Ad|Gift. It’s safe to say the times I usually visit Manchester is to catch a flight outta there, so when I had an opportunity to get discovering Manchester for a day I figured I should actually go learn more about the city that couldn’t be prouder of it’s worker bee heritage.

Lucy Stood near the manchester town hall in a long pink maxi dress and chloe bag

We popped across just for the day, however to explore more and to enjoy the fab drinks we did you’ll probably want to stay in one of the many hotels, b&b’s or even serviced apartments Manchester has to offer, if travelling from further afield. There’s plenty of neighbourhoods to stay in depending on what vibe you want. From the alternative Northern quarter to the trendy Deansgate there’s plenty of places for everyone!

lucy taking a putt at crazy golf

Activity

We started our discovering Manchester day in Deansgate wanting to try out some thing a bit active and weather proof because we all know the British weather is pretty much changeable during Summer! So we booked the 18 hole mini golf course at Roxy Ballroom. Having been to the Leeds one I also wanted to show Luke how good I am at Shuffleboard however they gave our table up after we had taken longer than expected on the mini golf. Not helpful. So next time I’d go to Junkyard Golf as I’ve always had a fab time in the Leeds one and it’s just a 15 min walk from Roxy location wise. As we did have fun playing Golf especially as I won!

lucy stoof in front of balloons in menagerie manchester
lucy sat on a bath with balloons around and a pink floral elephant in the background
Lucy in Menagerie manchester with a large pink floral elephant

Food

Our next stop was for Afternoon Tea, because what’s more British than that? I took Luke to Menagerie after seeing many an Instagram post from there I’d been wanting to check it out for ages! Food wise it was the prettiest afternoon tea we’ve had. Presentation was on point. I mean, a carousel of buns what more do you need in life!?

We had the Menagerie Afternoon Tea which started with warm savouries which were beaut. As were the acorns, if a little small. The disappointment were the cakes really, two tartes which were just Creme Anglaise (which I don’t like) and then two cakes of which the chocolate one just tasted okay. The frosting was more like a Betty Crockers Special than anything made in house or that had taste. I would have preferred one nice cake to the 4 small ones we had each. Aside from that the service was great and the Instagram spots were on point. We are talking ring lights and everything! I would go again but probably with my girls and stick to savouries, maybe even the bottomless brunch, as that looked amazing!

lucy stood in some gardens in mancheter in a pnk spotty maxi dress from ASOS

Views

We then took a wander around past The Ivy and a quick trip up to 20 Stories Manchester to grab a look at these views! Then walked across to the Northern Quarter which in all honesty felt a lot more like our kind of place to spend our time in, especially during the day time anyways.

Lucy browsing a colourful shop
a cat money box and glitter globe

Shopping

We passed Primark and it’s very own Central Perk Cafe on the way. We didn’t stop to shop as it was obliterated and also very hot. Luckily a bit further down we stumbled upon a fab independent shop, Oklahoma that I could have spent alll my money in. But came away with this fabulous cat glitter globe and leopard jar.

Street Art

We managed to spot some amazing street art too and even managed to spot someone creating one. Love a bit of work in progress.

the convenience store hidden bar in Manchester
lucy stood at the convenience store bar in Manchester
three cocktails from the convenience store, manchester

Hidden Bars

We researched a lot of hidden Manchester bars and came across quite a few in the city. The Convenience Store won though thanks to its amazing sounding cocktails and the fact it’s pretending to be a corner shop. A few people walked in and back out whilst we were there so it was doing a good job. The Stranger Tings 2 cocktail did not disappoint and I also managed to squeeze in an alcoholic slush. Nom. Luke got the short straw driving the day we went, which I was glad of.

It was then time for us to go home, I had a fab time discovering Manchester. I want to go back and stay over to try more of the hidden bars because I love a gimmick! I want to see allll the Street art too as we only scratched the surface with what we saw.

*Spending Money gifted for this trip from Hotels.com. As always thoughts and opinions are my own. Post may contain affiliate links. For further details please refer to my PR and Disclaimer Page in the menu above