Unique Tours: North West - City of Culture

Manchester - City of Culture

Manchester is the capital of the North and, like London in the South, this city is the cultural powerhouse of the region. With exceptional high-end restaurants, world class museums and art galleries, luxury shopping and an outstanding sporting heritage, Manchester is the perfect city for a cultural holiday.

Tour highlights can include:

Excusive behind-the-scenes tours of Manchester’s football grounds
Award-winning museums and galleries
Dining in Manchester’s finest restaurants
Shopping at Britain’s famous high-end department stores
Luxury hotels in the heart of the city

What's included...

Day 1 - Football and Shopping

Manchester City Football Club is one of the most successful teams in the world and has won the Premiere League title twice in the last five years (2012 &2014). An exclusive tour of the Etihad Stadium will take you behind the scenes and let you explore the heritage of Manchester City FC. We will spend the afternoon shopping in Manchester’s luxury department stores, browsing the latest designer clothing at Harvey Nichols and Selfridges. This evening we will stay at the four-star Midland Hotel and dine at The Midland’s exquisite restaurant by Simon Rogan, The French.

Day 2 - Lowry

L. S. Lowry is one of Manchester’s most famous artists and one of the most renowned British artists of the 20th Century, with the Tate Britain in London housing its first exhibition of Lowry’s work in 2013. The Lowry in Salford, Manchester, is a theatre and gallery complex which is home to, among many other things, the largest public collection of Lowry’s work. Spend a day enjoying all that’s on offer at this hub of art and entertainment. Continuing the theme of the day we will stay this evening at The Lowry Hotel, an award-winning five-star hotel in a stunning contemporary building. The Terrace at The Lowry Hotel offers a relaxed environment to sip cocktails and dine ‘al fresco’ all year round, where you can bathe in the sunshine and get five-star service.

Day 3 - Football and Shopping 2

It goes without saying that Manchester is famous for its sporting history, and for one sport in particular… The National Football Museum is dedicated to celebrating the beautiful game and provides a world-class home for the greatest collection of football memorabilia ever assembled, with more than 140,000 objects, works of art and photographs making up this unique collection. Soak up the history and experience the true passion of the game at this award-winning museum. Afterwards we will wander into Manchester’s vibrant Northern Quarter where you can find vintage gems in the myriad of independent boutiques which populate the area. As well as football, Manchester is famous for its pubs, beers and breweries: no visit to the city would be complete without an authentic pub experience. One of the best and oldest pubs in the city is the Marble Arch which also has its own micro-brewery so we’ll round off a busy day by relaxing in the pub with a quality Northern beer.

Day 4 - Gallery and Restaurant

Manchester has many brilliant art galleries but perhaps the best is the multi-award-winning Whitworth gallery which is associated with Manchester University. This beautifully appointed gallery, housed in a stunning building amid lovely gardens, exhibits thousands of important pieces of art from historic fine art to modern and contemporary art as well as textiles, sculpture and more. After a day spent exploring this wonderful gallery we move on from decorative art to culinary art. This evening we dine at Manchester House, one of the very best fine-dining restaurants in the city, whose head chef, Aiden Byrne, was the youngest ever chef to win a Michelin Star.

Day 5 - Manchester United

On a game day, Manchester United’s ground, Old Trafford, attracts over 75,000 fans and fills the city. However, on a non-match day you can take a guided tour of this legendary stadium: this experience is not to be missed and allows you to explore the grounds, stop off to visit the changing rooms and sit in The Manager seat in the dugout. This evening we’ll experience the lifestyle of a Manchester United FC player when we dine at Rio Ferdinand’s restaurant, Rosso. This favourite of celebrities stands proudly at the top of Manchester's prestigious King Street in a stunning 120-year-old Grade II listed building. Rolls Royces and various supercars can often be seen outside and the paparazzi gallery on the wall chronicles the famous faces that have dined here while live jazz, soul and swing music add a touch of class to this exclusive dining experience.