The Best Day Trips From Manchester

Laura Kate Lucas - Manchester Travel and Lifestyle Blogger | Keepers of Wales - Snowdonia National Park

Day Trips From Manchester

Wether you live in Manchester or are just visiting, there are some fantastic places just a short trip away that make for a great day out. These are all easy to drive to, or a short train ride away.

Within a short traveling distance of Manchester are two world-renowned cities, Liverpool and Britain’s version of the Jersey Shore, Blackpool! There are also some incredible natural areas like the Peak District National Park, where you can go hiking through the rolling hills of the British countryside and forget all about the city for a while.

Activities on day trips from Manchester aren’t just sightseeing in other cities or hiking hilly grounds. There are also lakes near Manchester where you can go boating or jet skiing, and places where you can try your hand at things like bouldering or climbing.

If you are visiting the city for a bigger vacation and have lots of luggage, it’s definitely a good idea to visit a Manchester luggage storage before you embark on your adventure. This way you can enjoy yourself without worrying about your belongings or hauling them around.

What Are The Best Day Trips From Manchester?

Live It Up In Liverpool

Liverpool is the largest city on England’s west coast. It’s an obvious must-visit for fans of Liverpool FC or the Beatles. Liverpool is about an hour’s drive from Manchester, and around an hour by train, unless you catch the Transpennine Express service, which makes the journey in 40 minutes.

To make the most of a day trip from Manchester to Liverpool, you need to plan what you want to see before you get there. Some of the top things to do in Liverpool are:

Explore the Royal Albert Docks
Visit the Beatles Story Museum
Catch the iconic ferry and sail across the Mersey River
Tour the Liverpool FC stadium
See the Liver Birds on the Royal Liver Building
Take a selfie on Abbey Road

Liverpool has some fantastic museums like the Museum of Liverpool, the Tate Liverpool, and the World Museum. There’s also plenty of shopping opportunities and restaurants for a bite to eat. There is only so much you can do on a day trip though, so choose the places that interest you most and prioritise these.

Go Bonkers In Blackpool

Who can say no to taking a day trip to Britain’s most iconic seaside resort, Blackpool? This is also around an hour’s drive or an hour’s train ride. Blackpool offers fun, fish and chips, and maybe a waltz around the dance floor of the Tower Ballroom while you’re indulging in that great British tradition of afternoon tea!

There’s so much to do in Blackpool that you might even make your visit a few days to fit everything in. If you can’t stay longer than a day, these things should be on your ‘must do’ list:

Tour Blackpool on one of the Heritage Trams
Go up the Blackpool Tower to the Tower Eye to see the views
Dip your toes in the icy Irish Sea
Take a stroll along Ocean Boulevard while munching on candyfloss
Ride the roller coasters at Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Share a fish and chip lunch with the resident seagulls

If your day trip from Manchester to Blackpool is in the fall or early winter, you might want to stay until after dark to see the famous Blackpool illuminations. From September through to the beginning of January, Blackpool is brighter by night than it is by day, and definitely much prettier.

Hike Part Of The Pennine Way

When you’re ready to make an escape from Manchester and feel the wind blowing through your hair as you travel across acres of verdant countryside, you need to head for the Peak District National Park. The park covers an area of over 500 square miles, so the best spot to aim for, by car or by train, is the village of Edale.

Edale is one of the trailheads for the Pennine Way; a hiking route that stretches across England for over 250 miles. It’s not the easiest of walks, but even doing a short stretch will give you a taste of the surrounding countryside. Don’t forget it’ll be an out-and-back hike, so don’t go too far.

After all the fresh air and exercise have given you a ferocious appetite, drop into the Ramblers Inn. This is a great spot to spoil yourself with a fortifying pub lunch or a traditional British roast dinner.

Go Wet And Almost Wild

There are two amazing places, both within day trip distance from Manchester, where you can go to enjoy some boating or some more diverse water sports. They’re both scenic lake locations, so they are worth the drive even if you don’t want to go out on the water.

Heaton Park

Heaton Park is a 600-acre public park half in the northern suburbs of Manchester. To get there takes around half an hour by car from the city center or approximately 20 minutes by train.

A casual stroll through Heaton Park will lead you to the lakeside, where you can rent a row boat, an electric boat, or a swan-shaped pedal boat. It’s the ideal day trip from Manchester if you’re traveling with kids.

Sale Water Park

This Water Park isn’t the kind of water park with massive slides, so don’t be misled by the name. Sale Water Park is a natural area covering about 150 acres with an artificial lake at its center.

The park is around half an hour south of Manchester city centre. It’s located in the Sale neighbourhood of the Old Trafford district. To be able to participate in any of the water sports on offer, head to the Trafford Water Sports Centre. This can be found on the southern shore of the lake. You can do things like kayaking, canoeing and paddle boarding.

It doesn’t matter how you make your day trip from Manchester. Be it by car, by train, or by bus, you won’t have to travel far to find somewhere amazing to pass the time. Less time traveling means more time enjoying yourself, and that can only be a good thing.

There are lots more day trips that are easy to get to and not too far from Manchester. These are some of the easiest and most well-known to begin with. You will definitely find plenty more hidden gems nearby too.

LL x

*This is a contributed post. As ever, all opinions are my own.

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