Manchester is one of Britain's largest metropolitan conurbations, with 2.6 million people living within the central boundaries
and over 7 million in Manchester's surrounding areas. As you would expect of Britain's second city, Manchester is the throbbing
urban centre of the North West boasting a number of leading business organisations, leading retailers and entertainment venues.
Manchester's musical culture is infamous for leading the music scene in the UK. Bands such as the Happy Mondays and Oasis
were heavily influential in altering popular music during the 1980's and 1990's and clubs such as the Hacienda revolutionised
British dance culture.
Today, Manchester continues to have a strong musical culture with great live music venues and in recent years has experienced
a huge increase in the number of bars located within the city centre. Offering Mediterranean style food and drink, Manchester's
bars provide a great place for a night out or somewhere to relax and take a break from enjoying the city's great shopping.
The city's skyline reflects both its industrial heritage and modern success with buildings such as the Urbis museum and
the Manchester cathedral both located within the cathedral gardens area of city centre. Looking at the Urbis, its unusual
ramp-like shape dominates the approach to Manchester city centre. Built in 2002 it provides a stark contrast to the cathedral
which previously marked the epicentre of medieval Manchester and originates from 1421 when the city was a small parish community.
The Town Hall located in Albert Square can also be considered a lasting tribute to the Victorians civic pride.
From a former industrial centre to a dynamic innovator of the present, Manchester has three universities within its central
area as well as Salford University located within the city borough. Cumulatively the Manchester student population are in
excess of 50, 000 and add both to the city's economy and the buzz of the Manchester nightlife.
By Train: most major cities in the UK have direct train services into Manchester.
Virgin Trains now run a fleet of high speed trains which sees journey times between Manchester and London of just over two hours. For information
on tickets and timetables visit
National Rail EnquiresBy Road: Manchester's ring road connects Manchester to motorways north, south, east and west. Visit
Multimap to find out how to get here from where you are. For information on car parks in Manchester visit
NCP
