10 Things to Do in Manchester on a Small Budget

Peak District National Park is a vast unspoiled wilderness to explore with breathtaking panoramic views, miles of hiking trails and many outdoor adventures. The park offers mountains, forests, the Dove Stone Reservoir for scenic strolls, and a sailing club. Here you’ll be able to paddle in a stream, enjoy plenty of picnic areas and explore towering rock formations. You may even see majestic peregrine falcons soaring through the air as you watch through telescopes.

Many areas here are accessible to wheelchairs and pushchairs. Car parks can be found from which to start your journey, and certain spots in the park offer takeaway food trucks. It’s about an hour south of the city centre.

The Museum of Science and Industry, also called MOSI, is an enormous museum with exhibits ranging from antique vehicles to the history of computing and telecommunications. Here you’ll see some of the oldest cars, antique aircraft you can get up close to, historic train cars you can board and some of the earliest examples of gas and steam engines. The computing exhibits will showcase everything from the oldest difference engine machines to today’s fastest microprocessors and examine communications from the telegraph to the smartphone.

Many of the exhibits here are interactive so that you can get hands-on. Best of all, it’s completely free. MOSI is in the heart of the city centre.

Castlefield offers a dynamic, revitalised cultural hub of Manchester, which also happens to be its landmark hub dating back to Roman times. Here you can see an ancient Roman fort with canals, explore the ruins of old mills and wander through lots of repurposed historic buildings that today serve as shops, bars and restaurants of just about every variety

In addition, this thriving neighbourhood is home to the Castlefield Bowl, an open-air arena that hosts a wide variety of concerts, and the HOME venue, where you can see a world of multimedia arts and cinema. It’s 10 minutes southeast of the city centre at the southwest end of Deansgate.

Transport for Greater Manchester is the public body that coordinates transportation services throughout the city and can save you money with bus, metro and public transport. The organisation operates a wide range of public transport, including the Manchester Metrolink light rail system and bus systems.

While hiring a car can be a great way to get around with freedom, you can save a great deal of money with public transportation. In fact, several free transport options are available including the Free Bus and Metroshuttle which will get you around the city centre at no cost whatsoever.

The Manchester Art Gallery is a vast museum encompassing over 25,000 pieces of artwork in a variety of media, including ceramics, paintings, drawings, decorative art, costumes and sculpture from over 600 years of history. If you’re travelling with the family, this museum also offers many opportunities for kids to engage their creativity, including a Keep It Curious Activity Kit. This activity box comes with a pencil, sketchbook, photography filter and educational cards to help learn about the art in the Gallery.

Regularly, the gallery hosts a Lion’s Den or Clore Art Studio session where kids can use their crafty side. The museum is in the city centre and is completely free to enter.

Fletcher Moss Park, more formally called Fletcher Moss Botanical Gardens, is a stunning urban park spread over 21 acres of land offering tended flowers, rock gardens and a pond. You can explore walking trails that skirt the shores of the River Mersey, spread a blanket and a meal in picnic areas throughout the park and even play sports on football pitches and tennis courts. An onsite cafe allows you to grab snacks, drinks and even a meal when it’s time to fuel up.

At dusk, bats flit around the river, while colourful butterflies and dragonflies fly about during the day. The park and botanical gardens are only 30 minutes south of the city centre.

Chinatown in Manchester is one of the largest of its kind in Europe, offering hundreds of shops, restaurants and cultural institutions to explore and enjoy. Here you can find dim sum, lo mein and all your favourite Chinese foods, gifts and goods like Maneki cats, incense, Chinese fans, clothing and jewellery. At Chinese New Year, the entire neighbourhood erupts into a giant street party complete with traditional fireworks. Any night here can be loads of fun, and it seems like every block is dotted with karaoke bars.

If you restrict yourself to window shopping, it doesn’t cost a thing to explore the culture here. It’s just a 5-minute walk south of the city centre.

Manchester Cathedral is a listed building towering over the city skyline that offers hundreds of years of history, art and architecture and is the seat of the Bishop of Manchester. Its original structure was built in 1421 in Gothic style and was rebuilt and expanded many times over the years. Today it stands 41 metres tall. It’s famed for its furnishings, including the iconic Angel Minstrel sculptures, the 16th-century misericords and its historic bells that date to 1925.

The stained glass windows were destroyed and replaced between the 1960s and 1980s. A fun fact is that the church also houses 2 beehives. It’s in the heart of the city centre, is free to enter and is a functioning church.

The John Rylands Library is a research institute and public library housed in a historic neo-Gothic building on Deansgate, offering stunning architecture and interior decor. The building was constructed in the late Victorian era and opened to the public in 1900, becoming part of the University of Manchester in 1972. Today it houses the University’s special collections, which are among the largest in the United Kingdom. They include one of the earliest extant texts of the New Testament.

The library itself is a Grade I listed building and a stunning example of both neo-Gothic and Arts and Crafts movement architecture and design. It’s right in the heart of the city centre.

Manchester Markets can be found across the city and offer the opportunity to really soak up some local culture and colour while finding souvenirs, arts, crafts, gifts and food. The Makers Market showcases local arts and crafts vendors selling jewellery, artwork, home decor and even artisan speciality foods. Afflecks Place is an indoor market in the Northern Quarter offering 60 indie shops and cafes.

Some markets are seasonal. The annual Christmas Markets are a highlight of Manchester’s holiday season, with over 300 stalls all over the city centre. The Levenshulme Street Food Market is a volunteer-run operation every weekend between March to December, selling takeaway food, live music and interactive family activities.