5 Day Trips from Manchester for Under £20

Train Manchester – Hebden Bridge ➤

4. Edale

Ideal for: hikes, valleys, and open sky.

How do I get there from Manchester? Take a direct train south-east for about 35 to 45 minutes.

Average cost: £11.20

If you’re looking for places to visit near Manchester where you can truly escape to nature, Hope Valley is your best getaway. Edale is a village at one end of the valley and is as quaint as anyone could ask for with gabled pubs and stoney cottages.

Walking for just over an hour will take you either to Kinder Scout, the tallest peak in the Peak District, or Mam Tor; “Mam” because it’s the Mother of lots of little landslide hills. If your day trips from Manchester plans get scuppered by bad weather, then go underground: near Edale is Castleton, which sits on top of a network of eery caves just waiting to be explored.

Train Manchester – Edale ➤

3. Buxton

Ideal for: being pampered like a Jane Austen character.

How do I get there from Manchester? Southeast from Manchester on train with one change, for about 1 hour to 1 ½ hours on the train.

Average cost: £10.10

The originally Roman spa town sits on top of natural geothermal springs, and the sight of the Buxton Crescent will immediately remind you of Bath’s Royal Crescent. Currently, the Crescent is undergoing renovation, which will reopen the Pump Room in 2019 and turn the main buildings into a luxury hotel. In the meantime, the developers have promised plenty of historical and cultural events which you can discover on the town’s website.

So what else is there to see Buxton? Take a spa day at the Palace Hotel or glance inside the Devonshire Dome, formerly a hospital and now part of the University of Derby, one of the largest unsupported domes in the world.

Don’t forget to fill your water bottle from St Ann’s Well: the natural mineral water fountain has been a favourite with the sickly aristocracy since medieval times.

Train Manchester – Buxton ➤

2. Liverpool

Ideal for: world-changing history, seriously indulgent eats, and too much fun.

How do I get there from Manchester? Take a direct train or bus westwards from Manchester for about 1 hour.

Average journey cost: £3.00

With plenty to see and do, day trips from Manchester to Liverpool are bound to satisfy anyone’s interest. This Merseyside city has harboured the colourful and the dark: the historical Albert Dock encompasses a bizarre but very telling mix of sights, such as a Victorian carousel, the Beatles Story museum, and the International Slavery Museum. For historical places to visit near Manchester, none is richer or more staggering than Liverpool.

Yet Liverpool is also a place where you can also simply let your hair down. Whether it’s at bingo or karaoke bars, old coin-pushing arcade games at Brewdog, or eating indulgent food.

Some tips beyond the inevitable fish ‘n’ chips: afternoon punk tea at the Baltic Social, Nutella and S’mores pizza from Otto’s, or a good old fashioned bag of pick ‘n’ mix sweets from Quay Confectionery. You can check out our guide to Liverpool for more information.

Train Manchester – Liverpool ➤

1. Southport

Ideal for: beaches, historical facades, and really long piers.

How do I get there from Manchester? Take the train north-west from Manchester for about 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes.

Average journey cost: £11.80

You may not have heard of Southport before, but it has several legitimate claims to fame. On the surface, it may look like one of your average seaside day trips from Manchester, complete with golden dunes and a pier. But Southport’s pier is so long it needs its own tram: pushing out to sea for over a kilometre, it is the second longest pier in England (before you ask: the longest is in Southend).

Southport can also drop a name or two; Napoleon III went on holiday here in the 19th century and fell in love with the wide, tree-lined shopping mile, Lord Street and the Wayfarers Arcade.

This is one of the places to visit near Manchester that really has that old glamour reminiscent of Paris. This isn’t a coincidence: Napoleon III returned to Paris and reconstructed its boulevards in the style of that little coastal English town.

Train Manchester – Southport ➤

So what are your suggestions for places to visit near Manchester? Leave a comment below to share the secret with your fellow travellers!