A very English trip
February 2018: On a mild winter day in mid february, I start my journey to my favourite country in the world: England. My flight to Manchester is operated by Eurowings, my favourite airline when it comes to cheap, but still high quality and comfortable flights.From Manchester Airport, you can reach Manchester Piccadilly (one of the main train stations) within 20 minutes or less. When being the first time in Manchester, I would recommend Piccadilly station as it's directly in the city centre and you can reach everything in no minute basically. Coming out of the station, head left and follow Piccadilly Street until you reach Portland Street where almost every hotel seems to be located. I chose Britannia Hotel for my first night and a youth hostel (YHA Manchester) in Castlefield which is about 15 minutes far from Albert Square and Manchester Town Hall and the city centre.For your first lunch in Manchester, the well-known British chain Pret-à-Manger seems to be a good option because it's always easy to find.Personally, I love to try Indian food in every city I travel to - because I love Indian food and besides Italian cuisine, it has the most meatless options! Restaurant Bollywood in 15 Liverpool Rd, Manchester M3 4NW, has excellent dishes and the staff is very friendly and treats you like an old friend they've just met.Even on Day 1, I've explored many sights: From China Town, Manchester Art Gallery and Town Hall,over Albert Square and the Beetham Tower and the Museum of Science and Industry, I took a closer look on the inside of the Central Library. The roof of the Central Library looks magnificent and you can sometimes visit some interesting exhibitions as well.On Day 2, I had a lovely yummy vegetarian version of British breakfast at Chai Latté, a very nice café spot near Stevenson Square in the Northern Quarter. In general, it seems that the best indie cafés are located in this area.If you're a culture-vulture aka a theatre lover, you should go to a show or play at the Royal Exchange. Sometimes, you can get your tickets for 12 GBP each when asking early in the day! The shopping centre next to Manchester Cathedral is called Arndale and you'll find every shop you might need or want to go. There's a cute shop full of stationery stuff, like special notebooks! To complete my tour of historic and interesting churches, I visit St. Anne's Church and St. Anne's Square. On Day 3, I head in the direction of Left Bank to have the best British breakfast ever at The Refinery! It's in the middle of a very fancy district where some banks are located, too. The breakfast spot looks a little posh, but the prices aren't too high.
Later, I visit the People's History Museum and spend a couple of hours there (it's also free by the way). The John Rylands Library is a very old library in Library and hosts exhibitions nowadays. It fusioned with the University Library nowadays, so you can study there as well. It's very historic and impressive.Manchester Art Gallery is a public art museum to be found on Mosley Street in Manchester. The main gallery was built for a learnt society in 1823 and today, you can find three connected buildings, two of which were designed by Sir Charles Barry. The gallery has fine art collection consistign of more than 2,000 oil paintings, 3,000 watercolours and drawings, 250 sculptures, 90 miniatures and around 1,000 prints. There are about 13,000 decorative art objects made of ceramics, glass, enamels, furniture, metalwork, arms and armour - and also wallpapers. The oldest object here is an Egyptian canopic jar from about 1100 BC. Manchester Art Gallery is famous for its collection of Victorian art, especially that of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.Later on, I would treat myself with a Chinese Take-away from China Town and take pictures of its Chinese Gate.In Gay Village, you're greeted with signs like "CCTV - make sure you look good". Here are all the famous and crowded clubs and pubs - and you'll definitely be able to make new friends here!If you walk further towards Manchester University, you can see the Alan Turing Memorial, the man who cracked the Enigma during WW II. Fancy a bit of a shopping round? Visit Piccadilly Gardens! All the shops you might want to visit are located in this area.Near Manchester Cathedral and Arndale's, there's the historic Chetham School of Music and Library which are interesting to explore, too! Day 4:The good thing to choose Manchester is that you can easily plan day trips to Liverpool and Leeds and other bigger cities.This way, you'll have your comfy bed and your luggage in Manchester and can buy a return ticket to Liverpool, for example. Arriving here, Albert's Doch and the Museums (Merseyside Maritime, Museum of Liverpool, International Slavery Museum and the Tate Liverpool) are a must for culture-vultures! If you love the Beatles, please visit their statue. They look gigantic.Having a break is possible in the new shopping centre "Liverpool One" which it's an open-air shopping centre.If you fancy a lot of walking up the hill, you benefit from the view on the largest Catholic cathedral in the UK! I have seen the inside as well and it's truly inspiring.For some more shopping, make sure you don't miss Hanover Street, Wood Street and Bold Street.Day 5:In Leeds, these sights are recommended to see:
Day 6 - 8:In Leicester, you should visit Leicester Cathedral, with the grave of Richard III. It was found quite recently and there's a Visitor's Centre with lots of facts about his whereabouts and his life.You probably won't go hungry with all those yummy Indian restaurants here! Restaurant Shivalli serves you veggie-only food!The cute Haymarket Memorial Clock Tower is one of Leicester's famous sights, as well as the Mini Statue of Liberty.For a relaxing wanderlusty walk, visit Castle Park and the remnants of the Castle.
