To think that Manchester is awful?

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I came for the day to visit Elizabeth Gaskell's house museum (very nice) and have subsequently walked around, trying to find somewhere attractive, or with interesting shops (or any shop that isn't selling fast food).
Is there somewhere I've missed?

Try the castlefield viaduct. Lovely national trust gardens free to enter for all.

Oi! That's my home city you're talking about 😡

Yes, of course parts of it are awful (as with any big city!) but most of it is amazing!

The history, architecture, culture, shops, restaurants are some of the best in the UK - you just need to go to the right parts!

The areas round St Peters Square and Albert Square have loads of cool buildings with historical significance and / or culture. John Rylands Library, Portico Library and Chethams Music School are amazing. Barton Arcade is pretty quirky with some good coffee shops.

The Northern Quarter is very cool, lots of good bars, restaurants, coffee shops...

Ancoats is fab these days (a bit further walk out than NQ) - the marina is lovely to sit on and look at the canal boats with a coffee.

Castlefield is gorgeous - like a little suburb in the centre of Manchester with canals and green space.

St Anne's Square, King St, the area round Shambles Square / Cathedral Square (?) and the Arndale (more high street / commercial) are all good for shopping.

Places to avoid - Deansgate (top end), Market Street, Piccadilly Gardens.

What's the best visitor/tourist city out of Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham?

I was just saying this yesterday.

So you just walked down two main roads not in the city centre and now you are moaning about it not being attractive? Great planning on your part.

Manchester. But Chester is better for tourists.

You do have to plan and know where you're going. There are some lovely eateries and attractions but some really horrible looking streets near the station.

Liverpool, Chester or York.

Manchester. Without a shadow of a doubt.

Then Leeds.

Birmingham was not for me.

Chester?!?!

I like Chester but come on. It is not a "tourist city". It's nice for a night away or a day out to the Christmas markets / races but not exactly on the same scale as major cities is it!

I LOVE Manchester. I'm from Leeds, which is ok (being polite) but not a jot on Manchester. I remember being a student there, it was brilliant. Full on reminiscing mode now.

Leeds. A lot more compact than the other two with some amazing Victorian shopping arcades, a vast array of very nice restaurants and bars, and all that glorious countryside on its doorstep. It’s in Yorkshire, of course it’s great.

It's my fav city in the world - there are hundreds of fantastic places to eat. Rather than slag the place off on MN why not have a google: https://www.timeout.com/manchester/restaurants/the-best-coffee-shops-and-cafes-in-manchester

It's quite spread out compared to Liverpool, where I live. So it feels like separate parts and a distance between them; northern quarter etc.

I like it though

Oh god. As someone born and raised in Manchester, you could not have picked a worse route to see the city. You're not even in the centre and haven't even been anywhere near the decent parts!

And Piccadilly Station to Ardwick on foot?!?! Never in 40 years have I - or would I - walk that route 😂

YABU - loads of different areas with their own identities but you probably need to travel from one place to another. Not to mention the moors on the outskirts of GM.

you walked down one busy road and said it was not good 😂. Didn’t even google trip advisor for top 10? Go to Simon rimmers place ‘Greens in didsbury’ then go for a walk around Fletcher Moss. Etc

I spent 3 days in Manchester for work a couple of years ago.

Never again.

I have many friends, from twenties to fifties, who were students in Manchester, and loved it. Or what they remember of it. I can’t think
of a UK city apart from London that gets such great reviews from former students.

But none of them seem to want to live there.

OP, if you know London you did the equivalent of getting off at Paddington, crossing the Westway walking through a bit of Bayswater but not as far as Notting Hill, then back to Paddington.

Each to their own but I can’t stand the place.

The accent is awful.

I went to Manchester a couple of years ago and could find nothing to recommend about it. Awful, depressing place. Never seen bouncers on supermarket doors at 8am anywhere else.

I commute through Manchester everyday and there's lots of poverty. I've seen drug users preparing their crack pipes more than once. Piccadilly Gardens has a threatening feeling. Drug dealers on every corner.

Media City and Salford Quays which are a tram ride away are both wonderful places. As is the airport so you can get the hell out of Manchester!

I've lived quite a bit in Manchester, I could never learn to love it, it's ugly and the weather was shite. Nothing there that London didn't have but better .... I much prefer Leeds and Liverpool. However, each to their own.

Greens is closed now unfortunately