Travelling Around Manchester

You can’t go a day in Manchester or Salford without hearing the signature Metrolink toot, we love getting about this city so we decided to give you a overview of public transport throughout Manchester to help you explore every corner of Cottonopolis.

Metrolink

A quick and convenient method of getting around Manchester, Metrolink has a stop local to almost all areas in and around the city. Check the map of the stops here.

You can buy a ticket from the machine on the platform, scan your card or phone on the reader at the Met stop before you start your trip and then scan again when you get off. If you prefer paying digitally, you can purchase a pass online via the GetMeThere app. Adult prices range between £4 and £8 for day passes.

With frequent services, wait times aren’t too long unless it’s a Sunday, when the amount of carriages actively travelling the city is reduced. Also, when the Manchester United or City games are on, expect crowded carriages. You can plan your route here to avoid delays.

Use the Met to hop around the most popular parts of Manchester City Centre like Market Street, Ancoats, Deansgate and St Peter’s Square.

Bus

Unlike the Metrolink, buses can get caught up in traffic but they’re convenient, regular and cracking value. See the central bus routes here.

With over 1000 bus routes and 12,000 stops throughout Greater Manchester, you’ll should never be far from one.  The buses are a god send for students in Manchester, who’re usually near to Wilmslow Road (one of the busiest bus routes in Europe) and can save a whopping 50% on bus travel. If you’re interested in this offer, you can read up on it here.

Train

There are four train stations in the city centre; Victoria, Deansgate, Piccadilly and Oxford Road and plenty more across the city, students can hop on at Mauldeth Road and be in town in just 10 minutes! The train is most useful when heading from city to city or a neighbouring district. You can get to Newcastle or London from Manchester in 2.5 hours, which is much faster than you can by car or coach. Top tip, after finding which train to get, book directly on the operator’s website rather than Trainline to avoid sneaky fees.

Use Google Maps to check current train times and see how fast you can cover ground.

Bikes

Being eco-friendly is ever more important, and cycling gives you the opportunity to do your bit while staying fit and active simultaneously. The Bee Network Cycle Hire is a fairly new initiative which has placed more than 1,500 rentable bikes in over 200 docking stations around the city. You can find some on Oxford Road and throughout the university campuses.

To start riding, they charge a small fee around £1.25 and for every minute onwards, there is another smaller payment to make sure the price is fair for the journey time.