Things To Do

There’s a 13-seat, BYO-beer bike you can ride around Manchester

All aboard!

Daisy Jackson - 2nd July 2025

Who’s in the market for an incredibly silly, quite boozy, bit different activity in Manchester? Because we’ve got just the ticket.

The Manchester Beer Bike is a 13-seat bicycle/tram/bus hybrid contraption thing (not its official name) which you can now rent for rides around the city centre.

If you’ve never seen one of these before, essentially you can all your mates sit around a bar, except you’re on saddles, and your feet are on pedals.

Imagine a tandem bicycle, but the size of a small van and with space for a dozen people, and you’re on the right lines.

We took the Manchester Beer Bike out for a spin, so if you’ve been curious what’s in store, let us break it down for you.

Your experience kicks off at The Trading Route at St John’s, which is the official pick-up point for this tour.

Which is handy, because the bike is BYO-booze, and The Trading Route is a proud stockist of Manchester Union Lager, among other drinks from its on-site shop.

Once you’ve gathered up your beverages, it’s on to the bike itself, where you can perch yourself on a saddle or (if you’re lucky) sit on the bench at the back and make your mates do all the hard work for you.

And it is, actually, surprisingly hard work when you’re going uphill. You’ll be grateful for your cans of beer, let’s put it that way.

Your experience is led by a driver who’ll keep you on track and make sure your own playlist is blasting from the Bluetooth speakers on board.

Manchester Union Lager on the Manchester Beer Bike — Manchester Union Lager aboard the Manchester Beer Bike

The route the Manchester Beer Bike takes heads up Peter Street from St John’s, passing landmarks like the Albert Hall, the Great Northern Warehouse, the Midland Hotel and the Central Library.

Then it takes a turn onto Portland Street and loops through a section of Chinatown, before heading back along the other side of the Manchester Art Gallery and Manchester Town Hall.

Then it’s down Deansgate, with the towering Deansgate Square skyscrapers in front of you, before you turn back down towards St John’s.

Along the way, you WILL hold up traffic, and you will get honked at – but you also find a lot of people laughing at you, and it’s kind of nice to spread such joy on your afternoon jaunt.

It’s a wheelie good laugh, promise… Find out more and book your spot HERE.

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Featured Image — The Manc Group