Manchester has once again been named as one of the world’s best cities in Time Out’s annual list, beating the likes of Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and Sydney.
Our humble hometown placed in 15th place in Time Out’s 50 Best Cities In the World survey for 2024, thanks to its vibrant restaurant scene, its comedy circuit, and its cultural powerhouses.
While New York cinched the top spot this year (fair enough), Manchester gave us plenty of reasons to be proud.
Time Out writers praised its music history, its sporting prowess, and its night time economy, and celebrated famous local legends like Tyson Fury, Steve Coogan and Caroline Aherne.
The only other UK cities to also feature on the list were London, Glasgow and our neighbours in Liverpool (who did creep in ahead of us in seventh place, but we’ll gloss over that bit…).
ADVERTISEMENT
Time Out has surveyed thousands of locals, asking people about the quality and affordability of the food, culture and nightlife scenes in their city and how their city makes them feel.
They were also asked about which other city they would most like to live in.
ADVERTISEMENT
The survey responses were then combined with more than 100 Time Out writers and editors who were also polled on cities across the globe.
The end result is a list of the best cities in the world right now, with the top 10 named as New York, Cape Town, Berlin, London, Madrid, Mexico City, Liverpool, Tokyo, Rome and Porto.
According to Time Out’s finding, 96% of Mancs say their city makes them happy.
ADVERTISEMENT
For Manchester, the list said: “Few cities have achieved more than Manchester. Countless incredible bands, two globe-conquering football teams, and one world boxing champ, thanks to local lad Tyson. But Manchester doesn’t stand still.
Manchester happy hours – 10 Tib LaneMusu in Manchester serves high-end sushi
“Since Ancoats’ Mana bagged a Michelin star in 2019, the food scene has soared, leading to astonishingly inventive meals at the likes of Erst, 10 Tib Lane and MUSU. The underground clubbing scene is unrivalled, thanks to the progressive (and semi-lawless) feel of Hidden, The Loft and The White Hotel. Meanwhile, The Peer Hat, Eagle Inn and Aatma prove that alternative music isn’t dead, just more experimental than ever.
“Most excitingly, the live comedy circuit harks back to the golden age of Caroline Aherne and Steve Coogan, full of uncompromising northern voices, and refreshingly light on nepo babies. Our hot tips: scathing working-class wit Rachel Fairburn, twisted club comic Chris Cantrill and menacing-hearthrob-slash-viral-video-sensation Tom Lawrinson, to name but three.”
It continued: “It’s no coincidence that Chanel held its 2023 fashion show here, mere weeks after the UK’s landmark arts hub Factory International [Aviva Studios] opened its doors. The balance of cultural power has finally shifted up North, making Manchester one of the most vibrant and fast-growing cities in Europe right now. And the rain isn’t that bad. Honest.”
Grace Beard, Travel Editor at Time Out said: “Time Out knows cities like no-one else, and that’s thanks to the opinions and insights of our global network of local expert journalists on the ground in cities around the world.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Our annual survey lets us keep a finger on the pulse of city-dwellers to create a global snapshot of city living right now.
“Every city that made the list did so because locals rate it highly – so whether a city ranked at one or fifty, it’s still one of the greatest amongst the thousands of cities around the globe.
“This year, the top cities are not only incredible places to visit and go out in, with world-class restaurants, culture and nightlife, but they’re also great places to live, with strong community spirit and an undeniable vibe.”
Manchester Airport unveils bumper Christmas makeover with Santa’s Grotto and last-minute shopping ideas
Daisy Jackson
Christmas has officially landed at Manchester Airport, and with an estimated 1.1m of us travelling through the busy transport hub in the coming weeks, the airport is really kicking off the festivities.
The halls have been decked with all sorts of festive touches, like a 20ft Christmas tree in Terminal 2, and plenty more glitter and sparkle around the entire airport.
There are dozens of discounts on stocking fillers as part of Manchester Airport’s ‘Holidays Mode Activated’ campaign, along with festive menus at bars and restaurants.
