Nearby Attractions

Housed in the glass-fronted Urbis building, four floors tracing the sport from its codification in Victorian England to the modern game, holding the original 'Laws of the Game' document, the oldest surviving FA Cup trophy, and the 1966 World Cup match ball. An interactive floor lets you take a penalty and have your shot speed measured.

Closed: Open daily except 25 December and 1 January

Around £10 for adults — the museum was free for its first decade or so but now charges; the Penalty Shootout interactive game costs extra on top. Free guided highlight tours run several times a day and are included in the ticket. Verify the current price on nationalfootballmuseum.com before visiting.

Built partly on the site of the world's oldest surviving passenger railway station (1830), the museum covers the Industrial Revolution technologies that made Manchester the world's first industrial city: working steam engines, historic textile machinery, and an exhibit on the Manchester Baby, the first stored-program electronic computer, run here in 1948.

Closed: Open daily except 24-26 December

Free for the main galleries; some special exhibitions and the planetarium-style shows charge separately, typically £6-10.

The widest cathedral nave in England, dating in its current form largely from the 15th century, damaged by a Christmas Eve bomb in 1940 and again by the 1996 IRA bombing that flattened much of the surrounding city centre. The medieval carved misericords (fold-down seats) in the choir stalls survived both.

Closed: Restricted sightseeing during services

Free to enter, with a suggested donation. Guided tower tours and a small charge to view the misericords up close may apply.

One of the finest Pre-Raphaelite collections in the world, built on the wealth of Manchester's Victorian industrialists, alongside Dutch Old Masters and a strong contemporary programme. The gallery briefly and controversially removed a nude nymph painting from display in 2018 to prompt debate about gender and Victorian art.

Closed: Closed Mondays except bank holidays

Free for the permanent collection; ticketed special exhibitions typically £8-14.

A Gothic Revival cathedral of books opened in 1900, built by a widow in memory of her textile-magnate husband, now part of the University of Manchester. The reading room, with its vaulted stone ceiling and stained glass, holds a fragment of the oldest known piece of the New Testament in existence, the St John's Fragment, dated to around AD 125-175.

Closed: Closed Mondays

Free to visit the historic reading room and exhibitions. Donations are welcomed at the entrance.

Manchester United's 74,000-capacity home since 1910, nicknamed 'the Theatre of Dreams'. The tour goes through the players' tunnel, the dugouts and the dressing room, and the adjoining museum traces the club from its 1878 origins as a railway workers' team through the 1958 Munich air disaster to the modern era.

Closed: Not available on match days or the day before a home match; check the tour calendar

Around £25 for adults, combining the stadium tour and museum; museum-only tickets are cheaper. Tours don't run on match days or the day before a match, and stadium areas may vary depending on ongoing redevelopment work — check manutd.com before booking.

Manchester City's home since 2003, originally built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games and later expanded. The tour includes the home dressing room, a walk down the players' tunnel to pitchside, and an interactive press-conference room where a virtual manager fields your questions.

Closed: Not available on match days; check the tour calendar

Around £26 for adults for the standard guided tour. Not available on match days; book ahead as tour slots are limited and popular on weekends.

A striking aluminium-clad building by architect Daniel Libeskind, its shattered-globe shape representing conflict's fracturing of the world, standing across the water from MediaCityUK on the site of the former Manchester Ship Canal docks. Inside, exhibits cover how war has shaped lives from the First World War to the present.

Closed: Open daily except 24-26 December

Free for the permanent collection; a viewing platform (the 'Air Shard') offers city views for a small separate charge. Special exhibitions may be ticketed.