Family wearing coats in the stands at Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England. Manchester City players on the field in the background and the scoreboard shows a 3-1 victory for the home team.

A WEEKEND IN MANCHESTER WITH KIDS – Our Soccer-Focused Itinerary

Are you heading to Manchester as a soccer-loving family and trying to decide on an itinerary? 

I was in your situation and, having never been to Manchester, I went straight to the internet for help deciding what to do.  We’re a family of 5 (kids ages 4, 7, 10), and we recently visited Manchester for a long weekend.  We came to the city with the purpose of seeing a Manchester City soccer (okay… football) match, and built our visit around it.

Below you’ll find:

  • Our itinerary for 2 full days in Manchester
  • A few extra things you could see and do in Manchester
  • Where we stayed in Manchester with our kids
  • Regrets and things we loved about our Manchester itinerary
  • A few tips for visiting Manchester as a family, based on our experience

I hope this helps you plan your trip to Manchester with kids!

2 Days in Manchester with Kids – Our Itinerary

DAY 0 – We traveled to Manchester from Italy.  With a layover in Amsterdam, it took us almost the whole day (or at least it felt like it!).  We landed at the Manchester airport in the early evening and took a taxi to our hotel.  Side Note:  We usually take public transport but we were all tired and the thought of navigating trains/trams/buses and changes was too much at the moment.  It was a long ride to our hotel (traffic), but we arrived and were so happy to check-in and head out for a quick walk in the center. 

Keepin’ It Real:  We forgot our youngest child’s coat at home, so I made a dash to Uniqlo to buy him a coat for the chilly weather.

For dinner, we made our way to the Old Wellington Pub for a cozy pub meal (delicious!) and then waddled back home and quickly fell asleep.

DAY 1 – We took the bus (with one change) to Etihad Stadium for a ‘stadium show around.’  Rosie led us on an amazing mid-morning, behind-the-scenes tour of Etihad Stadium and the Etihad Campus (training grounds, housing, offices, etc).  It finished around lunchtime, and we took the opportunity to visit the Team Shop at the stadium. After checking out every possible item in the shop (no joke), we took the bus back to the city center and made our way to Mexican food (we were all happy to eat burritos and tacos!).  At that point, our littlest went back to the hotel with my husband and I went exploring with our other two.  We wanted to go to the War Museum, but the tram we needed was down, and the buses would’ve taken too long.  So, we traded museums and walked to the Science and Industry Museum.  After about an hour of exploration, we walked to Immersive Gamebox in the Arndale Shopping Centre and my boys tried out The Floor is Lava video experience.  I just watched, thankfully… I definitely would’ve hindered them!  We were exhausted at this point, but needed to do a couple of errands (shampoo at Boots and fruit at the M&S Foodhall).  We were all happy to have pizza in the room for dinner.

DAY 2 –  This was the day we were most excited about – match day!  We slept in and took a mid-morning walk around the city center, hitting places like King Street and St. Anne’s Square.  We grabbed snacks (fruit, wraps) at the M&S Foodhall and went back to the room to rest and change into our match day gear.  We took the same bus to Etihad we took on Day 1, but it was much busier this time as fans made their way to the stadium.  We arrived for the 14:30 entrance and had an incredible time at the match.  We checked off our family bucket list of seeing a Man City match in the Tunnel Club Premier, and as my husband says, gave our kids their Christmas present for the next 10 years.  Once-in-a-lifetime, amazing experience!  And, Manchester City beat Chelsea 3-1! The roar of the crowd is something I’ll never forget.  We left the stadium around 21:00 and made our way back to our hotel by taxi.

Read more about Manchester City’s Tunnel Club Premier

DAY 3 – We woke up, packed our bags, checked out, and made our way to the airport.  I’d planned on taking the tram to the airport but hotel staff convinced me to hop in a taxi van instead.  I’m glad we did, as it took less than 1/3 of the time I’d planned on (under 30 minutes, vs 1.5 hours.  See you later, Manchester – we’ll be back!

