So what is the magic of the Manchester Christmas Markets? I decided to try to find out for myself.

With 8 markets in various locations, over 200 stalls, there is certainly the abundance of things to do, visit and naturally, buy at the markets. European and local producers showcase and offer jewellery, handmade items, unique gifts, clothes, toys as well as food and drink, both cold and hot.

And to many, the array of food is what makes Manchester Christmas Markets so special. Mouth watering delicacies from all over Europe , Dutch pancakes, Hungarian goulash or French cheeses and breads, everything in one place. And then there are chocolates from every corner of the continent, German beer, Spanish and French wines and much, much more.

The Manchester Christmas Markets are celebrating its 13th year this year and as part of the celebration, they are taking 8 different locations around the city, with each location offering different atmosphere and character.

You will find the main market at the usual location on Albert Square and additional markets at St. Ann’s Square, Exchange Street, New Cathedral Street, King Street, Spinningfields and Brazennose Street.

If you are thinking of going to savor the truly magical atmosphere of the Manchester Christmas Markets, enjoy the food and drink, and get some of the most unique and amazing gifts for your close ones, here are few things to remember.

There is no free parking around the markets locations. You can still park but it is pay and display. Also, make sure that you estimate for heavy traffic when planning your journey.

You can also get to the Markets by tram, and your nearest stop is St. Peter’s Square. If you are coming by train, Oxford Road, Victoria is your station then.

The entry to markets is obviously free and there are all basic facilities provided.

Manchester Christmas Markets will run until December 21st.
Image reference: Gordon Marino

Matt & Phreds is one of the most famous live music venues in Manchester. It’s situated in the city’s trendiest Northern Quarter so you are in a great setting to begin with.
There are live shows in the club for 6 nights a week.

Over the years the club has welcomed some of the finest jazz musicians ever with Jamie Callum, Kit Downes, Marius Neset and the Dagda Quarter. But jazz is not the only kind of music you can enjoy in Matt & Phred’s. Folk, gypsy, electro, salsa and world music have found their way to the stage of this famous club.

And most importantly, Matt & Phred’s is not only the music. The club is famous for it’s bar and food.

Some of the notable upcoming events in the club are:

Marley Chingus

This contemporary jazz quartet will visit the club tomorrow, the 4th of November to present their groove but slightly darker approach to jazz.

Watch them playing live during their previous visit to Matt & Phred’s

Dave Walsh Trio

An evening of reworked standards is coming to the club on the 8th of November.

The Magic Hat Ensamble

This post bop five piece will play on the 19th. The band is famous for its quite original take on jazz standards, their incredibly tight rhythmic structures and a generally uptempo playing.  This show is ticketed with £5 per head.

Watch here The Magic Hat Ensamble Playing Thelonius’ Monk’s Epistrophy

Matt & Phred’s is opened Monday to Thursday from 6pm till late. On Friday you can come in from 5pm and Saturday in the club starts at 6pm again.

The club is located on 64 Tip Street in Manchester. For more info you can call them at 01618317001

And, if you are planning a night out in the city, check out our selection of serviced apartments to relax and unwind after a busy night out.

Manchester is a busy city, that’s a fact. There are countless things to keep you on your toes throughout the day. Shopping, touring, watching your favorite team playing and enjoying the famous city night life can really take out all your energy.

But imagine that once your busy day is over, you can come back and relax in a luxurius apartment, where you are the boss. There is no room service to wake you up in the morning. You have all the space you need and can spend your time there the way you want it. You can take a snooze or have a drink before heading out to enjoy the famous Manchester nightlife. Or you can check your emails and plan for the next day with our free wi-fi. You could also watch some telly, or prepare a meal, if you wanted to. And all that from the comfort of one of our Manchester apartments at your disposal.

With stayManchester you are right at the centre of everything that the city has to offer. Deansgate is only few minutes walk away, so are all many other attractions of the city. With restaurants, shopping spots, clubs, music venues and tourist attractions all within walk or a short tram ride reach, we can promise you that you will be able to make the most of your stay.

And, in the event that you need something that we haven’t already thought of, just speak to our team in the 24 hour reception who are always happy to help.

