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?

Well it is a city as it has a cathedral. It's only got tourists these days!

I think you have hit the nail on the head. DD visited twice for university open days and found it too big and too busy.

However, we went over for a day trip to visit a couple of clothes shops (Uniqlo and Lucy and Yak) and had a great day out. We lunched in a really nice noodle bar (can't remember the name, but I would go back)

Where have you ended up? Manchester is wonderful! Of course it has its less attractive places like any other city ...

I'm not keen. I imagine it's great to live there as a student with great live music etc. But for a daytime wander, it's a bit meh. It's also not the cleanest of places, feels a bit uncared for (and a few characters wandering around).

Friend and I had the best 3 days there earlier in the year. First time we'd been.
Look up aswell as down. There is some amazing artwork on walls for starters!
OpenTable is a good app for food if you don't know somewhere.
I didn't feel unsafe anywhere in Manchester (and ate some amazing food too 😂)

Just go to the Korean shop in the Arndale. It’s quite something. And then for a meal at Erst

I live on the outskirts of the Manchester, a short tram ride away and I agree with you. For a day out in a city we prefer to go to Liverpool or Leeds. If you don't have anywhere specific to visit, it can seem like you're just faced with monotonous high rise buildings with very little character. There are a few nice places to walk around on a sunny day, such as around Castlefeld bowl and Deansgate locks, but very little else if you are looking for beautiful or historic buildings. The Northern Quarter used to be quite grungy and you could see quite a bit of character in the old pubs and shop fronts but in the last few years that area has been developed quite a lot too, making it feel like it's lost it's character in my opinion.

Most of the posts are about the amazing food, coffee shops and bars. Not exactly conventional tourist fodder when you’re dragging kids around.

Northern quarter, king street, area behind Albert square, isn't deansgate fancy now too ? (Haven't been for a while)

If you spend ages in Piccadilly gardens then not sure what you expected. It's notoriously shit

Would love to be there now tbh

I lived in Manchester for a few years and didn't enjoy it. I did find that, when having visitors from overseas, there was very little in way of points of interest.

It is a relatively affordable major city, and does have all the amenities you need, but I agree with others that it's not a good destination to visit.

That said, The People's History Museum is great.

I have lived here for 24 years and did not know that Elizabeth Gaskells house was behind the hospital/ near the university district.

If you'd done any research you could have had a nice wander. I'd have gone from there to the Whitworth Art Gallery and eaten lunch at Kro Bar (bit studenty, the Whitworth cafe is lovely as is the one in the Manchester Museum).

It's not the most obvious bit of town to visit. You missed the Rylands Library which would probably have been just up your street.

Next time you visit, drive and go to Quarry bank Mill if you like history.

Manchester is a very manageable sized city, bigger than Bristol admittedly. Like most working cities rather than tourist cities you need to do some research to get the best out of it.

If you'd asked here first we could have told you.

It's a bit like if you went to Bath but skipped the historic centre and the regency houses and wandered round a housing estate and some kebab shops at the back of the hospital (literally what you did but in Manchester). It wouldn't mean Bath is shit, just that wandering round near B&Q or whatever isn't the most picturesque bit of town.

My DD is from the arse end of Manchester and went to uni in York. She loved it. Met people from all walks of life and made friends she is still in touch with now.

I grew up here and I know for a fact the accent changes all the time depending on which bit of the city you are in. It's much stronger in the northern parts.

I was in Manchester a couple of days ago for work and it was awful.

The airport is even worse, and I took a full blown panic attack in it.

New Greggs in the acute block next tonthe A&E portacabins is quality....

I work in Manchester once a week from the midlands. It has grown on me massively. Piccadilly is fucking horrendous but once you get down to Exchange Square and Corn Exchange it's really nice.

I'd agree with the OP. I grew up in Manchester and then came back when I had DC.

Manchester was great in my teens with lots of pubs and clubs. Since I came back (25 years ago) lots of the city has been knocked down and rebuilt (badly) and it just feels grotty.

There are nice bits around Deansgate, the Royal Exchange and King Street West though. We only go in for the theatre etc now.

We have been a few times for games at Old Trafford, and to go to velodrome near Etihad. I am sure there are some nice parts, possibly Salford Quays? But we find it run down, a traffic filled nightmare and just so ruddy grim. In fairness, we don’t know it well, and I am sure for students it’s possibly a good place, but there hasn’t been anything to attract us back other than the sport.

I am from south of Manchester and my family's from Liverpool but I've been in the London and the SE for twenty two years (half my life) and I was sadly disappointed with both Manchester and Liverpool when I've been back recently. They were both like the grim parts of London had been lumped together, without the glamorous bits or the historic buildings which make London such an interesting and exciting place. Guess I'm a southerner now 😫

This x100 but I have never been able to articulate it until you said it! Am a Londoner born and bred so I spent years and years picking a different borough and walking around aimlessly and discovering all kinds of weird and wonderful things. I would never get bored or tired for some reason because of the infrastructure and I could walk for hours on end. I used to walk between tube stations for fun. It's just a proper city for flanneurs. Think this might explain why I always feel trapped and bored when I visit other cities...

No longer live in London - too expensive :( but am always surprised by how much I just walk and walk and walk when I go back

All I can say about the northern cities I’m familiar with - Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds - is look up. Look above the shops and restaurants, some of the architecture and history in the city centre buildings is splendid. Maybe not in the same league (expense) as London but it’s there. The old banks, corn exchanges, former glamorous hotels, post offices, other historic public buildings. The details are wonderful!

There is a word for it 'stravaige'. It's a Scottish word meaning to wander aimlessly but it sounds like 'stray vague'.
I am back in London next month for a few days and have earmarked a day alone to do just this!

I used to go to Manchester 2 or 3 times a year for work. Both the city centre and out by the airport. Never really liked the place and I certainly wouldn't live there.

Much preferred Liverpool (& I'm a Londoner)!

The area where Piccadilly Gardens were is awful now.

Crikey. That seems a bit of a sweeping statement! Most cities with a long established history and a multicultural population should have plenty of interesting things.