Manchester’s Most Instagrammable Places
It feels like we’re nearly there! It’s not going to be too long now until we’re allowed out into the streets of Manchester once again. The team here are Luxome® started thinking about all of the places we’ve missed during Lockdown. It’s also a time to explore new places even we didn’t know existed. Being stuck indoors has given us a newfound thirst for exploring Manchester. After much research and list-compiling on our part, here are a few places in this great city that we recommend you visit. They’re so good that if you do take any pictures, absolutely no photoshop touches are required!
Castlefield
What could be more Manchester than the canals?!
Castlefield is home to the site of the Roman era fort of Mamucium or Mancunium, which is where our city gets the name Manchester. Castlefield was also once the terminus of the Bridgewater Canal, the world’s first industrial canal and the world’s first passenger railway.
A lot has changed over the years as Castlefield is now less Vikings, more restaurants and bars. Thankfully, Castlefield is an Urban Heritage Park, which means it’s fully pedestrianised and free from traffic.
As you aimlessly walk around the Castlefield area, you’ll notice that the bars and restaurants tend to have extensive terraces and open spaces so you can enjoy the tranquillity of the canals as you enjoy a drink or a meal.
The Merchant Bridge is also a popular photo opportunity.
Chinatown
Manchester’s Faulkner Street is home to the 3rd largest Chinatown in Europe, 2nd largest in the UK. You can expect to find Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Nepali, Vietnamese, Singaporean and Malaysian restaurants. It makes you hungry just thinking about going to Chinatown.
The annual Chinese New Year festival, in February, is a highlight in the Manchester events calendar. The celebrations include stalls and dancing dragons in the famous parade.
Interesting fact: The impressive golden archway on Faulkner Street was built in 1987 and was a gift from China.
Vimto Monument
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for most of your adult life, you’ll be aware of Vimto. What you may not know is that Vimto was born in Manchester. The soft drink, made up of blackcurrants, raspberries and grapes, was first concocted by John Noel Nichols on Granby Row in the city centre in 1908 in an attempt to stop people drinking alcohol. Well, that didn’t work, but Vimto has stood the test of time on its own.
An oak monument was commissioned to sit on the site in 1992 to pay homage to the purple beverage. The memorial was restored in 2011 and is now looking as good as ever.
Afflecks
Afflecks, formerly Affleck’s Palace, is an emporium of eclecticism, a totem of indie commerce in Manchester’s northern quarter. That self-proclaimed introduction to Afflecks is excellent, so we felt there was no need to embellish it further!
Afflecks is an indoor market on Church Street/Tib Street and Dale Street’s junction with Oldham Street. You can expect dozens of independent stalls, small shops and boutiques operate in this one grand building. Since 2015 there has also been a bar so you can shop and have a drink too. The bar, called Affleck & Brown, was the name of Manchester’s first department store, located in the same building.
Great photo from Ross
@photography_of_manchester
Street Art
The last place we think you should visit for a unique visual experience isn’t so much a single place, but a movement in itself: Manchester Street Art. The Northern Quarter, although not exclusively, is home to many large-scale spectacular murals. Much of the art in the area was created during Cities of Hope, a street art festival highlighting social injustices while raising money for Manchester charities.
We could write a blog in itself about all of the street art that our city has to offer, and we might just do that! We have managed to find a Manchester street art map guide, which you can tick off on your phone as you visit.
Click here to view the map from Blocal, a travel and street art blog. Once we are allowed back out into Manchester with no restrictions, this seems like a fantastic way to spend a day.
If you’ve been to any of our featured locations, please let us know which is your favourite and where you are planning to visit after Lockdown ends.
