just Park app and pre book a space on someone’s driveway. Have used it twice at the Apollo and it has been great each time. We usually choose one on the side of the main road we need to leave on for a speedier exit when we leave.
You can choose according to distance and budget we were metres away in February from the venue so paid a bit more but totally worth it as we were back in Liverpool within 35 minutes.