Top Picks
Guides
What’s on
Where to go
See all

Manchester Art Gallery

Creative Tourist
Manchester Art Gallery. Photo by Andrew Brooks
Andrew Brooks

The Charles Barry-designed, Grade I-listed Manchester Art Gallery is one of the city’s premier-league galleries.

Manchester Art Gallery benefited from a £35m extension in 2002, ensuring that it can display an outstanding Victorian collection alongside regularly changing contemporary exhibitions. Alongside the displays is the excellent hands-on family gallery Lion’s Den (formerly the Clore Arts Studio), developed by artists to encourage kids in first-rate creative endeavours such as making sculptural hideouts and regular artist-led workshops. The newly opened Fashion Gallery displays textile wonders of fine fabrics, costume and accessories.

The impressive on-site shop is open with an extensive range of new products including a brand new gallery guide, all offering ways to support the gallery while building your personal arts-related collection. The Manchester Art Gallery café, run by acclaimed chef Matthew Taylor, is a great spot, too, with the food, cakes and bakes made fresh on site every day.

For more information about the current exhibitions and other details about one of Manchester’s most admired cultural spaces, visit the venue’s website at the link below.

Mosley StreetManchesterM2 3JL View map
Telephone: 0161 235 8888 Visit Now

Accessibility

Wheelchair access to all public areas

Admission Charges

Free admission

Children and Families

Clore Interactive Gallery, explorer tool belts, story bags, handling trail, children’s menu, baby change facilities

Commercial and Hire Services

Available for hire

Services and Facilities

Permanent collection, temporary exhibitions, events, shop, café, lockers

Opening Hours

  • Thursday11:00am - 4:00pm
  • Friday11:00am - 4:00pm
  • Saturday11:00am - 4:00pm
  • Sunday11:00am - 4:00pm

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

What's on at Manchester Art Gallery

Featured in

Toddler standing on grass with a paintbrush in hand turning to the right to look at the camera. He is wearing a navy blue rainsuit with a burgundy and navy blue long sleeved tiop underneath. He is standing in front of large cream coloured sheets that have been strung up on a washing line. The sheets have mud marks making on.
Free family things to do in Manchester

The world’s at your fingertips with free history, art, science and creative capers for all ages in Manchester.
things to do with toddlers in Manchester
Things to do with toddlers in Manchester

Read our guide to navigating the city with toddlers and having loads of fun too!

What's on near Manchester Art Gallery

Until
ActivityLiverpool
Old Dock Tours, Liverpool

The Old Dock tour is a treat for younger and older visitors alike, fans of Liverpool’s maritime past, and anybody curious about local history.

£8.50 with concessions
Until
ComedyManchester
Creatures of the Night Comedy Club

An insanely committed seven-nights-a-week, Creatures of the Night Comedy Club opens its doors (20.30-22.30 typically, though please check) for evening after evening of side-splitting comedy.

from £5.00
Until
ComedyManchester
The Comedy Vault

Every Monday night upstairs at Fierce Bar, The Comedy Vault hosts an outrageously funny open-mic night. Come and try your hand or just to watch and laugh.

free entry
Until
ComedyManchester
Comedy Balloon

Every Wednesday at Ape & Apple, Manchester’s official underground comedy club, Comedy Balloon’s friendly and warm comedy night takes place.

free entry
See all events

Where to go near Manchester Art Gallery

Exterior of fish and chip shop
Blackpool
Restaurant
Harrowside Fish & Chips

Winner of the Good Food Award’s coveted Chippy of the Year award on multiple occasions, Harrowside is a great choice for fish and chips in Blackpool.

Ladies eating Fish and Chips
Blackpool
Restaurant
C Fresh

C Fresh is an old school, decidedly affordable chippy near Blackpool prom, consistently busy with locals – a sure-fire sign it’s doing something right.

Twisted
Blackpool
Restaurant
Twisted Indian Street Food

Blackpool’s number one Indian restaurant, Twisted Indian packs a flavour punch and isn’t afraid to mix the traditional with the modern. Their motto? ‘Being normal is boring.’

Hauze Blackpool
Blackpool
Restaurant
Hauze

Dishing up European plates with plenty of fusion flare, Blackpool’s glitzy restaurant Hauze offers an extensive list of sushi alongside a selection of build-your-own burgers, and many a cocktail.

Amaro Blackpool
Blackpool
Restaurant
Amaro

Tucked away behind Blackpool’s famous copycat Eiffel Tower you’ll find Amaro, a popular local restaurant specialising in classic Italian cooking. A great spot for families and couples alike.

Abington Street Market
Blackpool
Restaurant
Abington Street Market Food Hall

Housing six independent food traders, two bars and a coffee shop, Abington Street Market Food Hall is a great choice for… choice! Great when you’re in a big (or fussy!) group.

Rhythm and Brew
Blackpool
Restaurant
Rhythm and Brew

Blackpool’s Rhythm and Brew is a traditional pub for lovers of modern craft beer and alternative live music.

Cask and Tap.
Restaurant
Cask and Tap

Looking for craft beer and real ale in Blackpool? Cask and Tap won’t disappoint, pouring from six taps and eight casks, forever in rotation.

See all places

Manchester District Guides

A coffee stand at Levenshulme Market
Levenshulme, Manchester

From cultural points of interest to unique watering holes, explore what Levenshulme has to offer in our guide.

Tib Street, Manchester

It’s not often that you find a street you could while away a whole day on: from beautifully made coffee in the morning, through to shopping, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner…
Cheetham Hill, Manchester

Cheetham Hill gets a bad rap as an area, however as you begin to look round you will find it has plenty to do. Let us be your guide.
Chorlton, Manchester

Chorlton is a left-leaning suburb a few miles south of Manchester’s city centre (and only 10-odd minutes away by tram). A sprawling hive of artisan coffee shops, boutique clothing stores,…
Castlefield, Manchester

The Roman General Julius Agricola founded ‘Mamucium’ in 79AD; the name means ‘breast shaped hill’, as this was what Agricola discovered in Castlefield, where the original settlement was based.
The front of Didsbury restaurant Volta.
Didsbury, Manchester

Follow Oxford Road South through the Curry Mile, along Wilmslow Road, past Platt Fields Park and through Withington and you’ll eventually reach Didsbury, an area divided into two main parts….
The Oast House pub in Spinningfields Manchester.
Spinningfields, Manchester

Spinningfields is Manchester’s realm of glass and steel, where global corporations have their headquarters. It’s also become a real culinary hotspot: you can find modern tapas at Ibérica, innovative Chinese…

Culture Guides

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in Manchester and the North

Alongside experimental performance, new writing and free arts festivals, we take a look at some of the Christmas shows happening in the North.