Town Hall, Albert Square in city centre has been renovated over the years but it still boasts its…read moreglorious 1800s Victorian architecture with stellar beauty. Many events are held here from weddings, concerts, special events, holiday markets, and more. It's easy to see why. It makes for a beautiful backdrop for any occasion. I do like stopping by when I'm in Man to take in anything that may have changed and its infinite gothic presence.

Manchester Town Hall is located in Albert Square in the city centre - it is home to the main area…read moreof the city's famous yearly Christmas Markets. It is one of the nicer, older buildings in the city being built in the mid-1800s and in many ways is your typical victorian building. It has been refurbished of late and the town hall now has a small Post Office in the annexe - it is also well located being right next to Manchester Central Library and part of it is also in St Peter's Square, which is one of the main stops on the city's light railway transport, Metrolink. It is still used today for various reasons other than the Post Office, it also is a small base for the police and it can sometimes be used for voting counting in elections, more notably the 2016 EU referendum where the United Kingdom voted by majority to leave the European Union. The guide of finding key areas of the town hall could perhaps be displayed better, especially when approaching it from Albert Square and St Peter's Square, being quite large it does stretch across both. A really nice old building in the city with some use today - as far as town halls go this is pretty cool. 4*

Standing in the middle of a residential area,where you would never expect it is Ordshall Hall,a…read moreperiod house and museum.Dating back over 820 years the hall has been used for many things.It's main use was home of the Radcliffe family for over 300 years.In 1959 it was bought by Salford Corporation and has been used as a working mens club and even a church hall.In 1972 it was opened as a museum.It is a fine example of an Elizabethan manor house and the outside alone is worth a look.Inside there is a Victorian farmhouse kitchen and a magnificent Great Hall and Star Chamber.There's an exhibition gallery upstairs and the numerous finds are shown here,including a little childs shoe that was found under the floorboards of the house. Ordshall Hall is supposed to be very haunted although we did'nt see any ghosts or ghouls but they often have ghost hunts there often for charity and there are other events. It's open from Monday to Friday 10-4 pm,closed Saturday and open Sunday 1-4pm.It can be found on Ordshall Lane,Salford,Manchester,M5 3AN.

An historical building and one that provides all sorts for the public. The hall has three rooms to…read morerent out to people, whether it be weddings, conferences or productions. They are available with first class service. I once performed here with my school for the mayor, and yes I was nervous but I kept getting lost as the place is soooo big. A map would be helpful! There is also a museum inside this gigantic building. It is the museum of the Manchester Regiment. They have many things on offer and lots of school kids go and have a wander and learn about what their grandad did etc. It is fun to go and look at all the history! The added bonus is that it is free to get in so HIGH FIVE! If you are thinking of having a wedding reception here. It is an ideal place as this building is fantastic from the outside and inside is even better. Look at the photos or take a look at the website.

Excellent day out in nature for all of the family, the only reason that it doesn't have 5* is due…read moreto the food quality in the restaurant and how expensive it is, also the price to use the car park is too high, rather than charge by the hour or per car, it's charged per person in the car and cost almost £20 for a few hours visit.

I may not look like the traditional 'outdoorsman' but it may shock you to hear I'm quite the fan of…read moreNational Trust sites and in particular wildlife spotting! And at Dunham Massey there's nowhere quite like it to spot deer, squirrels and pheasants amongst some of the finest woodland the UK has to offer. As is standard at NT sites, it's £5 to park and around £10 entrance to the house, plus there's an excellent restaurant onsite serving homemade food between 12 and 2.30pm (we had the pork and vegetable casserole and mushroom pie and both were of excellent quality, out of a choice of around 6 dishes), with snacks such as teacakes and scones served with tea and coffee in the morning and afternoon. Lunch came to £22 with a couple of soft drinks. As is usual with National Trust sites, it's an extremely popular day out for older people, parents with pushchairs and young couples enjoying a romantic day out - saying that, there is plenty of room in the park to find your own piece of paradise so don't worry about it being too claustrophobic!

Exchange Square in Manchester is one of the cities coolest, more modern areas, located at the back…read moreof the Manchester Arndale, here there is the entrance to the Printworks, and even The Corn Exchange, which has also been revitalised recently, with so many more eateries being added there such as Pho and a new restaurant from Gino, the chef from This Morning. Exchange Square was one of the areas hit by the 1996 bombing of Manchester from the IRA, and since then they seem to have done a great job bringing it back to life again. There is a new metrolink station from Exchange Square, providing travel across Greater Manchester, and it is a short walk to Victoria Station, Manchester's 2nd largest station. In Exchange Square, there also is a Selfridges and Harvey Nichols, which adds a higher-end feel to the area, but still it is a nice place to shop and look around, and defiantly worth paying a visit when in Manchester, as it is really central, just being outside one of the exits to the Arndale. There also is a lot of coffee shops here with Café Nero and Starbucks all having stores, Second Cup also opened their first ever store in the UK here since expanding into the nation and now have 3 stores, including stores in London and Birmingham. The Wheel of Manchester was also located here before it was taken down as the owners were not paying their rent. There isn't much else to say about Exchange Square but it is quite a nice, cool area of Manchester which has been greatly improved and they have worked hard since the IRA bombing of Manchester in 1996 strongly affecting it.