Common Questions from Our Guests

If you have never stayed in serviced apartments such as our manchester apartments, it may be hard to know what you will find there. We know how important certain things are for you and here are some of the most typical questions that we answer regularly.

Is there a hairdryer, iron and board, washing powder, wi-fi access, sky tv/sports in the apartment?
Yes, however the hairdryer is available upon request.

Do you supply towels?
We do indeed. You can also request additional fresh towels at a cost of £5. However, if you are staying with us for a week or longer, we will change them for you once at no charge.

Do you clean your apartments daily?
We service our apartments before you arrive and after you leave. There is no one disturbing you during your stay. You can request your apartment to be serviced though and we will happily do that for you. However, if you stay with us for a week of longer, we will service the apartment once a week for you and the cost of that will be included in price. For short stays we charge £25 per additional cleaning.

Do you have car parking?
Yes we do. The cost of a parking space is £12 per day.

What appliances are in the apartment?
Each of our apartments in equipped with the following:
- LCD TV and DVD player
- Bed linen and towels
- Washer/dryer
- Iron/ironing board
- Hairdryer (upon request)
- Cot/high chair (upon request)
- Rollaway sofa bed
- Cooker/hob
- Washer/dryer
- Refrigerator

More Info

If you want to book our apartment, simply use the booking form on your right. You can also find out more about Manchester apartments from this page.

Deansgate is a fascinating place

Starting with a bit of history, the street is named after a lost river Dene that supposedly ran from River Irk and River Irwell in Manchester. It is also a river that supposedly ran alongside the famous Hanging Ditch bridge connecting the two rivers. The bridge itself was built around 1421, from what we know. As we don’t have that many information about it, there are many speculations about it with some people saying that it might even have Roman origins as a defense installation on the two rivers.

The Deansgate begins in Castlefield, with No. 1 Deansgate and the Deansgate Railway Stations located there and ends up the north on the Victoria street, spanning nearly a mile in length. At its end sits one of the finest landmarks in the city, the Manchester Cathedral, the seat of the bishop of Manchester.

If you ask anyone in Manchester what the street is associate with for them, I bet that most will say shopping. Deansgate houses some of the finest shops in the city. House of Fraser, formely Kendals, is located there and the famous Waterstones bookstore is right opposite it.

The local paper, the Manchester Evening News is on Deansgate also.

In addition, there are also many pubs and public houses on Deansgate with one, very special one, The Moon Under Water. With 820 square metres in size, enough space to welcome around 1700 guests and over 60 staff on the floor it has been featured in the Guiness Book of Records as the largest public house in Britain.

Some of the bars are frequented by TV stars and footballers, with Wayne Rooney spotted there quite often. With Grenada TV being around the corner from Deansgate, you can spot many Coronation Street stars parading on the street also. The Old Grapes, a pub owned by Liz Dawn, actress that plays Vera Duckworth is right off the Deansgate too.

Other notable landmarks on the street include The Great Northern Warehouse, an impressive construction that used to be a railway good warehouse but has been redeveloped into a car park and a leisure complex comprising of a cinema, casino, bars and a gym.

The Great Northern Warehouse is at the junction of Deansgate and Peter Street.

John Rylands Library is another landmark you should visit while on Deansgate. This Victorian Gothic building was first opened as a library in 1900 as a memory to John Rylands, the citys first multi-millionaire. The library holds a number of great collections, including medieval manuscripts the Gutenberg Bible, first edition of the Ulysses by James Joyce and many personal papers of notable figures from the city.

One of the landmarks that truly stands out on the Deansgate is the Beetham Tower, the tallest building in Manchester and eight tallest in the UK. Residents of 10 English counties can see this skyscraper on a clear day. It is also the tallest residential building in the country.

The tower, a modern building of metal and glass comprises of 47 storeys. The first 23 are occupied by a Hilton hotel and the rest being residential apartments with a triplex penthouse at the very top. This very top apartments is owned by and occupied by Ian Simpson, the very architect that designed the Beetham Tower.

As said already, you could easily spend the whole day on Deansgate and still do not see every of its landmarks.

