Manchester

Manchester is a city that changed the world. Back in the 1800s, it became the planet’s first truly industrial city, and it launched the age of passenger rail travel with a railway line that connected it to Liverpool. You can actually stand on the site of that original station today, inside a brilliant museum packed with the kind of inventions that rewired human history. For a city that helped shape the modern world, Manchester wears its past proudly but never gets stuck in it.

The atmosphere here is bold, creative, and endlessly energetic. A Gothic town hall that looks lifted from a fairy tale sits just streets away from a neighbourhood bursting with street art, independent record shops, and hidden cafés. Art galleries, music venues, and football stadiums all compete for your attention.

Speaking of football, Old Trafford alone draws visitors from every corner of the globe. And despite what locals like to joke about the weather, you might be surprised how often the sun actually shows up.

Manchester Puzzle Set

City illustration + map puzzle, shipped to your door.

Available in 110, 252, 520 and 1,014 pcs

From $44.99

Shop puzzle set

Quick fact

Manchester was the world's first industrialised city and home to the world's first passenger railway, which opened between Manchester and Liverpool in 1830.

Fun fact

Manchester gets so much rain that locals joke it inspired the term 'Mancunian' — but the city actually gets less annual rainfall than Rome!

Landmarks

Manchester Town Hall

This breathtaking Gothic building in the heart of the city looks like a fairy-tale castle and is one of the finest Victorian buildings in the world.

Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI)

Built on the site of the world's oldest surviving passenger railway station, this museum celebrates the incredible inventions that were born in Manchester.