Manchester England

For train schedules see http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ I doubt I'd fly into Manchester if I really wanted to be in London, but it would make sense if you wanted to go north to Chester, Liverpool, and then the Lake District, or west to Wales, or maybe to the Cotswolds.

My daughter is a flight attendant and we plan to nonrev (fly standby) to England. Of course, this is always a little risky traveling this way. For best results, flying in the fall and winter and flying in to a less popular airport. She has friends that do it all the time with careful planning and patience. Thanks for your reply. I've always wanted to take the Beatle tour in Liverpool!

i seriously thought about doing this a couple of times. Heathrow really is a pain and avoiding it and flying into a different city can get your trip off to a faster and more pleasant start. I used to fly into Glasgow and I loved it. I would agree that if you're flying into Manchester, it would be a good idea to explore that area before heading to London. But, that said, it's a not a very long train ride. ; ) Pam

Liverpool is a very easy 35 miles or so from Manchester - get the train into Manchester from the airport first. Either place is very easy to get to London from on the train. Roger

Good place. Eat in mr thomas' chop house - check-out the website. You might want to book up some shows/ concerts. Good ethnic restaurants. Shop in marks and Spencer, etc. You'll get a better British experience than London. Go to country houses outside. However, you'll need to research this more carefully than London as you're prob departing from the major us guidebooks. Nice people in Manchester!

FYI: We had to pay a "departure tax" in Gatwick as we were flying standby, non-rev. Am not sure if it was just because we were flying in and out of "London" or not but I know we didn't have to pay this tax from Glasgow and Dublin but had a small one from Barcelona. The tax in London was about $80.00 which is really nothing as we were non-rev. Enjoy.

My husband and I drove from London to Manchester and I don't remember it taking more than 4 hours. I've never taken the train except to York, we've always had a car. My best friend and her family live in Stockport, which is a suburb of Manchester and I think its a great city, especially if you want to visit the north of England. The museum in Manchester at the University is great, I remember a lot of mummies and a great butterfly exhibit. You can take a day trip to York, visit any of the surrounding towns to get a feel of village life, go to the Lake District, Chatsworth isn't that far and you can even visit Lyme Park, which if you are a fan of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth you will recognize as Pemberly, Darcy's country home. Its a great house and grounds. I'm not sure about transport to Chatsworth and Lyme Park without a car, although I remember taking the train to Disley (where Lyme Park is) and walking from the train station to the house. It was a long walk and partially on a major road, but its a beautiful walk. I can't wait to go in the spring of next year to introduce my daughter to the family and England.

Much prefer MAN to any of the London airports.
Easy connect from the airport to the main train station and then about 3 hours to Euston station and then you can pop on to the tube. Manchester is worth staying in, and "Akbar's" and the "curry Mile" worth a visit and feast.

We flew in to Manchester last March to go to Scotland. We got tickets with miles so it was a good incentive. It is easy to get in and out of. I would take a train on to London if I was going in that direction. We stayed at a Bewleys Hotel the last night. It was adequate. You can walk over to the airport or they will take you. It is about a 2 minute ride. We got to the airport and had our car in less than 30 minutes. You won't do that at Heathrow. I would definitely fly in to there again.
Good Luck! - Bill

Manchester Airport has a train station attached. From there you can go to York, or Newcastle, or London. I highly recommend Manchester if you want to visit anyplace in the north of England, which is beautiful! Hadrian's Wall, James Herriot country, the Lake District, or even up to Scotland. A good alternative to London, especially if you don't need to head to London immediately.