If you are planning to visit Manchester and Deansgate, check out our serviced apartments for your stay. We are only 10 minutes away from it.

I am a long time Spotify user, my account is about 2 years old at this stage, so at the moment the latest changes do not affect me much. However, in my experience, usually they are eventually rolled out to the “vintage” accounts as well and thus I will be affected. I am not personally happy about it, for a number of reasons:

1. I do like the freedom of choice

2. I do NOT want my music to be distributed for everyone to see

3. I absolutely hate such decisions being made behind my back (and especially when I am paying a top buck for the service).

So, in light of this I started searching for some Spotify alternatives and here is what I have found. I am testing some of those services already, and some prove to be surprisingly good.

1. Grooveshark

Probably the most well-known of all Spotify alternatives, offering probably even a larger catalogue of albums. Grooveshark is free, however, you can also register a paid account for some additional priviledges. GS offers a facebook integration, BUT, this is your choice whether you do it or not. Since I have been playing with GS for some time now, I can mention one downside to the service. Because it relies on users uploading tracks, quite often albums are not complete, some songs are missing etc. This might not be a big deal for most of the people, however for somoene like me, a total music freak, it matters sometimes.

2. Rdio

A new player on the block. I can’t make up my mind about Rdio yet. It’s available in the US only, however, if you can use a proxy or a VPN, you can use the service without any problems. However, the Mac app that I have been testing is quite sluggish. On a positive side, their catalog is massive, much bigger than Spotify’s (or so it seems, I haven’t checked the stats) with some artists that used to openly criticize Spotify (Pink Floyd, Metallica and more). As said, I am still testing Rdio but if worst comes to worst, this will be my app of choice.

Coincidentally, Rdio is also a part of the new facebook music platform, yet it doesn’t require facebook account to sign it. Take that, Spotify.

3. Pandora radio.

Pandora enjoys a cult status in Europe, even though it had to pull out from here a while ago. As with Rdio, you can still listen to it, with a clever use of proxy servers (which is not that difficult, I made it It is not a similar service as Spotify or Rdio, however still offers tons of great music to enjoy.

4. mFlow

A completely new name for me. This time an UK based service. mFlow is a streaming website and offers the ability to download tracks. From what I can see, you can listen to music without having to sign up, which is a MAJOR plus here. You can also log in with facebook (but again, it is your choice!) or create a mFlow account. I am still to test this one thoroughly but from what I can see, it will be a strong contenstant as one of the top Spotify alternatives.

As mentioned earlier, the new Spotify changes have not affected my account yet, they will and I am sure of that. However, the whole politics of them have left me feeling betrayed by the service that I have supported from its early days. I am glad that there are other Spotify alternatives available for me, some already proving themselves to be worthy becoming a replacement.

And, how about you? How are you feeling about the recent Spotify changes? And most importantly, do you know of any other Spotify alternatives you would like to share with us?

Photo by Flickr user, Andreas Blixt

As I will be on the road again soon I decided to take a look at some of the apps I have on my iPad, and see which ones do I really need on my travel. I also asked some of my travel blogging friends which apps they wish they didn’t have during their travels and together we came up with a list of top 10 apps to avoid during holidays.

1. Twitter

Twitter is an absolute winner here. Everyone I asked mentioned it on top of their list. As I am not a big tweeter myself, so I will let my friend Corbin from iBackPackCanada tell you why the app is the number one here: “I love meeting people, but when I’m traveling meeting virtual people should take a back-seat in order to meet the real ones. Unfortunately that doesn’t always work.“ Nuff said.

2. Google Maps

Possibly a bit surprising entry but just like Twitter, the Maps made to the top of the list for many people. The reason? It’s great to get the exact directions but isn’t getting lost a part of travelling? Sure, you might want some guidance to do not wander off for hours but isn’t taking the wrong turn a part of the true holiday experience?

3. Things (or any other GTD app)

Things app was my choice for the list. I hate going on holidays and having that little icon staring at me, showing me the exact number of tasks I forgot to finish before heading off. Of course, I could simply delete those tasks from the list but let’s be honest, there will be plenty others and I can’t erase my entire schedule, can I?

