Never knew Manchester had a Chinatown but apparently it's the second biggest one outside of London…read more That being said, it encompasses only a few blocks (that we could see) but still it's fun to wander around and window shop - and have some dim sum or other more authentic dishes other than kung pao or general Tso chicken.

Manchester is a beautiful city itself. Having Chinatown adds an extra oomph. I didn't hit any…read morevendors when I was there for my UK trip but I just walked through it since I wasn't staying in Manchester and was waiting to go to Sheffield. 153/2017

Albert Square is a lively area in Central Manchester and the Square and surroundings are full of…read morenightlife, clubs, pubs eateries and more. During the day it is central to interesting shopping, theaters and restaurants. It was only our second visit to Manchester so we were a bit lost at times, but will be back in a week or so to have fun with one of our daughters and son in law. We went for the Christmas Market which was hyped as being as good as the better European Markets - in that regard disappointing - give me Vienna anytime! We enjoyed ourselves regardless thanks to our hotel (the Lowery) and a couple of eating experiences! Review #114 2019

Albert Square is a really nice part of town, it is generally a key point for the Christmas markets…read morearound the Town Hall but with the ongoing refurbishment it seems to have been moved to just a couple of minutes away in Piccadilly Gardens, Albert Square is in central Manchester, it has many bars and Starbucks stores in and around it with the added convenience of being right near a tram stop serving St Peter's Square, where there is the equally impressive Central Library building. While it is mainly based around the Town Hall which was built in the mid-1800s (it is a pretty old-fashioned street with cobbles etc so be warned), it was named after Prince Albert who at the time was married to monarch Queen Victoria, and one of the largest statues is the memorial after him. It is quite a nice part of town and I just feel it's better without the Christmas Markets, which I think are overrated, overpriced and destroy the city for the weeks before Christmas. 4*

Birmingham open market is an absolute lifesaver! We've been shopping here for over five years and…read morethe quality, variety and price far outweigh any convenience of shopping at a supermarket. From standard fruit and veg to more exotic Caribbean and Asian foodstuffs the open market has something for everyone, and usually something to didn't know you wanted. The produce is fairly seasonal so when something is in season it is cheap as hell like 3 butternut squash for a pound or bunches of asparagus for 50p. The frozen food stall at the back is well worth checking out for your freezer-stocking bargains and the stall at the front with eggs and cheese is a must. Seriously, you'll hear the egg man shouting from mills away!

Great Quality produce and great prices. Shop around for the best deals, but on average we save…read morebetween 50p to £1 on each item - meaning a £10+ a week saving on our shopping (compared to supermarkets). The traders are friendly and will normally do you a deal if you need a large amount of a particular type of fruit or veg. Well worth a trip! Remember to take your canvas bags!

I fecking LOVE the Gay Village. This area officially starts up by the Hippodrome Theatre…read more(http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/birmingham-hippodrome-birmingham-2) and ends somewhere towards Second City Suite (http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/second-city-suite-birmingham) and then across towards The Diskery (http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/the-diskery-birmingham) and around in a square, it's not a huge area but has plenty of fun within it's confines. This area host Birmingham Pride (http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/birmingham-pride-birmingham) which is one of the larger LGBT festivals in the UK and is home to many gay friendly bars, clubs and venues. The venues go from the sophisticated (http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/the-loft-lounge-birmingham) to the ridiculous/fantastic fun (http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/village-inn-birmingham) and you're pretty much guaranteed a fun night out whenever you go down. There is a wide range of venues to choose from in this area, so whether you're in the mood for a chilled out cocktail or a full on dance fest until 6am - you're going to have a great night. The people who frequent the Gay Village are just as colourful as the venues and you'll probably end up chatting to strangers at any of the places in the area. Whether you're gay, straight, Bi or undefined... You're going to have a good time in the GQ. The rules are.... play nice, be friendly and be prepared to have a whopping night out (even if you just intended to go for one or two).

Extremely inviting and warm. Very helpful and a great place to lose yourself. Been here quite a few…read moretimes and would recommend it for anyone looking for a good time. A lot less crowded than broad street so a much friendly atmosphere.

