[dom bradbury]

Hi, me and my mate are going to a gig in Manchester in about a month and we're going out after, and I haven't really been to Manchester before.

I was wondering what the best clubs and bars there are in Manchester, and which part of the city centre was the best place to hang out.

Also do most of the clubs cost alot to get in, like more than £5?

Are there plenty of places open till like 5 or 6am? (we're staying out and getting an early train home)

Also is there like a cheap Wetherspoons kinda place that isn't an old mans pub in the city centre.

[bella127]

Most places are open until 2/3am.

The latest opening places tend to be on Canal Street (the gay Village).

Then you've got places like 5th ave, 42nd street, Venue and Factory251 (which are all cheap and cheerful, usually free or about £2 in and then very cheap drinks too).

If you want to go a bit more upmarket, go to the Northern Quarter or maybe out on Deansgate.

Failing that, Printworks.

There are lots of Spoons/Lloyds/etc in the centre. Pretty much everywhere's fairly cheap!

[JakeE10]

42s, 5th ave, tigertiger, factory, ritz, sankeys, birdcage are just a few to name, certain nights are like £1 to get in and £1 drinks before 12 so that's not too bad.

Deansgate is a lot more expensive and I'd only recommend it if you wanna pay £4 for a drink, lololol, i don't see the point personally!

[mrshinyshoes]

5th ave! Shuts at like 3 but if the gigs indie i'm sure you'll love it

Saying that it's not really indie inside

[doughnut92]

Agree with all the above suggestions. Plus, depending what night it is, AXM in the gay village is usually open until about 7am. Two minute walk from 5th. (Not the AXM next to 5th btw)

[minniiee]

how has no one mentioned font?

[minniiee]

(Original post by doughnut92)
Actually ashamed of myself since I talk nonstop about how good it is...but I'm guessing he's looking for clubs...not my fave cocktail bar.

he said clubs/bars so its surprised me
no socio rehab is the best i know of in manch but its a bit expensive

[minniiee]

(Original post by doughnut92)
Oooh yeah, think I disregarded the title when I wrote that. Ahh I've never been, always go Font, can't go wrong with £2 cocktails really.

you reaaallly should they are around 8£ but oh my god are they worth it!

[ellakrystina]

Re: Wetherspoons type pub

In the Printworks (just behind Arndale centre) there is a Lloyd's Bar which is a chain of bar/clubs owned by Wetherspoons. All the same deals (although slightly more expensive being in the city - i.e 2 for £12 on basic cocktail pitchers rather than 2 for £10 in the normal Wetherspoons) and a DJ on Friday and Saturday nights.

We tended to get students up to about 11pm and then 25+ year olds after then who would stay until close (2am). It's a good place for a pre-gig drink!

I worked there in my first year :P

[Joshuah]

This has got me so excited! Coming from a small seaside town to somewhere like Manchester is great!

Are all the clubs in a close vicinity to eachother?

[doughnut92]

(Original post by Joshuah)
This has got me so excited! Coming from a small seaside town to somewhere like Manchester is great!

Are all the clubs in a close vicinity to eachother?

Depends where you go! If you go Printworks, plenty of clubs/bars near each other. Generally, I don't go to Printworks and I'm a fan of bigggg heels but I don't find it a problem walking from clubs to bars and whatnot.

[jblackmoustache]

Manchester is amazing DEPENDING on where you go and if you know what's on. That's the disadvantage of Manchester. Everynight can be samey and boring if you don't know whats on and have the right connections. The main strip bars are like you get anywhere else. To me Manchester is exactly like Leeds (the main strip bars anyway), but a bit bigger and more spread out and less friendly at times.

Stay away from The Printworks. You'll probably do it at least once as a student though. It's one of those places a Taxi driver would reccomend, but the fact is it's totally ****e. TIt's tacky, the music sucks, the drinks are expensive and some really aggressive and nasty people hang around here. If you want a fight with some drunken idiot from Oldham who looks like a reject from Geordie Shore then come here. Only time I'd really recommend go is if you want to go to the cinema.

The best nights are word of mouth. Check out Facebook, forums, flyers that are scattered around the city, etc. The best people to ask are staff in record shops (especially ones down Oldham Street). They'll know the 'happening' and 'cool' places to be.

Hit and Run have a good reputation in the city if you like drum and bass, dubstep, hip-hop, etc http://www.facebook.com/hitandrunuk?ref=stream


5th Ave seems to be the popular student dive in Manchester. The music is same old all the time though. I wouldn't call it indie. More like pop music and the obvious 'anthems' (e.g. I Predict a Riot)

[Nizza123]

Can you get away with Nike blazer highs in Manchester?

[Harambulus]

Manchester totally sucks nightlife wise now in my informed opinion. Ive spent the past several months squandering obscene amounts of money trying to hunt out busy meatmarket nights and coming home disappointed and frustrated night after night. I was baffled that a city with its greater combined population of 2.2 million seems unable to even scrape together one full clubnight a week.

At first I thought it was credit crunch and everywhere would be the same but hopping to leeds it is looking much more healthy from what I see.

You shouldnt worry about trouble at printworks cos nearly every club is closed there now anyhow just like everywhere else in manc. The place reminds me of one of those old western films with dustballs flying through. Still looks 'lively' as ever during summer days but the nightlife is like a geriatrics porn collection.

I know its quiter in summer months but recently Id been doing a direct compare and contrast with leeds and leeds is looking healthy every night Ive been out there- so it seems size isnt everything.

[JordanAlexander]

' It's all about Venus!!!

