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?

@Dunkler you are behaving like an absolute arse on this thread. Stop embarrassing yourself.

My DD lives there, I’ve really tried to like it but I just find it grim with terrible weather

Yes, I’d advise you to get back on the train and head here. Liverpool is much better.

I love Manchester!

Would you like visitors commenting like this on your town?
Would bother me at all. A lot of the centre of Bristol is pretty shit now. Might as well be honest.

Wouldn't

You should come over this week - it's glorious sunshine!

I really like Manchester but I live in Derbyshire and Derby city centre is a hole.

The only time Manchester is to be avoided is about 25 times a year when the plastic fans of Mr Ten Hag's team come to visit Old Trafford. Most of whom have no connection or heritage to the area.

Went to said Old Trafford as a visiting supporter a few years ago (usual atrocious biased referee that happened there when Alex Ferguson was manager), and the only local accents I heard were catering staff and stewards.

Lovely place otherwise, cultural centre of the north west, has given much music. art and other culture over the years.

Manchester doesn't have many 'destinations' in the sense of 'heres the historic centre, here's the museums, here's the shiny visitor trail'.

The attractions are much more niche in terms of cultural importance. Important but not promoted in a tourist way. I don't think they are particularly accessible for outsiders and I don't think they are particularly big.

For an experience there are better. As I say, there's few places in the world better for live music, if you are into football great, there are good restaurants (the pretentious ones with the names are massively over rated), there's the shopping with plenty of interesting little places and the drinking culture is fab.

It's definitely somewhere local knowledge and word of mouth is the thing.

But to visit, particularly as a family with kids, na. Just not a great day really.

There's loads of other stuff in the North West I'd do. Manchester wouldn't be top of the list.

I spent a weekend in Manchester a couple of months ago and had a blast.
I live in London and really enjoyed how manageable Manchester was on foot from St Peter's Square, with good shops, bars and restaurants. People were chilled and friendly. I would definitely go back.

Manchester is a brilliant city if you know where to go. A friend of mine comes for work often and was v ambivalent until she spent a weekend with us showing her all the good bits and she loved it. Horses for courses but I think its fab.

@BishyBarnyBee @BigBlueTeapot

Yep, fair enough.

As an urban kid, I’m always on the side of people choosing cities. Don’t trust the countryside at all. All those trees wandering about willy nilly. They belong in parks, with swings and ducks and a proper secure fence around them.

This.

You are not in the city centre!

Went to Manchester twice last year and have visited many times in the past as my child went to uni there and I also attended a couple of conferences for work. I really like it, it still has a positive energy especially compared with my home city which is smaller and looks so depressing these days. I am sure there are grim parts of Manchester but as a visitor I still rate it

Agree with @Flatulence's post.

Another great place to visit is HOME (near Deansgate). It's what used to be called the Cornerhouse (previously on Oxford Road). It is a theatre and cinema space (screening a lot of interesting international films), with a cafe, bar and exhibition space.

I'd also strongly recommend the Whitworth Art Gallery (beautiful cafe), and the l Pankhurst Centre, which is not far from the Whitworth.

Don't mean to rain on your obvious bitterness parade but ...

The majority of the catering staff and stewards are the least local people in the stadium 🤦🏻‍♀️

Lol. Bit patronising. Northerners ever salts of the earth.
Good on your son, taking one for the team, being friends with someone from Rotherham 😂

It's a big working city and not some kind of twee, pretty tourist attraction.

Better if you are with someone who knows where to go.

Put it far more articulately than I ever could. People saying that if you’re with a local you get to see the really great bits. Well that’s the point, most folk aren’t with locals.

Yes - what you've missed is fhe actual city centre!! Pretty ignorant post this.

If comparing to London, no comparison. I live in Manchester and grew up there but was living in London temporarily earlier in the year and developed a wonderful habit of wandering through the city. It's my favorite thing to do in London, just wander aimlessly. You just can't do it in Manchester even in the centre. Not the same. But it's not a bad city overall.

Man Utd traditionally has a lot of fans not from Manchester.

But it's nonsense to say that people from Manchester are not fans and don't go to the games. It was always 50/50 blue/red where I grew up.

And looking at my family background I have equal rights over supporting either club.

Man City has rather a lot of plastics these days. And international supporters.

No-one gives a shit though. It's nice if it gets tourism but it's not a city dependent on it. Nor should it be. Not everywhere is Bath or Cambridge.