There are lots of good theatres: the Library (which is in the marvellous Central Library building), Contact, the Lowry, the Royal Exchange, the Dancehouse and so on. If you go to the Royal Exchange in the morning (9am) you can usually get tickets for later that day on the cheap.
The Exchange is in St. Anne's Square, which is near all the new development part, with the big department stores and... it's very *clean*. But you can wander around there for a bit, there are cafes and bookshops and if you jib down Old Street and across the square behind Kendals there's a bit of canal you can sit by.
On Mosely Street, near the Central Library, the City Art Gallery has just been fabulously refurbished. It's well worth a visit. Don't go to Urbis, it's rubbish. The Whitworth is free! The Costume Gallery in Platt Fields is, um, interesting if you're really into fashion.
Or you can go up Market Street from there and turn left into the Northern Quarter, which has record shops and bars and pubs and Affleck's Palace and all the rest of it. The Night and Day has live music most nights, and Matt and Phred's Jazz Club is sorta diagonally opposite there. There are also clubs but I haven't been clubbing since the death of the dodo so I don't know what's good any more. Just don't go anywhere on Piccadilly!
Out of town the most accessible places are Chorlton and Fallowfield/Didsbury. Didsbury Village is terribly nice but it is also expensive and poncy (although I'm not totally opposed to that once in a while). Chorlton Stuff to Do is grouped around Chorlton Green and Four Banks. Chorlton Green is an old village green type place, with pubs and cottages around a small common, with one road leading to the Ees (the water meadows that surround the Mersey, lovely for walking) and one road (Beech Road) littered with little bars and shops. The Beech is a great pub, and they have a good Irish night on Tuesdays - lots of live music (Chorlton has a large Irish Catholic community), see also the Irish Club round the corner for live music and barn dancing. Four Banks, which is the crossroads with a bank (like NatWest, RBS) on each corner, has lots of newer stoody places. There are many bars there. Revise and The Bar have live bands too, and the Bar has a famously evil quiz.
Oooh! The Arc on Stretford Road in Hulme has a good jam on Tuesdays. Peveril of the Peak (the toilet pub) has an unplugged one on Mondays. (I think if I listed all the jam nights in Manchester my fingers would fall off).
If you want to eat you really have to go to Rusholme. The Curry Mile (Wilmslow Road) is our pride and joy. The best kebabs come from Saajan and my personal favourite for a sit-down curry is the Punjab, which specialises in southern Indian dishes. |
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