If you ever feel like you need a change of scenery, but get put off by all the admin of booking hotels and annual leave to actually leave Manchester, these there-and-back-in-a-day flights might be about to change the game.
Manchester Airport has rounded up a handy list of the places you can fly to for a day trip from our home city.
You could be lounging with an Aperol Spritz in a beautiful European city by 10am, and home in time for your usual bedtime.
In fact, you can get as far as Morocco, Ibiza or Majorca with time for an explore and a couple of meals before you have to head back to the rain.
Recent research from travel agents’ association ABTA shows city breaks have overtaken beach holidays as Britons’ favourite type of overseas trip.
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And Manchester Airport is finding that these compact one-day city breaks are starting to take off, with budget airlines offering flights with no baggage charges or hotels to worry about.
And half the time, these flights are way cheaper (and faster) than an Avanti service down to London for the day…
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Manchester Airport serves around 200 direct destinations, many of which have return flights the same day.
12 day trips you can do with a flight from Manchester Airport
Dublin
Dublin is one of the cities you can get to with a flight from Manchester for a day trip
Ryanair
Depart Manchester 06:55, Arrive Dublin 07:55;
Depart Dublin 21:55, Arrive Manchester 22:55.
A pint of Guinness, some live music in Temple Bar, and a wander down colourful cobbled streets – just a hop across the Irish Sea will land you in Ireland’s vibrant capital. It’s probably the most common international day trip you can do from Manchester with regular Ryanair flights.
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Amsterdam
easyJet:
Depart Manchester 07:05, Arrive Amsterdam 09:25;
Depart Amsterdam 21:30, Arrive Manchester 21:50.
With a flight time of just one hour and 20 minutes, and flights available in the early morning and late evening, you can give yourself a full 12 hours to explore the Dutch capital. This beautiful, cultural city is home to the Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank House, plus a buzzing food and drink scene.
Ibiza
Jet2.com:
Depart Manchester 17.10, Arrive Ibiza 21.05
Depart Ibiza 10.50, Arrive Manchester 12.40
Forget New York being the city that never sleeps – Ibiza is the island that never sleeps. If you’re a party animal and can manage on barely any sleep, you can jet to Ibiza after work and arrive in time for the clubs opening, party the night away and be home less than 24 hours later.
Paris
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easyJet:
Depart Manchester 07:05, Arrive Paris 09:35;
Depart Paris 21:35, Arrive Manchester 22:00.
The ‘City of Light’ offers plenty to keep you busy – and flight times are only around an hour and a half, again with daily early morning and late evening flights available. If you’re well-organised, a full day will give you more than enough time to go on a sightseeing tour of the city – from the Eiffel Tower to the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre, with a few people-watching cafe stops along the way.
Alicante
Ryanair:
Depart Manchester 08:30, Arrive Alicante 12:15;
Depart Alicante 21:20, Arrive Manchester 23:10.
In less than three hours you could swap Manc drizzle for Spanish sunshine, with regular Ryanair flights to the Costa Blanca hotspot of Alicante. That gives you more than nine hours to soak in as much sun as sangria as possible.
Belfast
Ryanair:
Depart Manchester 07:25, Arrive Belfast 08:25;
Depart Belfast 20:55, Arrive Manchester 21:55.
Northern Ireland’s capital is a fantastic destination for a mini-break. Titanic Belfast tells the story of the how the famous cruiseliner was built in the city’s docks, and Belfast also boasts a zoo and a castle. The National Trust-owned Crown Liquor Saloon in the city centre is a popular spot for a beer and pub lunch – its look and feel has changed very little in nearly 200 years. And you can smash it out in a day with flights arriving by 8.25am and returning to Manchester at 8.55pm.
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Barcelona
A day trip around Barcelona is possible with return flights from Manchester
Ryanair outbound / Vueling inbound:
Depart Manchester 06:40, Arrive Barcelona 10:00;
Depart Barcelona 19:20, Arrive Manchester 20:50.
One of Europe’s liveliest and most fascinating cities is only two and a half hours away, and you can get there and back in a day from Manchester by mixing a Ryanair and a Vueling flight. Admire the majestic La Sagrada Familia, explore the Gothic Quarter, and visit the city’s football stadiums. Or just hit the beach and eat tapas. Whatever.
Majorca
Jet2.com outbound / Ryanair inbound:
Depart Manchester 06:30, Arrive Majorca 10:15;
Depart Majorca 21:30, Arrive Manchester 23:15.
Majorca is consistently one of the most popular destinations for passengers travelling from Manchester Airport, year after year, the travel hub says. It’s a family favourite with golden sandy beaches that are conveniently closed to the airport. You can spend more than 11 hours relaxing and living the island dream before you have to fly home again.