Later, I visit the People's History Museum and spend a couple of hours there (it's also free by the way). The John Rylands Library is a very old library in Library and hosts exhibitions nowadays. It fusioned with the University Library nowadays, so you can study there as well. It's very historic and impressive.Manchester Art Gallery is a public art museum to be found on Mosley Street in Manchester. The main gallery was built for a learnt society in 1823 and today, you can find three connected buildings, two of which were designed by Sir Charles Barry. The gallery has fine art collection consistign of more than 2,000 oil paintings, 3,000 watercolours and drawings, 250 sculptures, 90 miniatures and around 1,000 prints. There are about 13,000 decorative art objects made of ceramics, glass, enamels, furniture, metalwork, arms and armour - and also wallpapers. The oldest object here is an Egyptian canopic jar from about 1100 BC. Manchester Art Gallery is famous for its collection of Victorian art, especially that of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.Later on, I would treat myself with a Chinese Take-away from China Town and take pictures of its Chinese Gate.In Gay Village, you're greeted with signs like "CCTV - make sure you look good". Here are all the famous and crowded clubs and pubs - and you'll definitely be able to make new friends here!If you walk further towards Manchester University, you can see the Alan Turing Memorial, the man who cracked the Enigma during WW II. Fancy a bit of a shopping round? Visit Piccadilly Gardens! All the shops you might want to visit are located in this area.Near Manchester Cathedral and Arndale's, there's the historic Chetham School of Music and Library which are interesting to explore, too! Day 4:The good thing to choose Manchester is that you can easily plan day trips to Liverpool and Leeds and other bigger cities.This way, you'll have your comfy bed and your luggage in Manchester and can buy a return ticket to Liverpool, for example. Arriving here, Albert's Doch and the Museums (Merseyside Maritime, Museum of Liverpool, International Slavery Museum and the Tate Liverpool) are a must for culture-vultures! If you love the Beatles, please visit their statue. They look gigantic.Having a break is possible in the new shopping centre "Liverpool One" which it's an open-air shopping centre.If you fancy a lot of walking up the hill, you benefit from the view on the largest Catholic cathedral in the UK! I have seen the inside as well and it's truly inspiring.For some more shopping, make sure you don't miss Hanover Street, Wood Street and Bold Street.Day 5:In Leeds, these sights are recommended to see:
- Leeds Art Gallery
- Leeds Cathedral of St. Anne
- Leeds Town Hall
- Leeds Combined Court Centre
- Leeds Kirkgate Market
- Leeds Victoria Quarter (Shopping Centre)
- Leeds Central Arcade (Shopping Centre)
Day 6 - 8:In Leicester, you should visit Leicester Cathedral, with the grave of Richard III. It was found quite recently and there's a Visitor's Centre with lots of facts about his whereabouts and his life.You probably won't go hungry with all those yummy Indian restaurants here! Restaurant Shivalli serves you veggie-only food!The cute Haymarket Memorial Clock Tower is one of Leicester's famous sights, as well as the Mini Statue of Liberty.For a relaxing wanderlusty walk, visit Castle Park and the remnants of the Castle.
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