Manchester has made Time Out’s list of the best places to visit in the UK in 2023, as the media and hospitality brand tries to shine the spotlight on day trip destinations and overnight breaks.
Our home city placed fourth in a list of 15 places around the country, praised for its ‘fun’ and its ‘green credentials’ (the latter might be a bit of a stretch…).
Manchester was beaten by seaside town Eastbourne, which placed first due to its ‘rising status as a creative and cultural hub’.
Our neighbours over in Cheshire also made the list, placing 15th.
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Cheshire joined Manchester on the list of the best places to visit. Credit: Marketing Cheshire
The upcoming cultural events in 2023 all helped boost Manchester up into fourth place, like the reopening of Manchester Museum and the opening of Factory International.
Cities and towns were judged on their food, drink and arts scene, as well as new projects and openings for visitors to look forward to next year – and we’ve got that in spades.
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Time Out wrote: “Manchester in a word? Definitely ‘fun’. And 2023 promises to be one of the funnest years to visit, ever.
“In February, the Manchester Museum will finally reopen following a huge £15 million transformation, while in June the brand-new Factory International will host ‘You, Me and the Balloons’, the largest-ever immersive exhibition from cult artist Yayoi Kusama.
“Later in the year, it will also be putting on a stage-show adaptation of The Matrix directed by Danny Boyle.
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“Two brand-new green spaces – Mayfield Park and the Castlefield Viaduct – are proof that Manchester takes its green credentials as seriously as its culture.”
It went on to recommend coffee at Ezra and Gil, a browse of Manchester Craft and Design Centre, and a film and pizza at HOME were all must-dos on your visit.
Huw Oliver, Time Out’s UK Editor explains why the places on the 2023 list have made the cut: “Rather than the usual hotspots, we want to highlight places, many of which are ludicrously underrated, which people don’t automatically think to go to.
“In all of the places on the list, you will find interesting things to see and do, eat and drink during the day and night, a friendly welcome and a community spirit which enables you to connect with locals and really get to know a place. We recommend that you definitely put one or more of these destinations on your travel list for next year.”
The full list of Time Out’s Best Places to Visit in the UK in 2023 and where Manchester ranks:
Eastbourne
Birmingham
Cardigan
Manchester
Scarborough
Glasgow
Dorset
London
Edinburgh
Liverpool
Padstow
Orkney
Margate
Sheffield
Cheshire
Featured image: Time Out
Travel & Tourism
Chester Zoo named one of England’s most popular tourist attractions with 1.9m visitors
Emily Sergeant
Congratulations are in order, yet again, for Chester Zoo… as this time it’s been named one of England’s most popular attractions.
Merely months after being named the UK’s best zoo for the second year running, thanks to receiving more than 11,000 ‘excellent’ reviews from TripAdvisor, Chester Zoo has now got itself another prestigious title, as a major VisitEngland (VE) report has ranked it the third most-visited ‘paid for’ attraction in England – and the most visited outside of London.
The national tourist board for England gathered information from a total of 1,373 attractions across the country, and ranked the UK’s biggest charity zoo as the third overall in terms of popularity, with a whopping 1.9 million visitors in 2024 alone.
The Tower of London took top spot with 2.9 million visitors, while the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew was second place with 2.3 million visitors.
When it comes to free attractions, on the other hand, it wad the British Museum that claimed the top spot with 6.5 million visitors, while the Natural History Museum (5.9 million visitors) took second place, and the Tate Modern (4.6 million visitors) got third.
So as you can see, the south and London in particular is a pretty dominating force in England’s tourism industry – which is why it’s even more impressive to see Chester Zoo ranked so highly.
The new VE title also comes after the zoo was recently given £4 million of lottery funding to help ‘transform’ the local environment and restore wildlife habitats across the Cheshire and wider North West region.
Not only that, but if course follows Chester Zoo’s unveiling of its new immersive experience named Heart of Africa, which is the the largest zoo habitat ever created in the UK and is home to 57 iconic African species.
Chester Zoo has been named one of England’s most popular tourist attractions with 1.9m visitors / Credit: Chester Zoo
“As a major international wildlife charity, everything we do is focused on supporting global conservation,” commented Chester Zoo’s Commercial Director, Dom Strange.
“Whether it’s caring for highly-threatened animals and plants, making scientific discoveries, influencing Government environmental policies, impacting the National Curriculum to better connect young people with nature, or our conservation efforts in around 20 countries, we’re fully committed to protecting endangered species for the future.
“But none of this would be possible without our visitors.
“Every person who comes to the zoo for a fun and inspiring day out is helping to fund our vital work, so we want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported us and helped us to rank so highly in VisitEngland’s latest report.”
Featured Image –
Travel & Tourism
Ryanair introduces immediate £500 fines for ‘unruly’ passengers
Emily Sergeant
Ryanair is majorly clamping-down on passenger conduct by introducing a new immediate fining system.
In a bid to get onboard conduct to an acceptable level, Europe’s largest budget airline has today confirmed (12 June) that it has introduced a £500 fine for disruptive passengers whose unruly behaviour results in them being offloaded from the aircraft.
The airline – which prides itself on being one of the most ‘punctual’ in the continent – says passengers expect to travel in a ‘comfortable and stress-free environment’ that’s free from ‘unnecessary disruption’ caused by a tiny number of people travelling onboard the aircraft at the same time as them.
Ryanair has introduced immediate £500 fines for ‘unruly’ passengers / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
While it’s no secret that passenger disruption is a problem that’s increasingly affecting the airline industry as a whole, Ryanair says it’s ‘committed’ to tackling unruly behaviour for the benefit of its passengers and crew.
The company intends to continue to pursue disruptive passengers for civil damages, but at a minimum, they will now be issued with a £500 fine immediately.
“It is unacceptable that passengers are made suffer unnecessary disruption because of one unruly passenger’s behaviour,” a Ryanair spokesperson commented as the fines were announced today.
The airline says it’s committed to tackling this for the benefit of its passengers and crew / Credit: Pxhere
“To help ensure that our passengers and crew travel in a comfortable and stress-free environment, without unnecessary disruption caused by a tiny number of unruly passengers, we have introduced a £500 fine, which will be issued to any passengers offloaded from aircraft as a result of their misconduct.
“While these are isolated events which happen across all airlines, disruptive behaviour in such a confined shared space is unacceptable.
Daisy Jackson -
30th November 2022 
