I’ve fallen in love with Manchester!
No wonder the people of Manchester have so much love for this city.
It’s vibrant, cultural and it has everything you’re looking for to enjoy a weekend away.
The furthest I have ever been north has been Nottingham, so this was my first trip “up North”.
My best friend Becky and I wanted to go away for a night to enjoy the Christmas markets, as ’tis the season!
We originally considered Birmingham’s Christmas market, but this was one that we had been to before, so when Manchester was mentioned, we thought it was a grand idea.
I’ve always wanted to visit Manchester, so I was so excited to visit and explore the city with my best friend. Plus, it was the opportunity to visit some old University friends who live in Manchester.
I’ve already decided that I want to go back, as we could of done so much more than we did.
But here is what we got up to…
Visiting the Manchester Christmas Markets
How we got there
We took the train from Northampton train station, to Manchester Piccadilly station.
Who knew there were so many Manchester train stations!?
With a quick change at Milton Keynes, we were on our way on a Virgin Train to Manchester Piccadilly.
And it was only a 10 minute walk to our hotel (or first hotel…)
Where we stayed
Want to hear a funny story?
Originally, we were booked in to stay at the ibis hotel in central Manchester Piccadilly, to which my friend was certain she booked.
Turns out, she didn’t book it and infact, forgot to put her credit card details in to confirm the booking. D’oh!
So we arrived, eager and excited to check in to be told we didn’t have a booking. So I got straight on my booking.com app on my phone and found a last minute deal at another hotel, literally 5 minutes up the road from us.
We hit the jackpot, because we only managed to get into a Mecure hotel for £100 a night!
So compared to when we were originally going to pay £170 for one night in an ibis hotel, which is a 3* star hotel, we managed to get down to £100 for the night at a Mecure Hotel, a 4* hotel instead!
Bargain!
Maybe spontaneous trips and booking VERY last minute isn’t so bad after all…
But we were super happy and smug, despite the initial muck up.
What to expect
Be prepared to be totally overwhelmed with Christmas festivity!
Everywhere you look, there was something new!
When you arrive, you can grab yourself a map which shows you where all the different Christmas markets are located, as they are all scattered across the city.
I got to try my first ever Mulled Wine, plus an incredibly sweet Apple version too, where for an extra £2 you can keep the Christmas mugs. There are two to collect, and of course, I got both!
We had waffles and crepes filled with lashings of Nutella, we purchased matching woolly hats to keep warm from the cold and shelter from the rain and we even got to enjoy some German beer in a authentic German hut, which was incredibly cosy and made me feel all slushy and festive inside.
You won’t be bored around the Manchester Christmas markets, as there are so many different markets scattered around the city. There’s an ice rink if you fancy having a go, German markets, French markets and millions of people across the world travel to Manchester for the markets every year.
No wonder it’s award-winning!
Highlight of the Manchester Christmas Markets
Without a doubt, the famous Yorkshire pudding Burrito stand!
I mean, look at the satisfaction on my face.
The biggest reason for myself and Becky visiting the Manchester Christmas Markets was because I found a video that was trending that showed the Yorkshire Pudding Burrito, so it was decided purely on this video.
It’s safe to say, if we turned up and it was no longer there, we would not had been happy!
Luckily, after asking lots of people in yellow coats
The Yorkshire Pudding Burrito consists of your choice of meat (Beef, Turkey or Chicken) stuffing, carrots, peas, plus lashings of thick gravy, all wrapped up in a giant Yorkshire pudding.
If heaven was a food, this would be it.
And all for the price of £6.50, I think this is a pretty decent price considering the hype around it.
Overall, it was a fantastic way to get into the Christmas spirit!
And our short stay didn’t turn out too expensive either, so it’s totally doable!
My advice would be to either book something very much far in advance, or to do what we did (accidentally) and book something very last minute to get transport and accommodation cheap.
The Manchester Christmas markets are currently now running and are running until 21st December, so you’ve got plenty of time to get yourself up there (or down there, depending where abouts in the country you are based!)
Have you ever been to Manchester Christmas markets?
Let me know if you go (because I need lots of reasons why I should go back!)
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Wow, lovely post!! I LOVE Christmas markets, but I’m from Vienna so I’ve only been to Manchester once and unfortunately not during Christmas season! But it looks like you had a fun day and I love your photos!! ? ❤️
Ahhh I bet Vienna is lovely!! And thank you so much!
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Sounds like you had a fun time in Manchester at the christmas markets – can’t believe your hotel fiasco!! I loooove the food at christmas markets, especially the churros and baileys hot chocolates 🙂 i hope you got to do something equally as christmassy this year! xx
Haha it was so funny looking back about the hotel!! I’ve got Winter Wonderland in London coming up, so defintley! xx