The second Sunday of every month is one of my favourite days of each particular month. That's one…read moreSunday when I'm happy to set my alarm, get my caboose out of bed and fly on further south in Manchester to Stockport's historic Victorian Market Halls, because that's where I can find epic 70s flowery maxi dresses, Smash Hits 'Best of the 80s' annuals and trinkets galore. Welcome to the Vintage Village! I've been to a lot of vintage markets and shops in my time. Once, I even travelled all the way up to Edinburgh for a coat, I brought back over £40 worth of vinyl and a 56 year old fur from Glasgow and I've been known to scour our little Manchester boutiques for hours at a time. But what Stockport offered last month just blew me away, knocked me sideways and had me gazing around open-mouthed like I did when I was taken to Disney World at six years old. This was epic. The quality was remarkable, the prices were insanely affordable and the sheer variety on offer was stunning. I defy you not to walk from stall to stall and see at least three things per section you covet. If you were to slap something not only like this, but of this calibre (exceptional quality, eclectic variety) bang in the middle of Manchester City Centre it would be completely overrun with fifteen-year-old Noel Fielding stalkers in knee socks and oversized Urban Outfitters jumpers (not that there's anything wrong with them - I've been known to rock a woolly from UO regularly and have frequent NSFW dreams about Mr Vince Noir myself), but as it's tucked away in a sleepy town centre in the South Manc 'burbs, it attracts a much calmer, quieter, more discerning clientele. Families bring along their children and have soup and bacon butties at Zip's Grill. Couples with dogs mooch around for gifts. It's incredibly relaxed and wonderfully friendly. I lost count of the amount of conversations I struck up with stall purveyors. This is worth getting out of bed on the day of rest for. Seriously, do it! You won't regret it. And if you do, come and have a go at me. I'll probably whup you upside the head. (P.S. Zip's Grill serves some of the finest coffee I've ever had the good fortune to taste, and the food looks all kinds of fabulous. I'll definitely have a soup this Sunday.)

Vintage Village is on every second Sunday of the month in Stockport's totally brilliant market hall…read moreplace. If the truth be known, It was more my wife and sister in law who were the instigators in us going but I wanted to stretch my legs and go out for the afternoon so thought I would give it a shot! Gotta say, it was really really good and there were all sorts of stalls selling vintage clothes, records, antiques, furniture - pretty much anything from yesteryear. Nice touches were a skiffle band playing live, with a DJ playing hits from the likes of Elvis throughout and a load of vintage cars and motorbikes on display outside. Great street food was provided from the (both) excellent Lord of the Pies and Honest Crust Pizza. I'll definitely be heading there again in the coming months as it's a great day out and only a £1 entry - bargain!

Anderton Boat Lift is a brilliant educational and entertaining day out. It's an amazing piece of…read moreengineering, that is a sight to behold. The structure itself is a far cry from modern contemporary styles we see a lot of, it's full of classic charm and character, and the scale of it is quite imposing. There is also a one of the best visitors centre's I've seen in the country here, it's very informative discussing the whole history and significance of the place, and it keep your attention with some impressive design. It's very well thought out and put together. The information is presented in so many different ways, from videos, to wall displays to practical demos. Definitely worth the trip.

Great afternoon out for all ages, lovely boat trip and a history lesson included. My kids love…read morethis. This is a great place to take visitors from other parts of the country and the world as it is the only one of its type. Please be aware that it is advisable to book the boat trip in advance to avoid disappointment as this is very popular

Call me Scrooge but when Manchester's Christmas Markets come to town, it really does make the city,…read morewhich I've always thought is one of the world's greatest, much worse as they are really poorly thought out across all locations on and off Deansgate, Kings Street, Exchange Square Piccadilly Gardens, St Ann's Square, Market Street and Albert Square, which tends to be the main and focal hub until the Town Hall's renovation. Firstly the layout is terrible - they are located on many narrow streets in and around the city which not only increases traffic (causing buses to divert), but it makes many areas of the city which previously are accessible, inaccessible to disabled people by making streets to narrow to get down with mobility equipment, to putting the stands over dropped curbs (ramps) designed to help disabled people get down without a step. It seems to be the same stalls every year, in a way it gets a little boring seeing the same brands selling the same overpriced products, even the stalls are exactly the same - prices here can cost 2-3x as much considering what you could get elsewhere in the city and the stalls I have visited I've had multiple quality issues where vendors even appeared rude and aggressive (hot food, german beer and cheese stalls especially) I really struggle to understand the popularity of the Christmas Markets and feel it is just one of those places one could look at and say "I'm going because it's in my city", rather than going because it actually offers something new and cool. I just can't help but join in with the indulgement of the floccinaucinihilipilification of the continuation of Manchester Christmas Markets in its current format which just brings strong feelings of frustration and ennui as it's just a mediocre attempt of the markets you'd see across Europe - poorly managed, poorly planned out... just poor. 1*