Cork
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Ryanair:
Depart Manchester 07:45, Arrive Cork 09:00;
Depart Cork 20:20, Arrive Manchester 21:35.
Another popular Irish destination, although perhaps lesser known than Dublin or Belfast, is Cork – the Republic of Ireland’s second city. It is one of the cheapest overseas day trips you can take from Manchester, with return flights frequently available for between £30 and £40pp with Ryanair. The English Market is a great place to grab a bite to eat, and the city also plays host to a number of museums and galleries, great shopping and authentic Irish pubs.
Newquay
Loganair outbound / easyJet inbound:
Depart Manchester 08:35, Arrive Newquay 10:00;
Depart Newquay 17:00, Arrive Manchester 18:10.
Flights to Newquay, Cornwall’s biggest resort town and a water sports mecca, take a little over an hour from Manchester – waaay quicker than trying to drive to one of the UK’s most popular destinations. You’ll have a good seven hours to surf or kayak or kitesurf or explore the beautiful location on dry land, if you prefer.
Agadir
Ryanair outbound / easyJet inbound:
Depart Manchester 06:20, Arrive Agadir 10:15;
Depart Agadir 19:15, Arrive Manchester 23:25.
Did you expect Africa to pop up on this list? Because we didn’t. But you can go all the way to Agadir in Morocco for a nine-hour day trip, where attractions include themed gardens, its Museum of Arts (which explores the surrounding region’s Berber heritage), the Souk El Had market, and beaches.
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Munich
Lufthansa:
Depart Manchester 06:55, Arrive Munich 09:55;
Depart Munich 21:55, Arrive Manchester 23:00.
Beer and bratwurst are top of the agenda for day-trippers to Munich, which is just a two-hour hop from Manchester. Its old town is filled with gothic architecture, including the Residenz and Alter Hof palaces, along with traditional beer halls like the 16th century Hofbräuhaus. That’s 12 hours of steins and sausages.
Milan
Visit fashion capital Milan and get back the same day
Ryanair:
Depart Manchester 06:15, Arrive Milan-Bergamo 09:25;
Depart Milan-Malpensa 22:15, Arrive Manchester 23:30.
Milan is a global centre for fashion, and its iconic cathedral and the neighbouring square are the main draw for tourists. The surrounding area is filled with boutique stores, restaurants, pizzerias and ice cream shops. There are always lots of flights daily between Manchester and Milan’s two airports too.
All flight times correct and available on various dates across the year at the time of writing. Timings and availability are subject to change.
Featured image: Unsplash
Travel & Tourism
Manchester Museum has been shortlisted for the 2024 Art Fund Museum of the Year
Danny Jones
Another bit of very well-deserved recognition for our city as the Manchester Museum has been shortlisted for the 2024 Art Fund Museum of the Year.
Organised by the independent and membership-based British charity, which raises funds through the collection of important works and artefacts, it’s world the single largest museum prize in the world.
Shining as one of the crown jewels in Manchester’s cultural scene, the museum has been named among five other impressive finalists for this year’s award, which is evaluating inspiring projects from autumn 2022 through to winter 2023.
This wonderful news comes at a good time for Manchester Museum, which recently welcomed its one-millionth visitor since reopening to the public in February last year, following a £15 million values-led redevelopment. It really is back with a bang.
With Art Fund keeping audiences and communities at their heart, the highly revered accolade has a particular focus on community engagement, sustainable ways of working, and demonstration of ambition by reinventing what it means to be ‘the best’ museum for the audiences of today and tomorrow.
For context, the Manchester Museum (which sits as part of the University of Manchester) was the most visited indoor museum in the North of England throughout 2023, despite being shut for an entire month, welcoming a total of 790,332 people through their doors.
Speaking on this year’s selection, director Jenny Waldman, who heads up the 2024 judging panel, has applauded each of this year’s finalists for delivering “something for everyone” and keeping “community at the very heart of their programming.”
“Their commitment to innovative partnerships whilst operating within an extremely challenging funding environment is incredible”, she added. “I’m so pleased to see the way they support and centre young people through their work.
“Across a wide range of size and scale, these organisations are all real leaders in their field. I urge everyone to go and visit these extremely special spaces.” So do we.
We’d recommend going along to Stand the T-Rex aloneYou’ve got to see the giant Japanese spider crab(Credit: Manchester Museum/Matthew via Flickr)
As for the museum themselves, DirectorEsme Ward said of the announcement: “Manchester Museum’s redevelopment was the result of 10 years’ collective endeavour, so being shortlisted for Art Fund Museum of the Year is a moment of joy for everyone to share in, from staff and partners to our communities and Manchester itself.
