Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in North West England, at the centre of the eponymous county of Greater Manchester.
It had a population of over 589,000 in 2024. It borders the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the city of Salford to the west. The two cities and the surrounding towns form one of the United Kingdom's most populous conurbations, the Greater Manchester Built-up Area, which has a population of 2.87 million.
Getting to Manchester
Manchester Airport (MAN IATA) south of the city is Britain's largest airport outside London, with flights to over 200 destinations, including North America, the Gulf and Far East. Most flights use Terminal 1, holiday charters are usually from T2, and T3 has smaller aircraft on domestic and near-European hops.
Where to eat
As you would expect from such a cosmopolitan city, Manchester has a huge selection of restaurants and eateries that serve a vast array of cuisines. Look hard enough and you will be able to find any type of international and British food. It is also worth exploring some of the suburbs for superb, small independent bistros and restaurants. West Didsbury and Chorlton are noted for their large number of great eateries.
Getting around Manchester the local way
- Get inThe Manchester Ship Canal can only be used on the Mersey Ferry cruise from Salford to Eastham between April and October.
From Wikivoyage: Manchester, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wyld, William (Public domain), Wikimedia Commons.