It's not coincidence that Manchester continues to feature on lists from travel publications around the world as a must-visit city. Home to innovators, creators, musicians, writers and more, the buzzing metropolis is packed full of museums, galleries and gig venues, plus an excellent selection of restaurants, bars, pubs and clubs.
It's not just the city that draws the crowds though. Spilling out into the ten Manchester boroughs you'll find days out for all the family - from walks around ancient parkland and visits to markets brimming with food and drink, to shopping centres you can spend the whole day at, Greater Manchester has plenty of sights and attractions.
Below you'll find a selection of days out, and things to do across Greater Manchester in 2023. If there's something you think we've missed or deserves to be highlighted, please let us know in the comments.
Read more: Undiscovered places you need to visit in Greater Manchester in 2023
Mayfield Park
Last September Manchester's first public park in 100 years opened its gates, meaning that this year will be the first time visitors will be able to experience the 6.5 acre park during the summer. Featuring open green spaces, play areas, cycling and running routes, stepping stones and particularly striking vantage spots of the river Medlock, it will be a great spot to grab some fresh air and spend those hopefully warm summer days.
Boardman Gate Entrance, Baring St, Manchester M1 2PY
Factory International
The huge new arts centre opens in June and represents the largest investment in a national cultural project project since the opening of the Tate Modern. Programmed and operated by the same team behind the world-famous Manchester International Festival, the vast new building will create a "landmark cultural space" for the city at the edge of the Old Granada Studios. The extraordinary spaceship-like structure, visible from Quay Street and Liverpool Road, sits on the banks of the River Irwell and will form the centrepiece of the 2023 Manchester International Festival from June 29 to July 26.
Factory International, Water St, Manchester M3 4JQ
RHS Bridgewater
The former site of Worsley New Hall, in Salford, is a heritage landscape turned into a relaxing garden. Landscape architect, Tom Stuart-Smith set out the masterplan, while the Bridgewater team, alongside award-winning garden designers, brought the 'gardens within a garden' to life, mixing both history and leading horticulture. Featuring a number of garden spaces including The Chinese Streamside Garden, Paradise and Kitchen gardens, as well as a woodland play area and welcome building, it's a tranquil and beautiful space to wander at your leisure.
Occupation Rd, Worsley, Manchester M28 2LJ
Manchester Museum
It's not long now until Manchester Museum reopens its doors following the completion of a huge £15 million transformation project. The museum, which is one of the largest university museums in the UK, has been shut since August 2021, but from February 18, the doors will open again with a new exhibitions and spaces including a South Asia Gallery - in partnership with the British Museum - a new Lee Kai Hung Chinese Culture Gallery, a brand new Dinosaur display and a blockbuster Golden Mummies of Egypt exhibition.
University of, Oxford Rd, Manchester M13 9PL
Food Halls
In recent years, a flurry of new and exciting food destinations have been established across Greater Manchester, thanks in part to its food markets. Last year, Exhibition, a food hall comprising three popular dining concepts and two bars opened within Manchester's old Natural History Museum on Peter Street, joining Society on Barbirolli Square and Mackie Mayor in the Northern Quarter. The suburbs are well represented too with Stockport's Produce Hall situated opposite the historic market, and then there's the regenerated Altrincham Market with its stellar food line-up.
Cheetham's Library
Believed to be the oldest public library in the English-speaking world, this cultural gem with furniture and fittings dating back to 1654 is housed within a stunning sandstone building dating from 1421. Filled with ancient books and dark, panelled rooms, it's just one of Manchester's many historic libraries, with the Victorian Gothic John Ryland Library and Portico Library also well worth a visit when in the city centre.
Manchester Craft & Design Centre
Based in the old Fish Market on Oak Street, the Manchester Craft and Design Centre is not only a great for picking up bespoke gifts, but as a source of inspiration. For nearly 40 years, the centre has provided a home to some of the region’s very best independent designers and makers, while also hosting exhibitions and keeping visitors watered and fed at its cafe space.
17 Oak St, Manchester M4 5JD
Chinatown
Manchester's Chinatown is the second largest in the UK so you can expect a wide range of brilliant restaurants, bakeries and shops. The annual Chinese New Year festival takes place in January this year and visitors can expect the return of Manchester's legendary Dragon Parade, which returns in full for the first time in three years. Keep an eye out for the return of the bright red lanterns across the city centre's busiest shopping streets as well, plus family-friendly events in the lead up and in the week after.
Victoria Baths
Victoria Baths is a Grade II-listed Edwardian swimming pool and Turkish Baths complex in the Chorlton-on-Medlock area of Manchester. The baths opened to the public in 1906, but was closed in 1993 before a major, multimillion-pound restoration project began in 2007. Open from March to November, the spring months will see the return of SpringFest, where the building is transformed into a cultural hub with music, art exhibitions, activities and a fantastic array of food and drink.
