Date spot in Manchester

Afflecks

Rummage through four floors of independent stalls selling vintage clothes, records, posters and oddities.

Afflecks' tall red-brick corner building, with arched windows and metal sculptures climbing the wall

Church Street, Northern Quarter

Address: 52 Church Street, Manchester M4 1PW

Why it's a good date: Set each other a small budget and a challenge, like finding the other the best thing for under a tenner, then compare your finds over a drink nearby.

Photo: Ivor Josephson, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped and resized)

More from our Manchester guide

  • Narrowboats moored on the canal at Castlefield, below a white arched footbridge and an iron railway viaduct

    Castlefield canals

    Castlefield, at the south end of Deansgate

    Address: Castlefield Basin, Potato Wharf, Manchester M3 4NB
    • Outdoors
    • Free
    • Best in Spring, Summer, Autumn
    • Romantic

    Walk the towpaths around Castlefield Basin, where the Bridgewater Canal winds between old warehouses, railway viaducts and the remains of a Roman fort.

    Why it's a good date: A few minutes from the shops and it feels like another city, especially on a summer evening. The canal-side pubs give you somewhere to stop when you've walked enough.

    Photo: Gillie Rhodes, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped and resized)

  • Heaton Park's green slopes and trees, with the Manchester skyline on the horizon under a cloudy sky

    Heaton Park

    Middleton Road, north Manchester, by Heaton Park tram stop

    Address: Heaton Park, Middleton Road, Manchester M25 2SW
    • Outdoors
    • Free
    • Best in Spring, Summer

    Explore one of Europe's biggest city parks, with woodland, a boating lake and a view of the Manchester skyline from the high ground.

    Why it's a good date: It's big enough to feel properly out of town, and the tram drops you at the gate. The rowing boats are seasonal, so check they're out if you fancy a turn on the lake.

    Photo: Todor.iliev.doychinov, CC0 (cropped and resized)

  • Dunham Massey's red-brick Georgian house at the end of a gravel drive between lawns, under a blue sky

    Dunham Massey

    Near Altrincham, south-west of Manchester

    Address: Woodhouse Lane, Altrincham WA14 4SJ
    • Trip
    • Mid-price
    • Best in Spring, Summer, Autumn
    • Outdoors
    • Out of town

    Walk among the fallow deer in the old deer park, then look round the Georgian house and its gardens.

    Why it's a good date: A day in the country without a long drive. Keep your distance from the deer, take a picnic, and save the house for if the weather turns.

From our guide to date ideas in Manchester

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