Manchester United

Manchester


Arguably the world's most famous football team, Manchester United ply their incredibly lucrative trade on the perfect pitch at Old Trafford, given the marketing moniker of 'the theatre of dreams'. More than 75,000 fans fill the stadium for every home match, making tickets pretty hard to come by, but you can console yourself with the excellent museum and stadium tour.

Despite dominating English football for 20 years between 1993 and 2012 – in which they won 13 league titles, four FA Cups and two UEFA Champions League titles – United's on-field fortunes have waned since the retirement of the peerless Sir Alex Ferguson in 2012. To add insult to injury, United fans have watched helplessly as their crosstown rivals Manchester City have won three league titles since then, their most recent in 2018. But still there is hope: United's global reach is such that it will always attract the very best players, and under the management of Portuguese José Mourinho, they're once again a force to be reckoned with.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Manchester attractions

1. Imperial War Museum North

0.53 MILES

Inside Daniel Libeskind's aluminium-clad modern building is a war museum with a difference, exploring the effects of conflict on society rather than…

2. Lowry

0.58 MILES

With multiple performance spaces, bars, restaurants and shops, this contemporary arts centre attracts more than a million visitors a year to its myriad…

3. MediaCityUK

0.83 MILES

The BBC's northern home is but one significant element of this vast 81-hectare site. Besides hosting six departments of the national broadcaster (BBC…

4. Science and Industry Museum

1.8 MILES

Manchester's rich industrial legacy is explored in this excellent museum set within the enormous grounds of the old Liverpool St station, the oldest rail…

5. People's History Museum

2.01 MILES

The story of Britain's 200-year march to democracy is told in all its pain and pathos at this superb museum, housed in a refurbished Edwardian pumping…

6. John Rylands Library

2.13 MILES

Less a library and more a cathedral to books, Basil Champneys' stunning building is a breathtaking example of Victorian Gothic, no more so than the…

7. Central Library

2.18 MILES

Britain's largest municipal library was built in 1934 to resemble the Roman Pantheon. A major refurbishment has seen the addition of a wonderful Children…

8. Town Hall

2.24 MILES

Manchester's most impressive building is the Grade I–listed town hall, completed in 1877 after a design by Alfred Waterhouse. The Great Hall is decorated…