Free things to do in Manchester

18 places in Manchester with free entry or no charge, based on guide listings and map data.

Ranked with the travel guide's picks and well-known places first.

SeeCastlefield-Petersfield
Castlefield Viaduct
Victorian railway viaduct transformed into a 'sky park' Advance booking essential. Check website. Open on an experimental basis until summer 2023.
11AM-4PMFree but donations welcome
SeeSpinningfields-Albert Square
Central Library
You can't miss this striking circular neo-Classical building when passing through St. Peter's Square. Following a major renovation completed in 2014, Central Library is well worth visit, if not for its vast selection of resources and interactive archive but for its beautiful architecture, especially evident in the circular Wolfson Reading Room on the first floor. The Henry Watson music library was the place of re-discovery of the manuscripts of Vivaldi's celebrated 'Manchester' concerti.
Department opening hours vary, see web siteFree
SeeVictoria-Shopping District
Chetham's School of Music & Library
Library M-F 9AM-12:30PM, 1:30-4:30PM, closed Bank Holidays, call in advance; School is closed to general public. Chetham's is an independent private school of music and public library housed in the medieval priests' college next to the Cathedral. The library is the oldest public English library in the world. It is possible to look around without an appointment, but if you want to take a look at any of the collection, you will need to arrange this with the librarian beforehand.
Free
SeeThe Quays
Imperial War Museum North
While the IWM in London contains tanks, guns, planes and uniforms, the North museum is focused on the social impacts of war, with less military hardware on display.
Daily 10AM-5PMFree
SeeSpinningfields-Albert Square
John Rylands Library
After closing for refurbishment, the John Rylands Library is now open to the public. It now has access to all floors and a new entrance and cafe to the side of the building on Spinningfields. The John Rylands library is a beautifully-dark Gothic archive bang in the middle of the new business district. It is home to a number of special collections, many of which are now on display including the celebrated St. Johns Fragment, Papyrus P52 — possibly the oldest piece of the New Testament in existence. The library's magnificent Reading Room has been opened up so visitors are free to wander around it. There is also an exhibition floor which shows off some of the jewels of the collection. Don't confuse this library with John Rylands University Library, which is the library at the university and is not at all interesting (or open) to tourists.
Sun Mon noon-5PM, Tue-Sat 10AM-5PMfree
SeeVictoria-Shopping District
Manchester Art Gallery
The principal wing is the work of Sir Charles Barry, also architect of the House of Parliament. Manchester's central art gallery is home to a huge collection of 19th-century and earlier works, including paintings by Canaletto, Constable, Turner, and Burne-Jones, as well as more complete collections by other artists. It has also been home to a number of original exhibitions over the last few years and the city's own art from all ages is well-represented within. There are important collections of world ceramics and English silver.
Tue-Sun 10AM-5PM and bank holidays except Christmas, New Year, and Good FriFree
DrinkVictoria-Shopping District
Matt and Phreds
Good little tucked away jazz club. Also serves up good pizza. They have jazz bands every night except Mondays (when it's closed) at 10PM. There is free entry before 8PM. If you want to enjoy the jazz seated, seats have to be booked at least a few days beforehand.
Open until 2AM most nights
SeeSpinningfields-Albert Square
People's History Museum
This little museum down by the river on the border of Manchester and Salford aims to document the way the lives of ordinary people have developed since the industrial revolution. The museum owns many artifacts and documentation from the history of socialism in Britain, not least the building where the Trades Union Congress held its first meeting, on Princess Street, which it now uses as a public archive.
Tue-Sun and Bank Holidays 11AM-4:30PMFree
DoPiccadilly-East Centre
Piccadilly Gardens
Relax and watch the world go by in Piccadilly Gardens - the lung at the centre of the city. The Gardens are also home to the controversial concrete 'Berlin Wall', which houses cafés and seating.
Free
SeeVictoria-Shopping District
Royal Exchange
