Museums and galleries in Manchester

18 museums and galleries in Manchester, from the big collections to small independent spaces.

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

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Greater Manchester Arts Centre
Manchester's contemporary arts and film centre with five cinema screens & two theatres. Daily showings of independent & foreign language films and gallery space. The centre also houses a cafe-bar and a restaurant. Film prices are cheaper before 5pm on weekdays & 3pm at weekends. Foreign language films are shown with English subtitles. The building is fully accessible.
Mon-Sat 10AM-11PM, Sun 11AM-11PM
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
DoNorth
Manchester City FC
City play soccer in the Premier League, England's top tier, and since 2013 have overtaken old rivals Man United. Their home ground is Etihad Stadium, capacity 55,000. It has a museum and a stadium tour, adults £7, conc £4.50, hours as above. The women's team play in Women's Super League, their top tier, with home games at Joie Stadium in Sport City.
Museum Mon 11:30-16:30, Tue-Sat 09:30-16:30, Sun 11:00-15:00
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Manchester Jewish Museum
Manchester has Britain's largest Jewish population outside London; this museum tells their story. From being barely tolerated in the 18th C, they prospered in the 19th C (as did the entire city) in textiles and tailoring, and moved out of the centre to the new suburb of Cheetham Hill. The museum is in the former Spanish-Portuguese synagogue in what was once the heart of that community; later generations have moved upmarket further out.
Sun-Thu 10:00-16:00, Fri 10:00-13:00, closed Sat & Jewish holidaysAdults £6, Concs £3.50, U16 £4.
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Manchester Museum
Manchester University's own museum is like a mini version of London's Natural History Museum and boasts real dinosaur skeletons (including Stan the T-Rex), Egyptian mummies, and architect Alfred Waterhouse's huge taxidermy collection, begun in 1888. Especially interesting is the Manchester Vivarium, the only legal zoo in Manchester, with the largest and most important collection of tree frogs in the world. Free; except for temporary exhibits - prices vary.
Daily 10AM-5PM
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Museum of Transport
Large collection of old buses & similar memorabilia in a former depot.
Wed Sat Sun 10:00-16:30Adult £5, concs £4, U16 free
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National Football Museum
Based in the visually striking glass sloping Urbis building designed by Ian Simpson Architects. England's only national museum for football (aka soccer) is spread over six floors. Museum café near exit. Admission ticket prices lower if booked on line.
10AM-5PM. Last admission 4PMAdult £12; Child 5-15 £7; Child U5 free; Concessions £10
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
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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)
SeeThe Quays
The Lowry
This award-winning modern building contains two theatres and a large art gallery, with many works by L.S. Lowry (1887-1976). When he was 22 his family moved from a leafy suburb to Pendlebury, an industrial district of Salford; he detested but then became fascinated by its landscape. Initially he tried to paint in the Impressionist style but the results were gloomy, so he took to using a flake-white ground, and populated the scenes with his characteristic "matchstick men". He also secretly painted the disturbing "marionette" works, only found after his death, and only displayed on request.
Sun-Fri 11AM-5PM, Sat 10AM-5PMGallery is 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
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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
DoThe Quays Not mapped
Manchester United Museum & Tour
Tour of the stadium facilities, plus museum of the club's history from its 1878 founding as Newton Heath, through the managerial eras of Busby and Ferguson, and a glittering cast of players. Exit via the gift shop: the club merchandising Megastore is within the east stand.
Mon-Sat 9:30AM-5PM, Sun 10AM-4PM, closed matchdaysStandard tour adult £25, under-16 £15
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
SeeVictoria-Shopping District
Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art
CFCCA
Small, alternative Chinese art gallery. Closed until 2023
DrinkThe Quays Not mapped
Lime
Lively bar and restaurant on the square outside the Gallery.
Sun-Wed 11AM-11:30PM, Thu-Sat 11AM-1AM

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