MANCHESTER IN 2 DAYS
- Bekki Thomas
- Aug 13, 2020
- 8 min read
Updated: Mar 1, 2021
UK staycation to my new favourite northern city.
Now before I start writing this, I must confess the only real sightseeing myself and my friend Joel did was through the various bars, pubs and restaurants. However, my sister's boyfriend, Oli from Stockport told me this was probably the best way I would get to see a lot of the city during my short stay there.
We got the earliest possible megabus from Bristol, 8.40 in the morning which after a long lockdown of waking up very late was a bit of a shock to the system but knowing a boozy fun few days was ahead of me, I just about managed it.
We arrived in Manchester around 1 in the afternoon (it is a bit of long trek on a megabus but £15 compared to the £80 ish train, there was no competition). Our air b&b was literally just around the corner from the bus station and was called High Street Townhouse - https://highstreettownhouse.com/.
I was torn on where best to stay but this proved to be the best possible location for us. So close to the bus station, train station, trams everywhere, Ubers arrived within two minutes of booking, easy walk to the Northern quarter pubs and bars, all in all best decision I could've made.
It was a huge flat. We both had a room to ourselves. I did admittedly take the large room with the double bed but felt I deserved it after choosing such a smashing location. There was everything you needed in there if you wanted to eat at the flat but of course we just wanted to be constantly out. The bathroom was huge, the lounge was big and comfy. We said straight away when we go back at Christmas, we will be re-booking there. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to be slap bang in the middle of fun.
Once we'd settled in, caked on the makeup and finished our cider, we headed out to start ticking off places on our 'must visit' list sent by Manchester tour guide, Oli. Here is a list of all the places he recommends for anyone interested (and I very much trust his guidance). He knows I am the sort of person to really buzz off of an 'instagrammable' looking place so recommended I definitely tried the ones in Spinningfields and my goodness, I was NOT disappointed.
We started off our first day by heading to the bars in the Northern Quarter. Cane and Grain and El Capo stood out to us most on the list but the entire Northern Quarter was fabulous and we were stood in the street trying to decide between all these different places because everywhere looked so great. There was a LOT of outdoor seating and despite it being a Wednesday, the atmosphere was like a weekend.
In Cane and Grain, we had some pints and a little bite to eat because I hadn't eaten since my bagel at 6am. This place was top tier food. All I had was chips and gravy (when up north) but it somehow was the best gravy I have ever had in my life. The decor in there was very edgy so of course the instagram photos began pretty rapidly.
After Cane and Grain, we decided to head to El Capo because I do love a margarita (sadly Joel does not so these didn't go down too well with him). The decor in El Capo once again, was amazing, you cannot go wrong with a neon light fitting in my opinion. The food also smelt and looked incredible but I had JUST eaten and thought I best behave myself or I would be too stuffed for dinner.
Once we had a little wander around the Northern Quarter, we headed back round the corner to our air b&b to get ready for dinner. We did of course stop off to get some prosecco from the shops to assist in our getting ready process while we blasted Take That on spotify. Unsure how my makeup even went on by this stage but we managed it and made our way out for dinner.
For dinner, I pre-booked The Refuge as I had had my eye on it for a long time after seeing my sister post a photo of it during her Christmas trip to Manchester. The Refuge and specifically the 'Winter Gardens' part of the building was top of my list to visit and once again with everything in this city, it did NOT disappoint. We had to get an Uber here as it was a little while away on foot located on Oxford Street and I did have big high heels on so we thought it would be best. The entire setting was insane. The winter garden area was like a big conservatory with indoor trees and fairy lights and possibly the nicest floor I have ever seen? We had seafood and some stunning cocktails which sadly I cannot remember the name of. Rating out of 10 for the whole experience I would have to give a solid 10.
After one of the best meals in a very VERY 'instagrammable' place, things were beginning to get a bit hazy as I had really been taking advantage of being able to go out for drinks after so long, so we went to a few bars near to our air b&b and in Gay Village.
I know there is loads of bars near to where we stayed and in the area Gay Village but here is just a couple we went to that i can recall.
Bar 21 - In the Northern Quarter, from what I could make out there was a film/TV film here which obviously I found fantastic. Cheap drinks, Open late on a weekday, very close to our Air b&B.
Evidently, my photography was going down the pan by here, but all in all, a great pit stop before we carried on to Gay Village.