The neo-classical Royal Exchange was the commercial heart of Manchester's and therefore the world's cotton trade. The main trading hall, essentially a neo-Roman basilica, was at one time the largest commercial room in the world. It fell into disuse in the 1960s, but was rescued in the 1970s by the restoration of the building and the addition of an ultra-modern theatre in-the-round for Sir Robert D.H. Scott's '69 (now Royal Exchange) theatre Company. It stands in the centre of the main trading floor, squatting like an alien invader's spaceship, but is actually supported on the hall's load bearing columns. Ill-disposed members of the audience sitting in the theatre's surrounding on-stage banquette seats are well-placed to trip the actors up physically. Extensive wine merchant cellars have now been converted into a shopping centre and the wings surrounding the theatre hall contain offices and Barristers' chambers. Pop in during the day for a coffee or something stronger at the tranquil and elegant licensed cafe in the main hall: the entrance is up the stairs in St. Ann's Square or on Cross Street. As well as the wonderfully-restored interior and three dramatic coloured-glass domes, you can admire the trading board, which still shows the price of cotton around the world on the last day of trading in 1969. There is also a small, expensive craft shop inside.
Mon-Sat 9:30AM-late (depending on length of evening's performance)Free entry to theatre building, theatre tickets vary
SeeCastlefield-Petersfield
Science and Industry Museum
This is a great museum for those interested in technology and industrial heritage: sited at one end of the world's first passenger railway line. The working cotton weaving machines are particularly worth experiencing. Catch one of their regular demonstrations of their operation. There is also the opportunity to explore the city's former sewers (now fully cleaned!) to get an idea of the living (and dying) conditions of Manchester's cotton workers. Most impressive of all is the huge collection of working engines in the Power Hall (closed until 2024), powered by steam, gas, water, you name it. The museum also hosts the first steam train (and with it, the first ever vehicle to run faster than a horse), as well as the first programmable computer with a cathode ray tube memory.
10AM-5PM dailyFree, except for temporary exhibits (prices vary)
SeeVictoria-Shopping District
St. Ann's Church
Daily daytime, check the website for service times. St. Ann's Church is the main parish church of Manchester and one of only two surviving Medieval churches in the city centre (the other is the cathedral). It is also a venue for many sacred and secular classical music events. A small shop selling books and gifts is open at all times except during services.
closed Mon, Tue-Fri 11AM-5PM, Sat 11AM-6PM, Sun 8:30AM-6PM. see website for service times.Free
SeeSpinningfields-Albert Square
St. Mary's (The Hidden Gem)
This little traditional Catholic church dates from 1794, making it the oldest purpose-built post-Reformation Catholic church in England. It is an active church, with the largest congregation of any of the city-centre churches in Manchester. Inside is a modern "Stations of the Cross" by Norman Adams that is considered one of the greatest works of art in Manchester. Please remember that this is a place of Roman Catholic worship: modest dress is expected and photography is forbidden. The church is closed to tourists during services.
Mon-Thu Fri 9:30AM-4PM, Sat 9:30AM-6PM, Sun 10AM-2PM (services Mon-Fri 12:30PM, Sat noon and 5:15PM, Sun 8:30AM and 1:30PM)Free
SeePiccadilly-East Centre
The Portico Library and Gallery
The Portico has been an exclusive members-only library since the early 19th century and many of Manchester's luminaries have been patrons of the Portico over the years. Now hosting its own public gallery and providing admission to some parts for non-members, it is a slice of Manchester's history that has remained almost unchanged since its inception. Call for the latest information.
Free entry
SeeUniversities
Whitworth Art Gallery
Manchester University's art gallery combines more modern art than the Manchester Art Gallery with displays of watercolors, prints, textiles and wallpapers.
Mon-Sat 10AM-5PM, Sun 2-5PM. Closed Good Fri and Christmas to New YearFree
SeeCastlefield-Petersfield Not mapped
Bridgewater Hall
Manchester's main classical music venue is a stunning musically-inspired building dating from 1996. It is home to the world-famous Hallé orchestra and boasts an enormous 5500-pipe organ across the whole of one wall. The building is also home to a cafe and restaurant.
Mon-Fri 10AM-8PM, Sat noon-6PMFree entry to building
DoSouth Not mapped
DUFFA
Didsbury Ultimate Frisbee For Amateurs
If you fancy something a little different, this Didsbury society is free and open to all.
Free
SeeCastlefield-Petersfield Not mapped
Saul Hay Gallery
A small commercial gallery in a former beer warehouse, specialising in local contemporary art with changing exhibitions.
Tue-Sat 10:30AM-6PMFree

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Manchester (CC BY-SA 4.0).