Life in Manchester

Leisure

The legacy of the Commonwealth Games has really been felt across the city in the shape of major public sporting venues. An aquatics centre, national squash centre, tennis centre, velodrome, new stadia and leisure centres all sprang up for the Games and now offer top-notch facilities for pretty much every sporting activity. There are also countless five-a-side pitches, golf courses, badminton, squash and tennis courts, and gyms.

There's much to be found in the city's green spaces too. The largest is Heaton Park, Europe's biggest urban park, while Platt Fields Park has hosted the Manchester Mela, the BBC Proms In The Park and the occasional theatrical extravaganza. Even in the city centre, there are great spaces for strolls and seated pondering, including the Cathedral Gardens by Urbis, the fountains in Piccadilly Gardens and All Saints Park on Oxford Road.

Those with more time can think about hopping up to the Peak District, a short car, train or cycle ride away, or to the attractions of Alderley Edge (from where you can see five counties), Lyme Park, Dunham Massey or Tatton Park (home of the annual RHS Flower show). Those wanting a guided walk could do worse than start with our Walk Through Time wander through Tottington Woods in Bury.

For those with a thirst for knowledge, there's a myriad of museums to indulge your passion. Manchester Museum has the wonderful Stan the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the second most complete T. rex ever found, the Museum of Science and Industry houses a fantastic planetarium, Urbis pushes the idea of museum's forward with its look at life in the modern urban environment, the Imperial War Museum North impresses even in its Daniel Libeskind designed exterior, while the People's History Museum relates the revolutionary spirit that has made Manchester what it is today.

If simplicity (and stuff for free) is your desire, there's much of interest in the architecture and public art of the city centre. Whether stroking the stone outside the Bridgewater Hall, gazing at the curving corridor between the Town Hall and the Library, reading Lemn Sissay's poetry up Tib Street, wondering at the interior of the Royal Exchange (complete with its alien-looking theatre pod), exploding under the massive B of the Bang or merely trying to find the streets of New York in the Northern Quarter (it turned into the Big Apple for the remake of Alfie), there's something round every corner.

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