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Date spot in Manchester

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Catch an independent film, a play or an exhibition at Manchester's arts centre, with a bar and restaurant downstairs.

HOME's glass-fronted building lit up at night, with its ground floor glowing behind the windows and a tree on the square in front

Tony Wilson Place, First Street

2 Tony Wilson Place, Manchester M15 4FN

Why it's a good date: Film, theatre and food under one roof, so the whole evening's sorted without moving. Take turns picking something the other wouldn't usually choose.

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Photo: Leonv010, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized)

More from our Manchester guide

  • Inside Mackie Mayor, diners at long tables beneath a glass roof held up by curved iron arches

    Mackie Mayor

    Eagle Street, Northern Quarter

    1 Eagle Street, Manchester M4 5BU

    Share plates from a handful of independent kitchens at the long tables of a restored Victorian market hall.

    Why it's a good date: You each order what you fancy and swap halfway through. The glass roof and ironwork make it feel like an occasion, and it gets busy at weekends, so go early for a table.

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    Photo: Duncan.Hull, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)

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

    Afflecks

    Church Street, Northern Quarter

    52 Church Street, Manchester M4 1PW

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

    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.

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

  • 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

    Castlefield Basin, Potato Wharf, Manchester M3 4NB
    • Outdoors
    • Free
    • 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.

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

From our guide to date ideas in Manchester

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