Lonely Planet puts Manchester on Best in Travel 2023 list: best places to visit from Science Museum to Ancoats

Manchester has been included by leading travel guide publisher Lonely Planet in its prestigious Best in Travel 2023 list.

The city is the only English destination to make it into the list of 30 places around the globe Lonely Planet reckons travellers should be making a beeline for next year, and one of just two UK ones. The guidebook publisher lists six highly-desirable locations in each of the five categories - Eat, Journey, Connect, Learn and Unwind. Manchester has been selected in the Learn category.

Here’s why Lonely Planet says travellers from around the world should be heading to Manchester.

What is the Lonely Planet Best in Travel 2023 list and why is Manchester included on it?

Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2023 list aims to come up with 30 places that will inspire travellers and point them in the direction of some of the hottest destinations of the year. It works with local experts to curate the list and for the first time has organised its 30 buzzing destinations into five categories based on which type of holiday you can have there.

Manchester is in the Learn category along with the only other UK destination on the list, Southern Scotland, as well as New Mexico in the USA, El Salvador, the German city of Dresden and Marseille in France. The other four categories recommend everything from taking the train from Istanbul in Turkey to the Bulgarian capital Sofia and heading to the Parque Nacionales Naturales in Colombia to going to the Ghanaian capital city of Accra or the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.

The Manchester entry highlights the city’s history as “the one-time engine room of the Industrial Revolution” and its role in developing radical ideas and movements such as communism, suffragism and vegetarianism. It also praises the city’s tolerance and inclusivity since the 2017 terror attack at the Manchester Arena.

Lonely Planet suggests the top things to visit in the city include the Science and Industry Museum, the Whitworth Art Gallery, the John Rylands Library and the People’s History Museum.

There are also a number of itineraries written out suggesting what you should do in Manchester if you have a few days or a few hours to spare along with a list of museums to head for. The guide also makes recommendations on restaurants and eating out, how to visit the city if you’re on a budget and free things to do.

It also celebrates nine of the city’s neighbourhoods it thinks visitors should explore, including the Northern Quarter, Ancoats and the Gay Village. In addition there are quick tips on getting around and recommendations for entertainment which range from Manchester’s two football clubs to the likes of arts hub HOME, The Bridgewater Hall and Band on the Wall as well as advice on enjoying some retail therapy.