Exchange Square is a lovely part of Manchester, and clever too. Cleverly reconstructed after the…read moreinfamous IRA bombing of 1996, this area is a perfect sun trap in Manchester. Well fitted with rows of seating and a large screen autotuned to the BBC, this area is very rarely empty. It's sad that the wheel has left this area as many people knew where they were due to the landmark and now many people (including me!) can be found wondering why we've taken it down and replaced it with a pop up bar which has missed the nicest weather Manchester has seen in a while? Something to do with the new metrolink city crossing I'm sure. I often walk through this area on my way to guide at the Cathedral but have also been known to watch the ballet here when it was beamed and screened from London. Lovely area but the 3 stars reflects some of the eateries and general lack of atmosphere in the area. Great when the beeb is screening something engaging or when the sun is out but otherwise a bit neglected by the masses.

What an amazing and historic landmark! I would recommend anyone tour through the Library. The…read morearchitecture is beautiful and the rare manuscripts and artifacts they house are incredible. They are having a special display of one of Shakespeare's plays, one of the oldest New Testaments, even artifacts from King Nebuchadnezzar's palace. They will all be on display which will be quite amazing to see. This is a must see in Manchester! Truly amazing how it has stood the test of time.

Love spending time in libraries while on holiday (vacation) Stunning late-Victorian neo-Gothic…read morelibrary , John Rylands Library opened at the turn of the 20th century and is a gorgeous remnant of Manchester. Potter-heads would appreciate the look and feel inside the library is inspired the design for Hogwarts. I'm not sure if the Factory Records exhibit is still on display, but I'm a huge fan of Factory Records bands (ie. New Order, Joy Division, Happy Mondays etc.) and bands that came out of Manchester, the Smiths, James, Buzzcocks, The Fall to name few. It was an experience seeing original handwritten lyrics, instruments played, old punk zines, photos and badges on display.

The statue of the Duke of Wellington that stands tall on the edge of Piccadilly Gardens was erected…read moreall the way back in 1852. That really is a hell of a long time ago. The Duke was of course famous for leading the British troops to victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo and then he became Prime Minister in 1827. This statue was unveiled in 1856 after Wellington's death in 1852 to represent the respect the people of Manchester had for this great man. The statue stands tall and elegantly facing east. The amount of change that must have occurred all around this statue over the last 150 years or more really must have been incredible. Not that old Wellington would have known it, of course. He's just a statue.

this is an oasis in a busy city. An old pub dating back to 1552. It has moved twice. Once for the…read morebuilding of the arndale centre and then again after the IRA bombing. It is tiny inside but the standard of the food and beer is excellent. Beer battered fish to die for.

'Chets'. Perhaps more famous for being the subject of one of ITV's huge range of reality…read moredocumentaries - don't you remember? They had a spate of them back in the day including Redcoats, Airline, something about vets and sewage cleaners and... heck, they had one for everything. Chets tended to get shunted to the graveyard slot along with Redcoats which made the two programmes essential student viewing after a few beers and a stumble round Manchester. While the aforementioned image I've offered may give the impression that Chets is an establishment of debauchery (it was certainly the case with Redcoats), nothing could be further from the truth. Visually, anyway. If you thought the Royal Northern College of Music was posh you ain't seen nothing yet. Again. Visually. Housed in one of the most stunningly beautiful buildings in Manchester adjacent to the painstakingly rebuilt ancient pubs in Exchange Square, the school is on the site of a manor house and Manchester Castle. Now comprising buildings way back from 1421 and several more (including an orphanage in 1653 and the Long Millgate building in 1978 as well as brand newies, it's a school of music with the motto 'Love to Live to Play'. Chets is open. You'd think by looking at it that you'd have to win scholarships or have parents with 'the third' at the end of their name (you being 'the fourth') to even go near the place but that's claptrap. Over 290 students attend the school between the ages of 8 and 18, and anyone can become a Chet regardless of background or financial situation. All students are entitled to government funding and all a potential student has to do is audition. The school offers essential academic qualifications alongside the principal study instrument and usually a secondary one too. (Remember, one's instrument can be one's voice.) Students can choose to board or not, so if required this can be one heck of an intense musical experience. Chets has some impressive alumni and it's definitely worth a shot if music is your life and you can't imagine yourself doing anything else. It's great preparation for university studies or life as part of an orchestra or choir, and I can safely say it's one of the most beautiful places you can go to school.

Chetham's School of Music is definitely up there with the top selling points of Manchester as a…read morecity to rival the capital. The student culture in Manchester is second to none, and the city is home to the best young talent across the disciplines, not least the youngest and most talented musical genius! Along with the Royal Northern College of Music and The Martin Harris Centre (home to The University of Manchester's musical population), Chetham's is in the top musical venues in the city. Whereas the Royal Northern College of Music and The University of Manchester deal with university age children, Chetham's is for musicians aged eight to eighteen, and it is home to nearly three hundred of them. Situated in the city centre, right next to the Manchester Wheel and the Manchester Cathedral, the setting is nothing short of idyllic. The buildings in which the school is situated are some 600 years old! And the Chetham Library (see Yelp) is a piece of architecture and local heritage not to be missed out upon! Between these aforementioned landmarks in the area is a lovely square with several of Manchester's best pubs, so this little part of the city is worth a visit for literally everyone (thats to say, if you don't like anything else, and you will, at least you'll like the pubs) If you go onto the website you can see all the upcoming events, many of which are free and some of which don't even require booking. Some of the more popular events are around the £15 mark, but still cheap for what they are. They even have lunchtime concerts. A really fantastic place to study, see live music or even walk around and have a look at the architecture. 5 stars without a shadow of a doubt!