It's under Red Hot Buffet in Deansgate on the corner, it's open till 6am! It's the best for house music and stuff.

[rizzl8]

(Original post by dom bradbury)
Hi, me and my mate are going to a gig in Manchester in about a month and we're going out after, and I haven't really been to Manchester before.

I was wondering what the best clubs and bars there are in Manchester, and which part of the city centre was the best place to hang out.

Also do most of the clubs cost alot to get in, like more than £5?

Are there plenty of places open till like 5 or 6am? (we're staying out and getting an early train home)

Also is there like a cheap Wetherspoons kinda place that isn't an old mans pub in the city centre.

sankeys if u bring ur life savings with you! ...theres a nice pub which is dirt cheap called oyster in city centre ..they have there own brewery ...apparently

[rizzl8]

(Original post by Harambulus)
Manchester totally sucks nightlife wise now in my informed opinion. Ive spent the past several months squandering obscene amounts of money trying to hunt out busy meatmarket nights and coming home disappointed and frustrated night after night. I was baffled that a city with its greater combined population of 2.2 million seems unable to even scrape together one full clubnight a week.

At first I thought it was credit crunch and everywhere would be the same but hopping to leeds it is looking much more healthy from what I see.

You shouldnt worry about trouble at printworks cos nearly every club is closed there now anyhow just like everywhere else in manc. The place reminds me of one of those old western films with dustballs flying through. Still looks 'lively' as ever during summer days but the nightlife is like a geriatrics porn collection.

I know its quiter in summer months but recently Id been doing a direct compare and contrast with leeds and leeds is looking healthy every night Ive been out there- so it seems size isnt everything.

hmm i feel the complete opposite ..leeds seems a lot quieter to me ! manc has a lot of suburbs !

[ailishbennett]

Deansgate Locksss, pretty expensive for drinks, but worth it. The northern quarter is great for students. And Canal Street is always a good night out. There's loads of spoons/Yates/Lloyd's around Deansgate and the Printworks.

(Original post by Nizza123)
Can you get away with Nike blazer highs in Manchester?

Depends where you go, but normally not. Especially on Deansgate/Locks, they turn you away if you're dressed to casual/wearing trainers or obviously branded t-shirts, etc.

[Jenx301]

I live in manchester so should really know this, but what is the best night out on tuesdays? Ive been 5th quite a bit but its not the best... and ritz is really for saterday nights out! What do you guys think?

[The Narrator]

Being from Manchester and having lived here my whole life I know a fair bit about the clubs and bars, as mentioned by someone earlier the Printworks isn't great and yeah we tend to stay away from there.

When we first started going out it was basically our local pubs and then we started going into the city centre, to places like Krobar etc and going to unsigned gigs at the Academy, then that went to Rock Kitchen, which was pretty good when we were all at college but after college you begin to realise it's not all that great. Jillys was quite good but I do prefer places with a mix of music and places that play bands such as Oasis, indie stuff etc.

After college we started going to 5th Ave and we loved it, now we all hate it, everyone I know basically says 5th Ave is full of younger people, basically if you're over the age of 20 or 21 you'll feel a little old there, I'm 23 by the way. Last time we were there as a group we hated it (that includes my mates I've known from high school and college and one of those mates mates from uni), at one point one of our mates was going out to get a taxi with his girlfriend ad go home, just because they both had to be up early the next day, none of us were bladdered, so they said bye to us all and went outside, one of our other mates went out with them and had a smoke and the bouncer wouldn't allow him back in and he was the most sober out of all of us, he could drink anyone under any table and the night hadn't even really gotten underway. He rang one of us up and obviously sounded very angry telling us he wasnt allowed back in so just caught the cab back with the other two. Bouncers in 5th Ave can be absolute idiots really, another time they allowed the girls from our group in and when we were going in they wouldn't accept some of the guys IDs despite them not asking some of the girls and the IDs being absolutely genuine passports and driving licences. The last time I went was with one of my mates after we'd all been at the pub and were pretty drunk, no one else wanted to go on there and decided to go home over it whereas me and this mate felt like a few more drinks, so we went, honestly the music was awful and we could only recognise a handful of songs that were played. Either that means we're getting old or 5th Ave is changing and becoming even worse. That was a good year or two ago and we havent been back since.

Our one trip to a club in the Printworks was Opus, we used to go to LoveTrain every Wednesday at the Ritz, it was brilliant, the place was packed every Wednesday and they did a stage show with 70s characters. Then the Ritz stopped doing LoveTrain and it moved to Opus, we went there and the people in Opus compared to the Ritz and the whole small feel to Opus rather than the big grand feel to the Ritz destroyed LoveTrain and the people in there were basically chavvy and not as fun as the Ritz crowd.

As for good clubs and bars:

Clubs: Factory is always a good shout, Venue is a classic one for our work nights out, Satans can be a good night too but I must say I do prefer Factory and Venue.

Bars: There's tonnes, the simplicity of Sandbar, the upmarket feel of Odder, Odd Bar and Joshua Brooks, the warm, friendly, cosy feel of Briton's Protection, the cool indie feel to Night & Day. Font fell out of favour with some of our group but it is still a cool place if you want cheap cocktails. The Sailsbury is a good pub too. There's loads of good bars and pubs around there, just not so many good clubs. Another good one is Temple, it's very small and feels like you're going down to a subway but it actually used to be toilets. And Tiki Lounge is amazing, seeing the staff setting fire to cocktails, the big fish tank and sitting in deckchairs. Obviously Manchester's best known secret too, right in the middle of the city centre where all of the shops are there's Corbiere's which is a brilliant place and an amazing find.