Manchester Is Making a Comeback—How to Plan a Trip Now

Few cities take music as seriously as Manchester. An epic chorus of artists and sounds have emerged from the streets of England’s northern capital, from the soaring guitars of The Smiths and The Stone Roses to the upbeat synth-pop of New Order and Joy Division. And just as the city’s most prodigious musical sons, Oasis, recently enjoyed a big comeback, so too did Manchester itself.

Here, hundreds of millions of post-pandemic dollars have been pumped into local culture, and the results are showing in spectacular style.

The new headline act is the space-age Co-op Live arena on the city’s eastern flank, which opened in May 2024 and is now officially Britain’s largest indoor venue. An echoless masterpiece, it was designed after consultation with an A-List of experts, ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Harry Styles.

In Manchester’s lively, eminently walkable city center, household names are also heading back to headline at the iconic AO Arena after its recent $60-plus million facelift. Meanwhile, there’s also plenty of excitement around the waterfront Aviva Studios, a futuristic $325 million arts hub dedicated to music, theater, and the visual arts.

It’s not just performance venues benefitting from this cultural resurgence. Manchester is also celebrated for its incredible free museums, some of which are reopening after big renovations of their own. Top of the bill is the grand neo-Gothic Manchester Museum, which has been expanded to allow significantly more gallery space for its collection of ancient art and artifacts. And it’s being joined on to-do lists by Power Hall: a magnificent museum of invention here in the world’s first industrial city, which reopened in October 2025 after a multiyear rebuild.

Manchester’s restaurant scene has not been immune to this creative reawakening either. Without a Michelin star for more than 40 years, the city now has two recognized restaurants. Skof, which serves seasonal British fine dining over 15 courses, scooped its first star within months of opening and now sits beside the feted, Nordic-inspired Mana at the city’s top table.

A similarly fresh creative beat has been playing out on the hotel scene here, too, where a stylish band of rookies are looking to do what Mancunians have always done best: challenge the status quo.

Notable properties in this new wave include the swanky Malmaison Manchester Deansgate, with its blockbuster rooftop terrace, and quirky, budget-luxe Mollie’s Hotel & Diner, in the former Old Granada Studios. The standout star, however, is Treehouse Manchester, a cheeky woodland-inspired masterpiece that conveys high-end Swiss Family Robinson and hipster Peter Pan in equal parts. It’s also home to another can’t-miss restaurant, Pip, where the Lancashire hotpot takes four days to make and is life-changing good.

Manchester has always been edgy. A charismatic, rebellious place that perpetually backs its own chances against the odds. (Just ask fans of its two famous soccer clubs, Manchester United and Manchester City). Now, with a major cultural revival alongside an expanded international airport and new direct U.S. flights, those odds are looking up. Or, as Oasis memorably sang to similar effect: “Round our way, the birds are singing”.