How to spend a weekend in Manchester

A few weeks ago we decided to book a weekend away and explore Manchester. It's somewhere we'd been a couple of times for the Christmas markets but never really spent time properly so it was nice to visit for a city break, discover new places and eat lots!

We both love discovering new restaurants so finding good places to eat in Manchester was definitely a priority for the weekend! I usually go to Dough for pizza but i'd read lots of things about PLY so we decided to go there instead. PLY has become one of my favourite restaurants - they make the best sourdough pizza i've tried in a long time and their menu has lots of options including gluten free. We shared a 'Nduja and added extra chorizo - it was the perfect size to fill us up until dinner.

For breakfast you have to try Moose Coffee. I chose Apple and Salted Caramel Pancakes which in true American style were huge and I ended up taking one home as I couldn't finish them! My boyfriend described his breakfast (the Mighty Moose) as one of the best he's had - it was perfectly cooked and really filling. Their coffee is also great (as you'd expect), i'd really recommend the cappuccino!

I spent a long time looking for one of the best hotels in Manchester and eventually chose Abode, which is really close to Manchester Picadilly station. We opted for the comfortable room as we were only staying for one night and it was really reasonably priced with modern decor. The staff were friendly and the interior (originally a textile factory) was different to anywhere else i've stayed - I loved the main staircase!

We didn't really make too much of a plan for what we wanted to do but we did a lot of walking! We ventured around the northern quarter and found some of the street art that is dotted around Manchester. There are also lots of little shops to explore including Oklahoma and Fred Aldous.

As it was a Saturday night a lot of the bars were really busy so we actually ended up walking back to Brasserie Abode at the hotel for drinks which was perfect, again really nice decor, great service and the perfect way to end a relaxing weekend in Manchester.

Places we plan to go on our next visit: Home Sweet Home (for cake), Ezra & Gil (for brunch), Iberica (for drinks), Croma (for Italian), Pot Kettle Black (for coffee), Fig & Sparrow (for brunch), Tattu (for Chinese), Luck, Lust Liquor & Burn (for Mexican), Walrus (for lunch), Takk (for coffee).