With COVID-19 slowly creeping into our rear-view mirror, it’s nearly time for the singletons to get back out there and enjoy yourselves. For some ideas of things to do in Manchester, read on…
Manchester is a great place for single people to have a good time if you know where to look. Whether you’re newly single, have been single for ages, or have just finalised your divorce, there’s plenty to offer.
Once you’ve spoken to your divorce solicitor in Manchester to finalise your singledom, where should you start? From spending a night on the town to visiting museums, there truly is something for everyone.
In this post, we’re going to narrow down the list of things you can do in Manchester to our top 10 favourites, so you can make the most of your restored freedom.
What are the Best Things for Singles to do in Manchester?
Manchester is a major city in the northwest of England that sits in the centre of the wider county of Greater Manchester. The city centre is split into various areas, from historic Castlefield, to the independent Northern Quarter.
Navigating the city can be difficult but, no matter what street you end up on, there’s something to either see or do. To save you the trouble of finding this out for yourself, here’s our list of 10 things single people can do in this great city.
1. Explore the Northern Quarter
Manchester’s Northern Quarter is synonymous with creativity, packed with independent galleries, bars and shops. The whole area is a mixture of architectural styles, with businesses working out of Edwardian mills by day and funnelling into Victorian pubs for a drink at night.
If you consider yourself a creative person and want to find somewhere edgy to take a potential future partner, then there’s nowhere better than the NQ.
2. Try out every coffee shop in the city
This might sound insane, but once you get involved in Manchester’s artisanal coffee scene you’ll never look back.
From the Icelandic-inspired Takk in the Northern Quarter, to Pot Kettle Black in Deansgate, you’ll find a coffee shop for every occasion. Once you’ve tried them all out, you’ll get a feel for which ones are the best to work in, read in, meet up with friends or go on a date.
3. Spend a night at the Frog and Bucket Comedy Club
Where better to go as a single, or with a date, than a good old fashioned comedy club. If you’re fine with being picked on, sit way up in the front and have the MC draw awkward answers out of you, but if you want to just chill and enjoy the comedy, sit waaay in the back.
Monday nights they have ‘Beat the Frog’ where new comedians get on stage to try to make the audience laugh. If the audience doesn’t like what they see, they hold up one of three signs that have been randomly distributed and the comedian is promptly thrown of stage. It sounds brutal but it’s a laugh and a half.
4. Browse some of Manchester’s best record stores
A newly revived pastime for singles is collecting records. Record shops are everywhere in Manchester, and some of the most historic ones – Vinyl Exchange, Eastern Bloc and Piccadilly Records – have some real hidden gems for the avid collector.
Collector or not, going to the record store and spending time looking through the albums of some of your favourite bands is a great time. Those of you looking to take a date around the city can bring them to one of these shops to spark up conversations about your favourite tunes.
5. Walk around John Rylands Library
Libraries might not seem like the best time for a single in Manchester, but this one actually is. More of a museum than a library, John Rylands is a late-Victorian neo-Gothic building complete with exhibitions, books and a very old Bible.
Also, what better place to visit as a single than a building filled with books; one medium that’s almost impossible to experience with another person.
6. Pull up a table at Matt and Phred’s Jazz Club
If libraries, coffee, records, and comedy aren’t your thing, then you must at least be a Jazz person. In that case, you should definitely visit Matt and Phred’s Jazz club for one of the most awesome nights of Jazz you’ve ever experienced.
Jazz, like reading books, is a pastime best enjoyed on your own. You can grab a table, eat some of Matt and Phred’s delicious food, and listen intently to every note without a single distraction to take you out of the music.
7. Head down to Chinatown
Said to be Europe’s largest Chinatown, the one in Manchester has a wide selection of restaurants, bakeries, businesses and supermarkets all compacted into one accessible area.
A huge three-tiered pagoda acts as the entrance to Manchester’s Chinatown which has excellent places to eat, shop and discover on your own, with friends or with a date.
8. See a play at The Lowry or Royal Exchange Theatre
Those of you who like to go to the theatre will be spoilt for choice in Manchester. The Lowry at Salford Quays features three performance spaces which feature shows from world premieres to West End successes.
There’s also the Palace Theatre, which puts on most of the big shows, and the Royal Exchange Theatre which is a spectacular seven-sided, glass-walled capsule, suspended in the centre of the historic Cotton Exchange.
9. Have a big night out at the Warehouse Project
Well known across the globe, Manchester’s Warehouse Project is the biggest night out you’ll ever have in your life.
Originally housed in the disused Boddingtons brewery near Strangeways prison, the Warehouse Project was relocated to a WW2 air raid shelter underneath Manchester Piccadilly Station, before ending up at its current destination at the Mayfield Depot.
10. Go on a civilised pub crawl
Manchester produces some of the finest craft ales in the world, all of which you can experience if you take the time out to float through the city’s pub scene. Here’s a quick list of one’s to start with:
- Port Street Beer House and Beermoth at Piccadilly Gardens
- Alphabet, Runaway, and Cloudwater Brew Co in the industrial area to the east of Piccadilly
- Blackjack Brewery’s Smithfield Market Tavern
- Seven Bro7hers’ Bar in Ancoats
- Marble Arch pub on Rochdale Road, which lets you test Marble’s newest beers
Ready to Hit Manchester as a Singleton?
Whether you’re looking for something to do on your own, with friends or on a date, this list has something for all the singles out there. This list is only the tip of the iceberg, so go out there, explore the city, and find some gems of your own.