“It is an affirmation of museums’ power to bring people together in building a more inclusive, hopeful future.”
Built on self-proclaimed values of “inclusion, imagination and care”, the museum’s recent reopening has positioned it at the forefront of the sector here in the UK, with new galleries, partnerships, visitor facilities, sector-leading programming and digital innovations.
These updates, along with their existing and award-winning South Asia Gallery – the largest and first permanent gallery in the UK to celebrate the experiences and contribution of the South Asian diaspora co-curated by members from the community itself – are what have helped put it in the running for this prestigious prize.
Visitor numbers for the first year following reopening were up 157% on 2019/20, with 57% of those being new attendees and more than one in seven’s first trip to a museum ever.
The other four shortlisted museums are the Craven Museum in Skipton, North Yorkshire; Dundee Contemporary Arts, the National Portrait Gallery in London and the Young V&A – Victoria and Albert Museum, also in the capital.
The winning museum will be announced at a ceremony at the National Gallery in London on 10 July and will receive £120,000 to put towards internal projects and cultural work. Better still, £15,000 will be given to each of the four other finalists, so everyone’s a winner in a way.
Congratulations again to everyone at Manchester Museum and well done for all your incredible hard work – we can’t wait to be right about you again in a couple of months when we’re confident you’ll be rightly named as the winner of the 2024 Art Fund Museum of the Year.
Olicana Park – The log cabins near Manchester that capture apres-ski magic all year round
Daisy Jackson
Roaring fires, bubbling hot tubs, stunning views, and even pairs of skis strapped to the walls – but this isn’t the French alps… it’s Yorkshire.
Olicana Park is a beautiful holiday park right on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, just an hour’s drive from Greater Manchester.
Here, scattered around the banks of the River Wharfe, you’ll find a collection of luxury wooden cabins, traditional cottages, and classic static caravans.
But for us, it really is all about those cabins, which capture all the best bits of the apres-ski culture loved by snow-worshippers, all year round.
In winter, you can whack on your own log burger and cosy up on the sofas with a glass of red wine and a good book, while in summer you can throw open the bi-fold doors and sit out with a cocktail on your own gigantic roof terrace.
Each cabin has its own theme that plays in around the tasteful decor, which usually involves incredible wooden beams and stone floors.
The one our friends at The Hoot stayed in had an apres-ski theme, from the subtle (vintage wooden skis and piste markers used as wall art) to the clever (an old chair lift that had been turned into patio furniture).
The luxury apres-ski cabin at Olicana ParkA sauna inside the cabinThe view from your own terrace
There’s a huge hot tub perched on your own private decking too, where you can soak in the warm water while watching the river burble past at the end of your own driveway.
Upstairs in this particular cabin were two enormous double bedrooms with modern en suite bathrooms, one of which also had an enormous terrace attached with a view down to the river.
And then – wait for it – the cabin also came with its own sauna. Talk about luxury.
If you can’t tear yourself away from your own space, each cabin has a kitchen that’s perfectly kitted out with everything you need to whip up a tasty tea (or, if you’re like us, a cheese board for dinner).
Lunch dishes at Hamilton’s the on-site restaurant at Olicana ParkBreakfast at Hamilton’s the on-site restaurant at Olicana Park
But if you do venture out, there’s an on-site restaurant called Hamilton’s, where you can dig in to fresh salads, gyros, and burgers, and when you come back in the next morning you can feast on a menu of banging breakfasts and brunches.
Olicana Park actually used to be a traditional caravan park, but has been given some serious TLC since the new owners took over in 2016.
It was this team who decided to split the park into zones, with four cottages in one, five luxury cabins in another, and 29 static caravans in the third.
The cottages and cabins were all refurbished or constructed from scratch using British suppliers and local tradesmen.
The living rooms in an Olicana Park cabin. Credit: The Hoot Leeds
It’s just a short stroll from Addingham village, and that’s only a short bus from the bustling town of Ilkley, which itself is only a short train ride from Leeds.
That means excellent pubs, restaurants and cafes within easy reach, as well as gorgeous countryside walks like a riverside amble to Bolton Abbey.
Surrounded by a plethora of long walks and country pubs, Olicana Park really is a perfect gateway to the Yorkshire Dales, and if you’re looking for something to kick off holiday season then we couldn’t recommend it more.
You can get 10% off your June holiday at Olicana Park with the code “THEHOOT”.
Daisy Jackson -
20th February 2024 