The Goose - In Gay Village. Very lively til late at night, cheap drinks, friendly atmosphere, bar staff were very chatty. Next time we go to Manchester, I definitely want to explore this area a lot more and hopefully by then maybe some dancing will be allowed (absolute wishful thinking as per).
Finally, after smashing down another lot of gin and lemonades, we made our way back to the flat around 2 in the morning. Pretty good going considering we had been up since 6 in the morning.
Our second day in Manchester (our full day) I had pre arranged for us to have a boozy brunch because quite honestly that is the way to my heart and my favourite meal out. We got an Uber to Spinningfields because that would have been far to far to walk especially on a slight hangover. Can I just add that the ubers here were costing us about £3 a pop. Unlike in Bristol where you rack up a £8 uber moving 1cm.
Our brunch at Menagerie was booked for midday and I have to say, it was one of the most aesthetic places I have ever and probably will ever go to. There was so many delicious classy cocktails - I mean one of mine had a macaroon hanging off the side and the other had sweets all around the glass so that says everything you need to know. I had eggs royale for brunch and it was just elite. The service was incredible, they couldn't do enough for us and the overall setting was so pretty I couldn't stop staring at the decor. They had an area specifically for photographs with a bathtub, balloons and a ring light so I made the most of that. Any excuse for a photo shoot and I will take it.
After the most gorgeous brunch, we had a little wander around the area to find somewhere else to get cocktails. My blood was made up of only cocktails at this stage. Here is a picture of me wandering about because once again I really do rate neon signs highly (that says 'You're my wonderwall' for anyone like myself who cannot see well).
We stumbled across a building that looked absolutely gorgeous and realised it was The Ivy which was also on the must see list. We went in with the intention of only getting a drink as we had literally JUST eaten. However, we were put in the restaurant part of the terrace and realised we had to order food or it just seemed awkward. Typical British thing of not just asking politely to move to the bar but instead force feeding myself to avoid causing a scene.
The Ivy was the most incredible building. I now need to visit the one in Bristol and Cardiff to make a comparison. We decided to have an espresso martini and a Crème brûlée because why the hell not at this point. I had gained approximately 8 stone, might as well carry on we thought. Now this was the third floor of what seemed to be the most stunning building so when I return, I MUST try the first floor as it looked like a palace - wish I was exaggerating but I'm not.
After eating so much that I was worried my high heels were going to snap under the weight of me.. we went back to the air b&b to literally LIE DOWN. I feel like you know you've gone to far when you have to lay in bed after eating. We quickly recovered and got ourselves looking stunning again ready to head back to the area of Spinningfields for our meal at 20 stories.
All dressed up, we arrived at 20 stories MCR and it was so very tall I thought here we go, roll on the vertigo. But WOW what a place. We got the lift up to the top (obvs) and when we got out the lift we just could not believe the view. The entire restaurant was glass walls so you could see the whole city around you.
We had the most amazing seat near to the window, we were able to watch the sunset. I had a bottle of red to myself as Joel doesn't drink red wine (ah shame). He had a cocktail called the 'Champagne supernova' - we didn't get the reference for a solid 20 mins until I said hold on wait what's that cocktail called again - terrible from us but we had been drinking all day so.
No exaggeration, we had the best food ever. Being a veggie (who does eat fish), I always worry places are just going to be over the top with the meat options like lamb and steak and forget enough veggie options but they had the most delicious mushroom risotto of my life. Joel had lamb which did look fabulous if you're into that sort of thing.
After our food, we took our drinks into the bar area which was an outdoor roof terrace which had even BETTER views of the city. Once again, lots of fairy lights, trees etc and we managed to sit right by the window. We did steal a 6 seater space but what can you do. The views of the city were insane and we stayed here for quite a few hours just chatting about how much we love Manchester and we'll get a little holiday flat here when we have some money (one day).
After our gorgeous meal here, it was getting very late so we thought best place for it would be back to Gay Village where I could not tell you for the life of me where we went. Always buzzing around there though it would seem and again another late night for us.
We were VERY reluctant to leave in the morning as we had had the best couple of days ever. We didn't realise how much we could fit in, in such a short amount of time. I cannot wait to go back at maybe Christmas where I am hoping, fingers crossed life is back to some more normality.
We booked this trip before the local lockdown was announced so of course I am not condoning flaunting the rules of the lockdown, but I must say everyone was fully following the rules, I felt safe the entire time in every place.
I would recommend any of these places to anyone and to summarise - a smashing little UK staycation which made those horrendous months of being stuck in my home feel a slight distant memory.
Cheers all for reading, Bekki T x
Commentaires