I was in Manchester for the weekend and lucky me, the Christmas market was open so I checked it…read moreout... I looovvveee Christmas markets! The Manchester Christmas market is everywhere and is sprinkled throughout the city centre. The main market is located in St. Albert square, town hall area. The market is pretty standard. It has many stalls that sell ornaments, winter plants, toys, and of course food! There's loads of stalls selling German sausages, carmelised nuts, sweets like chocolates, cakes, caramelised nuts, strudel, Italian biscuits, and many more. Of course a Christmas market would not be complete without the mulled wine and beer. The market was pretty crowded on Saturday, but that's no surprise cause it's the weekend. If you want to go when there's less people, come during the weekdays. The experience was dampened a bit cause it was raining and windy, but honestly, you can't not enjoy yourself in a Christmas market. The only negative thing Id say about this market is its all over the city centre and you have to walk everywhere if you want to see every stall, but truthfully you'll see the same thing no matter which part of the market you go to. If you want to have a "Chrismassy" time I'd say come here if you're in city centre. Be prepared to bring some cash cause you'll spend some money. For example, a a bratwurst cost £4.50, pretzel cost £2.50, mixed carmelised nuts cost £3.00-£3.50, mulled wine £3-5.

I consider deliciouslyorkshire to be an invaluable resource to showcase the region. Whether it is…read moreto guide potential visitors or to re-familiarise myself with highlights of the area, the company provides information of fantastic quality. The whole company is based around promoting the vast amount of food and drink produced within Yorkshire and the Humber. Its focus on regional ingredients and celebrating in the culinary delights that make the area distinctive, is wonderful to read. Allowing the consumer to be aware of the origins and traceability of their food is what powers the company, highlighting individual businesses. In their fifth year, deliciouslyorkshire award accolades in a range of categories including best products, best retailers, and best innovation. Their passion is infectious. The company is extremely proactive in their approach to promotion, recently holding a stall at a food and drink exhibition in Birmingham, with imminent appearances at York Easter Market and Harrogate Spring Flower Show. There are vast databases on their website which encourage the consumer to support the local economy. The information is presented in a direct way, offering specific village shops, butchers and local businesses to visit. Similarly, deliciouslyorkshire provides the reader with restaurants which use locally sourced ingredients to dine out, and also advice on which hotels to frequent in the region. I can not speak highly enough of the calibre of the company and the informative nature of the website. Well worth a session navigating yourself around the useful links, discovering the regions hidden charms.

Parbold Hill is a layby on the side of the A5209 opposite the pub the Wiggin Tree. From here there…read moreare spectacular views of the surrounding countryside to be seen, there is also an ice cream van that has the novel idea of putting sherbet onto your ice cream Mmmm Mmmm. Anyway there are numerous walks in all directions that take you away from the traffic and into a lovely bit of countryside a walk through the woods down the hill will, after crossing over the railway line take you onto the canal for some nice canal walking or you can carry on along nice footpaths in numerous directions.

This is a great area to take the dogs walking. I have been on several occassions and each time it…read morehas a great atmosphere and plenty of people about.

Leeds International Concert Season began in September of last year and ends in March of this year…read more It is a collection of lunchtime concerts and performances, held every Monday in between, and featuring a range of organists, collectives and choirs, and if you know someone who appreciates this type of musical experience then spread the word. The acoustics in the Leeds Town Hall are amazing, as they are in many town halls, granted, but after having experienced the sheer volume and encompassing feeling of music when these concerts play, it's worth the trip to the town hall just for the sheer hell of it. The genre of music tends to play towards the classical side of things, with the exception being choral appearances, but don't let that put you off, more inspire you to expand horizons. With Simon Lindley taking master residence as the city organist, his talents are truly worth appreciating, but it's also worth experiencing the University of Huddersfield Brass Band and the Leeds Cathedral Choir. From what I can gather the majority of performances are free to attend, I believe the exception is the Christmas and Easter performances, so it may not be the coolest thing to do, but it's quality and something a little different, and who knows, your gran or grandad might appreciate a lunchtime concert if nothing else.