Traveling Mom: Family Friendly Manchester

We have been visiting Manchester, England on an annual basis since before we were married since it is my husband’s hometown, and where much of his family still resides. Manchester is a few hours from London, in the northern bit of the country.

You might remember the song from the legendary film “Hair” about Manchester. The character, Claude, is from “dirty, mucky, polluted Flushing” (Flushing is in Queens, in case you don’t know) but wishes he was from Manchester, England and sings:

Oh Manchester England, England…Across the Atlantic Sea.

I love the town. Two hundred years ago, Manchester was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution. In recent years, the city has been renovated and is experiencing a renaissance of its own. It has a varied cultural scene – with many theaters, galleries, nightclubs and sporting events. It’s the home of Morrissey and other fantastic bands that I grew up with in the 1980’s, as well as the Gallagher brothers from Oasis. It’s also the home of Boddington Ale.

Speaking of beer, before we had kids, we used to frequent the city’s pubs, Indian restaurants, the football stadium and art museums. Now that our kids are aged 5 and 7, the tides have turned and it’s become necessary to explore what the town has to offer children. And there’s a lot. Here is a list of our top ten child-friendly activities to date.

This is an excerpt for an original posting written for TravelingMom.com.