Manchester in a day

Manchester is a city with buildings, without places in ruins or ancient buildings which really catch tourists attention. The only two buildings that are old and very popular with tourists are two libraries, of which one you can find in the city centre (The John Rylands Library) and the other is further out from the centre, but very near to Manchester Train Station (Chetham's Library). The latter is inside a college, therefore despite being free to visit, you have to wait until the tourist opening hours to enter along with other tourists, with a guided tour included. Chetham's Library is also nearby to the National Museum of Football and Manchester Cathedral, which is one of the best ones that I have visited in England.

This was greatly due to the fact that the people that minded the entrance were very nice, and without asking for anything in exchange like money, kindly explain to you the year in which it was built, the structures most relevant to the cathedral and even talked about an angel that could be found in the wall of the first cathedral created in the same place, which to this day a form of it is still there, which inspired the creation of the series Game of Thrones.

At the cathedral entrance, they also ask you where you come from and give you a guide about the cathedral in your language. And during the visit, which is different to the one at Chetham's Library as you don't have a tour guide, you can ask any questions to the people who work in the cathedral who are easy to spot. This is what I did and the person who looked after me was so lovely, and this is honestly why I was very grateful for how they treated me on my visit here, and so I recommend it 100 per cent.

Going back to the libraries, the John Rylands Library is the biggest of the two libraries that I mentioned. The truth is that it is a place you have to visit if you go to Manchester, for as well as being free, the library is very old, big and interesting to see; along with more of the gloominess that libraries were known for before.

Although the main entrance to the library is one that gives way to a street, you can find the entrance to access the inside of the library in the souvenir shop in the library. You've barely entered and they give you a leaflet with information about the library and if you have any question during your visit there, you can ask any person that works there. Luckily they are all very friendly.

One thing I'd like to say about Chetham's library is that although it is cooler than the other library, it has a gloomier and older theme than the one before. Honestly, it is incredible to think that such an old building with such old doors is still being used as a library, and for students at this college!

I wanted to give you a suggestion that if you are in a hurry when visiting since the visit takes place in fixed hours, and even if you go an hour before, the visit will still be at the pre-determined time - which may not be ideal for your trip through Manchester. And my recommendation is that if you are in a rush and you just want to see the library, you should tell the guide as soon as you enter as I did, as the tour consists of a half an hour introduction and then after the introduction, you can enter the library. It would be lovely if you are able to do the whole tour, but in case you don't have time, you can ask that one of the guides take you straight through to see the library, so that you can go quickly. Another thing I recommend is going to Chetham's Library first so that they can tell you what time the next guided tour is, and depending on what they say, you can decide to go before or after the guided visit around the Cathedral of Manchester, which is really close-by.

Luckily Manchester has free museums in the centre, the ones I recommend are the People's History Museum, the Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester Art Gallery and the Town Hall of Manchester, which sometimes accept visits. Another place I really recommend going to is a building called the Tower of Beetham, which is the tallest building in Manchester; and from the restaurant at the top, you have a beautiful view of the whole of the city of Manchester. The restaurant is quite expensive but most people don't go there to eat, just to see the beautiful view from the restaurant.

Other churches to visit are St Mary's Church and Manchester Town Hall, which you only can see from outside as it is under renovation and it won't be possible to visit it until approximately 2024.

For me, it wasn't one of my favourite English cities and I don't think it is an essential place to go if you visit England. But the city that I do really recommend in England is York, as it is a perfect medieval city, which I am going to talk about in my next post.

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