Hathersage Rd, Manchester M13 0FE
Co-op Live
The hotly antipcated live music, sports and entertainment venue is set to become the biggest indoor arena in the UK with a capacity for 23,500 people when it opens later this year. Being built next to the Etihad Stadium it has been designed to "benefit both people and the planet" and will host everything from live music to sports events, comedy gigs to award shows and family entertainment. Foodies will be happy to hear that the venue will also be home to a staggering 32 restaurants and bars.
Alan Turing Way, Manchester M11
The Lowry
Just 10 minutes from the city centre, The Lowry isn't just somewhere to see works by its namesake, but a spot for theatre, musicals, comedy and much more. Featuring three performance spaces, this year will see the venue host a number of award-winning shows and West End hits from Everybody's Talking About Jamie and Mother Goose to Life of Pi. Post-show and only a few steps away, there's a number of shops, restaurants, bar and cafes to relax in.
The Quays, Salford M50 3AZ
Heaton Park
Covering an area of 600 acres, the public park sits on the edge of Manchester and offers a fun day out for all ages thanks to its play areas, boating lake and year-round line-up of events. A number of events have been confirmed for this year, from the Winter Warmer Run in February and the Festival of Nature in summer, to The Courteeners gig and the annual Parklife Festival. Also, don't miss Heaton Hall's beautifully restored interiors to get a taste of the 18th century.
Gay Village
Centred around vibrant Canal Street, this area of the city, just over from Piccadilly is known as the party district, but scratch beneath the surface and there's a lot more going on than parties at late-night venues, cheap drinks and cheesy pop music. Rich with social history, the Village is recognised as the UK's biggest LGBTQ+ centre outside London and hosts many annual events including Manchester Pride, Sparkle and The Skins Weekend.
Hartshead Pike
With it's name linked to the monument on its summit, this hill in Tameside is a great spot to blow off the cobwebs. Overlooking Ashton-under-Lyne, Mosely, Saddleworth, Lees and Oldham - and on a clear day Manchester, Cheshire and Snowdonia in Wales - the walking route is a relatively easy walk with accessibility for wheelchair users. You can start the walk from near Mossley train station, climbing past Luzley Brows to Mossley Cross before continuing to Hartshead Pike.
Gail's Bakery
There's an exciting variety of new and exciting openings happening in Manchester this year. One that's just slightly past Greater Manchester, but represents a shift for the brand up north is Gail's bakery, which will open its door in Wilmslow later this year. Following the success of its sites in London, as well as Brighton and Oxford, the popular bakery chain and cafe wants to bring its ‘make good food that people love ethos’ to Manchester and beyond, winning over new customers with it's award winning breads, pastries and cakes.
Contact Theatre
Continuing its 50th anniversary celebrations through 50 weeks of actions with inclusion, sustainability and affordability at its heart, this year will see Queer Contact hosted at the theatre on Oxford Road. Manchester’s flagship LGBTQ+ arts festival will return for two weeks in February, Queer Contact will feature a wide selection of events and entertainment celebrating the country’s most extraordinary LGBTQ+ performers, including actors, cabaret acts, drag stars, and comedians.
Oxford Rd, Manchester M15 6JA
Dunham Massey
This beautiful ancient parkland is a great place to explore and stretch your legs. Cared for and run by the National Trust, the site boasts 300 acres of parkland to wander through, and is home to a herd of wild fallow deer, along with blooming gardens and an 18th-Century house. From mid-January to March, head over for The Wonder of Water, a family-friendly trail, which encourages children to pick up facts about the life-giving liquid while enjoying time outdoors in nature.
Dunham Massey, Altrincham WA14 4SJ
Castlefield Viaduct
The elevated, skyline park, which runs across the Grade II listed Victorian viaduct, opened to the public on in July five months after work began on the historic steel structure. The park will remain open until July, so if you haven't had chance to explore the viaduct yet, make sure you set a date. Described as an "urban park", the green space celebrates the industrial heritage of Castlefield, and a section of land has also been left untouched, to give visitors a sense of how nature has reclaimed the space since the site closed in the 1960s.
Catalan Square, Duke St, Manchester M3 4PU
Science and Industry Museum
Many will already know that the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester tells the story of where science met industry and the modern world began, but it continues to inspire and excite visitors with its leading exhibitions and events. If you haven't already, make sure to visit the Turn It Up: The Power of Music exhibition before its comes to a close in mid-May - a hands-on experience encouraging everyone who visits to remember and reflect on what music means to us as humans.
Liverpool Rd, Manchester M3 4FP
Marple Locks
Stretching over the course of one mile, it's worth bookmarking this picturesque canal walk for when winter weather subsides. What makes it stand out in Greater Manchester's long list of great walking locations is the series of fully-operating locks - 16 in total - an impressive feat of engineering. Surrounded by beautiful countryside, as you head towards Romiley you’ll come across the Marple Aqueduct, the highest canal aqueduct in England which features breathtaking stone archways.
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