A Few Extra Things You Could See and Do with Kids in Manchester

If your kids aren’t soccer-obsessed like mine are, don’t worry – there are plenty of things to do in Manchester!  Here are some more things to do that we didn’t get to on this trip:

  • Imperial War Museum North (aka IWM North)
  • Manchester Museum
  • City Playgrounds (especially Mayfield Park and Hulme Park)
  • John Roland’s Library (Harry Potter Vibes)
  • Museum of Illusions
  • National Football Museum

Where to Stay With Kids on a Weekend Trip to Manchester

Beds inside a room at Maldron Hotel Cathedral Manchester, in the UK. Window shows view to city. There's also a television on wall on right, paintings on wall on left, nd table with chair by window.
One of our rooms at the Maldron Hotel Manchester Cathedral Quarter

We stayed at the Maldron Hotel Manchester Cathedral Quarter and the location was perfect for walking into the city center with kids.  The rooms were small, so we ended up with two rooms for our family of five (2 x Deluxe Double & Single City View).  I appreciated that it was clean and the staff were friendly.  My boys loved the cookies in the rooms.  I also looked into staying at:

  • Football Hotel, Old Trafford – Soccer-themed hotel, but my boys quickly nixed it as it’s for Manchester United fans
  • Clayton Hotel Manchester City Centre – Conveniently located near Picadilly Station (great public transport hub)
  • Leonardo Hotel Manchester Central
  • Maldron Hotel Manchester City Centre – Also close to Picadilly Station, and a 15-20 minute walk to Mayfield Park Playground

Regrets and Things We Loved About Our Manchester Weekend

Peope wait in line to buy food from street food stalls in a pedestrian area of Manchester, UK.
Picadilly Street Food Market – we’ll eat here next trip!

We’re back home and we had such an amazing time in Manchester! It was chilly and windy, but we dressed warmly and enjoyed our time exploring the city.

If I could change anything about our trip, we’d have an extra day to see a little bit more of Manchester. The football experiences we had (stadium tour and seeing a match) were both so exciting that they really wore us out. We could’ve easily just done those and spent the rest of those days in the hotel reading and relaxing. But, we really wanted to check out Manchester.

With an extra day, I would’ve made time to visit a playground. My youngest two really like checking out playgrounds in places we visit.

Our favorite parts of the visit were touring the stadium and watching Man City defeat Chelsea! We’d all love to return to see another match at Etihad Stadium.

Tips for Visiting Manchester as a Family

Father and son sit on seat in back of double decker bus in Manchester, UK.
Riding the double-decker bus in Manchester

Bring a stroller for younger kids.  We left our umbrella stroller at home and I wish we’d brought it.  He could’ve napped or rested while the rest of us walked.  Instead, my husband went back to the room with him on Day 1 because he couldn’t walk anymore (he was a trooper though!).

If we come back, I’ll stay on the side of town closer to the airport.  Sites and attractions we visited were spread throughout the city, so there wasn’t a need to have a hotel in a particular spot.  It would’ve been nice to be a little closer to the airport for our travel days. 

Ask the Metrolink staff for help.  Google Maps was good but not 100% accurate.  For example, we were trying to navigate the tram one afternoon and I decided to just ask the staff member for help.  He told me what we were trying to do wasn’t possible at the moment because the tram station was closed momentarily a couple of stops away.  So, he directed us to buses instead.

Plot out what you’d like to see on a map and make your plan.  The sites we wanted to see were a bit spread out, so we had to pick and choose based on location.  You may be able to cluster some things together (even if it’s just a place you’d like to visit paired with a restaurant you’d like to try).

Don’t buy the hotel breakfast unless you’re sure your kids will eat it.  Our hotel’s breakfast was offered for £11 for adults and discounted for kids.  While the full English breakfast looked delicious, I know my kids eat light breakfasts, so we skipped the hotel breakfast and picked up food in town.  There are plenty of options available at coffee shops and places like Pret a Manger and Gail’s Bakery (so good!).

I hope this helps you plan your trip to Manchester with your family!

Visiting the UK? Be sure to check out
Visiting London’s Tower Bridge with Kids
Harry Potter Studio Tour – Our Experience
Weekend in Manchester with Kids – Our Soccer-Focused Itinerary

Manchester City’s Tunnel Club Premier – Our Experience
Things to Do in Manchester with a 10-Year-Old
Family Packing List for a Winter Weekend in Manchester

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