4. Skype

I am always falling into the Skype trap. Instead of going out to enjoy where I am, I find myself calling home, or chatting with friends on the other side of the globe, just because they are online.

5. Analytics

I am a sucker for Analytics. If I were not tamed, I would spend half a day in them, analyzing every bit of data and trying to figure out what to do next. Luckily, I am not the only one there. The app made it to Matt Gibson’s list too. YAY!

6. Linkedin

I never knew how much this business social networking site is important to bloggers, but apparently it is. Few people, especially the more business oriented fold have mentioned that Linkedin can be a great time sucker on holidays and I believe them.

7. Instagram

I don’t have an iPhone so have never used this app but Corbins explanation was enough to put it on the list. He says: “Love using this app, and I probably use it more than others on my list. But there’s something that makes you feel insignificant when you see professional photographers capturing photos of what you’re snapping with your iPhone. Its almost like they’re mocking you, without ever having to say anything.“

8. Wikipanion

I am a sucker for Wikipedia it’s a fact. I can spend hours in the evening, reading and absorbing information from it. And, every new link or reference is an opportunity to discover even more. The problem starts if I get sucked into it on holidays. I usually realize after a while that I just lost 2 hours of my holidays.

9. eBay

I have no idea why but every time I go on holidays I also realize that I need a particular item, usually something that I could easily live without, like a new amp or set of speakers. And then, instead of, well, holidaying I search eBay for them, only to never buy the damned thing anyway. Pathetic, I know….

10. App Store

Sometimes I have those moments when I start going through app store, just to find another great app to waste time. So the shop deserves a honorable mention here too. It is a real time sucker and there is no doubt about it. Just check how often you fire it up to look for apps.

Bonus – Games. There are way too many to mention here but one thing is for sure, we’re all guilty here!

And here they are, the top 10 most time wasting apps for travel. Your turn now, what are the apps you usually regret having with you on holidays? Let me know in the comments.

Photo by Daniel Y. Go

Marr joined the Cribs in 2007 and was announced a full time member a year later, recorded one album with the group, however, departed from the group earlier this year. The upcoming show may turn out to be one of the rare occasions to see him playing with the Jarman brothers once again.

For those of you who are not yet familiar with this amazing band, The Cribs started off in 2001 and consists of three brothers, Gary, Ryan and Ross Jarman. Described by the Q magazine as “The biggest cult band in the UK” the band recorded four albums so far, three of which have gained silver status in the UK. These guys are known for their energetic and unpredictable performances, and I am pretty sure that’s exactly how their gig in Manchester will be like.

Here is a short video of them playing with Marr at the Letterman show. On a funny side, Johnny Marr looks exactly the same as during his time in the Smiths, doesn’t he?

The Cribs photo by Flickr user, micn2sugars

Trafford Centre

Trafford centre is certainly the most popular Manchester shopping spot of all. Situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford the centre is in fact the biggest shopping centre in Europe.

Occupying 1 900 000 square foot, over 35 million visits per year and over 280 stores and services, the centre certainly can offer something for everyone. You can get to the centre by X50, 100, 250 and 22 bus lines, with the first one being set up especially to provide quick access for Manchester population to the centre. You can also use the ML1 Metrolink to Stretford Metrolink Station.

Shops are opened from 10am to 10pm during the weekdays, they close at 8pm on Saturday and on Sunday you can shop from 12noon till 6pm.

Restaurants are usually opened from 10am till Midnight (and beyond during weekends), while the ODEON cinema can welcome you from 9.40am till 1am.

You can contact the centre directly for more information at: 0161 749 1717/18 or by visiting http://www.traffordcentre.co.uk/

Arndale Shopping Centre

A part of the major Arndale chain of centres, this is the second spot on the Manchester shopping map. Built in the 70′s the centre came to unfortunate fame with the IRA bombings in 1996. Slighlty smaller than Trafford, with 210 stores and services, the centre still attracts around 38 million visitors per year.

Arndale is a true shopping bonanza for any visitor. You can get there anything from Apple computers, designer clothes, electronics, down to small things like small gadgets for your home.

