St John's Garden Direction Route

How to Reach Manchester, United Kingdom

There are several free parking bays for motorbikes around Manchester city centre. The locations are on the Council's website

Manchester by Road:

The outer ring road of the Manchester conurbation is the M60. It is accessible from Leeds or Liverpool by the M62 and from Scotland and the south by the M6. From the north and Scotland follow the M6 and then the M61. From the south take the M6 and the M56. The most direct route from the M6 to the M56 and South Manchester is to take the A556 leaving the M6 at junction 19, but note this has a 50 mph/80 km/h speed limit for most of its length and can be somewhat congested at busy times of the day. It is signed Manchester and Manchester Airport. Another route would be to carry on northbound up the M6, taking you directly to the M6/M62 interchange. Here, you would follow signs for Leeds and Manchester North. This can, however, seem a longer way round, but it does also give you access, via the M60 orbital road, to places around the conurbation and is a much better option if you wish to access the northern part of Greater Manchester. If a little lost in the city centre, follow signs for the inner ring road, as there are signs to most destinations from this road. Parking in the city centre of Manchester can be expensive. Avoid the multi-storey car parks if you can and look for some open-air car parks. There are good ones by Salford Central Station, behind Piccadilly Station and opposite the cathedral. If you have to use a multi-storey, the one by The Coach Station and The Village is handy. This is fine as a last resort if you have been driving around for an hour, looking for a place to park. There are increasingly more and more double yellow lines, which designate no parking at any time. Ladywell Park & Ride is situated near Eccles (M602, Junction 2); the car park is free and there is a tram station. Similarly, parking at the Trafford Centre (M60, junctions 9 and 10) is free and there are buses to the city centre and Stretford tram station. A tip worth noting is that on Saturday from 12:30 to Monday morning, just over from the city centre into Salford, you can park on a single yellow line (remember that you can never park on a double yellow line) or in a designated space without paying, unlike in the city centre where restrictions apply even during weekends. Streets like Chapel Street, Bridge Street, and the areas around them are a good bet and much safer now with all the new housing developments. There you are just a short walk from Deansgate. Problems are rare as long as you take the usual precautions and do not leave valuables on display. Try not to put things in the boot (trunk) after a shopping spree if people are watching. Avoid parking under the bridges at all costs, and try the main roads, just off one or next to one of the many new blocks of flats where it is well-lit. Watch out on bank holidays around here. Sometimes these are treated like a Sunday in the centre, but people have been known to get parking tickets on the Salford side. If unsure, treat a holiday, on the Salford side, as a normal day of the week or ask a warden if you can find one!

Manchester by Train:

Manchester city centre is served by two major railway stations, Victoria in the north (the area around the station has recently undergone extensive redevelopment with much more to come) and Piccadilly (transformed in recent years and voted the UK's most popular station in 2007) in the south. Piccadilly is the main destination for trains from around the UK eg London, Birmingham, Leeds etc. Victoria has trains from Bradford and local services from elsewhere in North West England. Trains from Liverpool, Leeds, York, Sheffield and Nottingham may also stop at Manchester Oxford Road which is convenient for the University. Other stations in the city centre are Deansgate, and Salford Central, but generally only local services stop at these stations. Virgin Trains operates service between Manchester Picadilly and London Euston. This journey, on the West Coast Mainline, takes just over 2 hours in Pendolino trains that do not need to slow down when going around bends. Prices are as low as £11 each way if booked online in advance.