There is lots more than just Coronation Street stuff here, though. There are plenty of interactive exhibits and author Bill Bryson is on record as saying he had more fun here than in Disneyland. Take the Museum tour, however, and you'll get a glimpse of a sporting history that is still being written. There are, of course, two teams in Manchester - the other being Manchester City , which has been very much the poor relation in the last 25 years. Ask to see the cups at the Maine Road stadium and they'll show you the canteen.
Night life is a big deal in Manchester.
Manchester is also a gay mecca, with a very visible and thriving community. That music scene is still thriving, so there is always plenty to enjoy in Manchester. Like Liverpool to its west, Manchester has an accent all of its own that is something of an acquired taste. Like Scousers, Mancunians can be sophisticated and worldly one minute, crass and low-rent the next. For all that, though, the overwhelming atmosphere of the place is one of warmth and friendliness and, having been in a multi-cultural melting pot for a couple of centuries, Mancunians know how to be good hosts.