If you're uncomfortable around thousands of intoxicated young people, then you should probably avoid Friday and Saturday night taxi queues in the city centre. You should also avoid any conflict with door staff at bars, clubs and pubs.
All pubs, bars and clubs are best avoided on days where the Manchester derby football match is taking place. Relations between the two sets of supporters have never been amicable, to say the least, but things seem to have deteriorated recently. What starts out as "banter" quite commonly gets out of hand.
Persistent begging is an irritation in Piccadilly. There is also a problem with people walking up to you with a story like "I've lost my wallet and need 50p for the bus home". These people often say the same story for years. This is usually a ruse to get money from you or, in some cases, in the hope that you will get a wallet/purse out of your pocket so it can be stolen.
Sellers of "The Big Issue" magazine, are not usually regarded as beggars. The Magazine is pubished by the Big Issue in The North, a social enterprise and sold to the homeless for resale on the streets. All of the vendors are genuinely homeless and are forbidden from begging whilst selling the magazine (though it is not uncommon to hear pleas for "spare change" from a Big Issue vendor). Vendors can be found around the city and visitors may want to buy a £2 copy. Please do only buy from badged, official vendors.
Manchester is generally quite a safe place, especially in commercialised and tourist orientated areas. If you wander into a less desirable area you should be very wary of street gangs hanging around.
Should you encounter a group which looks suspicious, either avoid them all together and walk the other way, or try to walk past them quickly (at a distance if possible) and behave in a way that they do not perceive as disrespectful or confrontational. This can include eye contact or accidently brushing past them with your shoulder.
Most of the areas in Manchester where tourists venture are safe. The following areas are very much "off the beaten path", with little to tempt the average visitor. Nonetheless, should you choose to go, then caution would be advised:
Longsight. This is a somewhat rundown residential area in the shadow of the city centre, which has as yet avoided the gentrification of nearby Hulme.
Moss Side. This area constitutes the heart of Manchester's African and Caribbean community and is worth a visit if you looking for something different. It is an area that has been associated with gang related violence but is no worse than other inner-city areas in Manchester, with such crime having been greatly reduced by police and community efforts in recent years. It is adjacent to some pleasant parks, including the small Whitworth Park and larger Platt Fields Park. Catch the Caribbean Festival of Manchester in Alexandra Park every July/August.
Parts of Hulme but this young, trendy, regenerated area would be of interest to many with its new town houses, quirky architecture and blocks of flats and is next to the centre.
Cheetham Hill. Avoid at night; but, during the day, this suburb, to the north of Victoria Station, is a lively, colourful mixture of cultures: Jewish, Asian, and newer arrivals to the city from various parts of the world! The shopping area around "The Village" is very much like an inner London high street.
Wythenshawe. Much of this is a vast public housing district out towards the airport should be avoided.
Ordsall. This area is on the up and following the example of Hulme with lots of new developments.
Parts of East Manchester, particularly Beswick.
Salford. Unless you have good reason, do not wander too far, on foot at least, over the river Irwell into Salford from the city centre. With the great number of new residential developments in the area, it has improved. The straight route from Manchester centre, via Salford Cathedral along Chapel Street to Salford University, is very safe up to Pendleton.
The Raphaels Bank ATM at the Airport offers such an applalling conversion rate that, far from being "free of charge" as claimed, you pay exorbitant charges to use it.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Manchester
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Manchester - updated May 2024
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Manchester Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