A Santa’s Grotto in Terminal 1’s free play area, the Little Flyers Zone, will be open until Wednesday 18 December, where little Mancs can send off their list to the big man with a Letters to Santa Station.
Santa himself will be on hand to greet families on Thursday and Fridays, but his elves will be there throughout the next few weeks too.
There are more than 200 destinations you can fly directly to from Manchester, from city breaks to other Christmas markets to snatched fortnights of sunshine to flights to spend the festive break with loved ones.
You can do your Christmas shopping at Manchester Airport with brilliant businesses like The Sculpts
And whether you’re one of those who’s panicked and left your shopping until the last minute, or are biding your time to save cash on beauty, booze and fragrance at World Duty Free, you can tick everything off your list on your way home for Christmas.
Shops at Manchester Airport include legendary toy shop Hamleys, fragrance favourite Jo Malone, and sportswear brand JD Sports.
You can stock up on gifts like fashion accessories from shops like BOSS and Accessorize, or get all your gifts for 2024 in one go at duty free.
And don’t miss The Sculpts, a Manchester-based design business operated by a local couple, who sell a range of handmade homeware and souvenirs including their signature alphabet tiles.
Manchester Airport Managing Director Chris Woodroofe said: “Christmas is a magical time here at Manchester Airport.
“We’re always proud to connect the North to the world but the importance of that role really shines through at this time of year. It feels wonderful when you see travellers having emotional reunions in arrivals and families in departures getting ready to visit Father Christmas in Lapland.
“It’s also always a popular time to fly and, having broken our passenger records every month for well over a year now, we expect this Christmas to be the biggest and busiest we’ve ever seen with over a million passengers flying in the two-week festive period.
“Not only will those passengers receive a great service – last month 82% of our passengers waited less than five minutes to get to security – but they will also be able to soak up some of the magic we have here, including Santa’s grotto in our Little Flyers Zone in Terminal 1 and choirs singing carols at various spots in all three terminals.
“We can’t wait to welcome passengers to Manchester Airport this festive season.”
Record 29 million people expected to drive home for Christmas this year
Emily Sergeant
Drivers are being told to prepare for long queues, as a record number of festive trips are predicted across the UK ahead of the big day.
With the festive season generally known to make the roads nationwide busier than usual, travel warnings have now been issued to all those making Christmas getaway trips for the holidays – with an annual study by the RAC and INRIX suggesting that 29 million journeys are planned before Christmas Day arrives.
Nearly half of these journeys (14.3 million) are set to be crammed into this coming weekend.
But, as Christmas falls mid-week this year, the figures suggest there will be an extended period of ‘pre-Christmas panic’ on the roads, with 5.7m trips taken yesterday and today alone.
The true festive getaway kicks off tomorrow (20 December), with an expected 3 million trips on this day, before the figure then jumps up to 3.7 million and 2.9 million this coming weekend (Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 December) – which is the final weekend before the big day itself.
A record 29 million people expected to drive home for Christmas this year / Credit: Geograph
By far the single busiest day, however, has to be Christmas Eve, with 3.8 million separate getaway journeys expected by car, on top of the final flurries of commuter traffic.
To make matters worse for everyone, the RAC’s research has also revealed that a further 4.7 million trips are expected at some point between the 20 and 22 December, and 2.5 million on either the 23 or 24 December, all coming from motorists who haven’t yet decided which day they’ll travel.
When it comes to the best and worst times to travel over the festive period, the research has revealed that the worst time to travel along major routes will be between 1pm and 7pm, especially tomorrow and Saturday, so both the RAC and INRIX are suggesting that drivers set off early in the morning, or later in the evening when the heaviest of the traffic should have subsided.
After the big day, there are an additional 4.4 million trips predicted on Boxing Day and 3.8 million on Friday 27 December.
On these days, drivers are advised to avoid major roads during the hours of 10am to 3pm, which is when journeys are expected to take significantly longer than usual.
Daisy Jackson -
23rd January 2024 