Arndale is easily reachable by car. The centre offers 1450 spaces car park so you shouldn’t have any problems with finding a place to park. There are also regular bus and metrolink services to the city.

The centre is opened from 9am to 8pm during weekdays. On Saturday it is opened between 9am to 8pm and Sunday working hours are 10am to 6pm.

For more information call 0161 833 9851 or visit http://www.manchesterarndale.com/

Selfridge and Harvey Nichols

Selfridge and Harvey Nichols are more glamorous Manchester shopping locations and will satisfy the most demanding shopper. Storing mainly designer fashion, accessories and more both places are a real shopping paradise. However, with so many top brands present you have to be prepared for a wallet draining experience.

No matter whether you plan to go shopping during your break or if it will happen on a spur of the moment basis, Manchester shopping spots have certainly plenty to offer for you.

If you are coming to avail of the famous Manchester shopping experience, check out our Manchester Accommodation apartments offering you the comfort and convenience of an apartment and a truly home away from home feeling.

One of the most popular form of public transport in Manchester are busses. With so many bus routes Manchester is a city quite easy to get around and here is a concise information on bus routes in Manchester.
Two major bus operators in Manchester are First Manchester and Stagecoach. First operates on the north of the city and Stagecoach is on the south.

There is also a number of small, independent operators working in the Greater Manchester area. Some of them include Bluebird, Checkmate, JPT and others.

Manchester operates under the System One network, meaning that there are universal tickets and travelcards that can be used on all bus routes Manchester is serviced by.

The breakdown of services by the area is as follows:

• 1-299: Manchester, Salford and Trafford areas.
• 300-329: Stockport area
• 330-399: Tameside area, including a number of routes in Oldham
• 400-434: Oldham area
• 435-467: Rochdale area
• 468-499: Bury & Ramsbottom areas
• 500-582: Bolton area
• 583-699: Leigh and Wigan areas
• 700-999: schools, works and hospital services

If you want to get to the Deansgate, you should choose the Line 1 by First Manchester. It starts on the Manchester Picadilly station and passes by Deansgate as well as a Metrolink station.

To get to the Old Trafford stadium, you are far better off using a TRAM / Metrolink or a Train, however, if you insist on taking the bus, you can plan your journey here: http://www.tfgm.com/journey_planning/

If you are coming to Manchester, check out our Manchester Accommodation apartments offering you the comfort and convience of an apartment and a truly home away from home feeling.

Manchester Bars

You can start your journey in the Norwegian Blue, a perfect venue for a night out. With the capacity of 800 people, two floors to use and some great catering options it is a great place for your night out or event. The first floor is the biggest of the two, with the capacity of 600 people and a bar, the second floor also houses a Mezzanine, a capacity of 120 and also a bar.

Brannigans in Manchester is another great place to spend your night out. A lot smaller than Norwegian Blue, the place still makes for a quite popular spot in the city. Good music, friendly staff, low priced drinks and a friendly atmosphere is what you can expect from Brannigans.

Baa Bar originates from Liverpool. Originally launched there in early 90’s the place innovated the late night bar scene at the time. With its increased popularity came new locations and today there are 7 Baa Bars in the UK, one of course in Manchester. One of the key things about Baa Bar is that you can hire it for private use for free, and it is opened till really late, so, in the words of its owners, you never need to go home!

Manchester Nightclubs

One of the most popular nightclubs in Manchester nightlife scene is definitely the Venue. Located on the Jacksons Row, the venue offers a wide range of events, concerts and pure club nights. You need to text your name to the club mobile number to get onto the guest list, you can check the number on their website http://www.thevenuenightclub.co.uk/

With 4 rooms of music, 7 bars and the capacity of 2000, Pure is probably one of the biggest clubs in Manchester. Coliseum is another large club, introducing different events to the scene in Manchester whereas 42nd Street is committed to bringing the real music, from famous acts to startups.

Manchester is famous for its vibrant night life, and it is not a surprise with such an abundance of clubs and bars.

If you are coming to party in Manchester, make sure that you check out our Manchester serviced apartments to stay and unwind after a crazy night out.