Easter Bank Holiday Weekend in Manchester and the North

Creative Tourist

This year, your four-day eggs-tra special Easter Bank Holiday features early on, rolling from Good Friday on 29 March to April Fool’s Day.

As usual there’s plenty of arts and culture to keep you busy. Read on for some of our top ideas for things to do, taking in music, exhibitions, theatre, food and drink and loads more.

If it’s family-friendly stuff you’re looking for, there are a few ideas below but a whole lot more in our dedicated Easter Holidays guide. And remember the clocks ping forward on Sunday 31 March, meaning more in the way of daylight hours to enjoy on Easter Monday – so perhaps pencil in a trip to one of our favourite parks and gardens, which are starting to look a lot more appealing as spring does its thing.

Our top picks

RHS Garden Bridgewater

RHS Garden Bridgewater, Occupation Road (Off Leigh Road), Worsley, Salford, Greater Manchester, M28 2GU - Visit now

RHS Garden Bridgewater invites you on a supersized family adventure this Easter holiday as The Giant Easter Egg Hunt returns 29 March to 14 April – try and find all the larger-than-life eggs hidden around the garden or have a go at fun planting and craft activities for the whole family. And if you’d prefer a trip without the wee ones, chill out with a coffee and cake in one of the cafes, or head to the garden centre for some treats to brighten up your own outdoor spaces.

RHS GARDEN BRIDGEWATER
Image: Harris Bugg Studio

Finders Keepers

Finders Keepers, 7 Keepers Quay, New Islington Marina, Manchester , M4 6GL - Visit now

Let’s be real, for most of us bank holidays are synonymous with getting a little loose. And one of our favourite places to do that is Finders Keepers, a small but perfectly formed cocktail bar by the waterfront in New Islington Marina. With doctorate-level mixologists behind the bar, you’ll find some of the most intriguing and exciting flavour combinations in Manchester right here.

Ian Jones

New Wave Ramen

New Wave Ramen, 16 Tib Lane, Manchester , M2 4JB - Visit now

Need something to soak up the cocktails? With impeccable resurrection-based timing, the much-missed Northern Quarter ramen bar and restaurant, Cocktail Beer Ramen + Bun, lives again this Easter weekend, with a kitchen takeover of New Wave Ramen on Sunday 31 March.

Ian Jones

Richmond Tea Rooms

Richmond Tea Rooms, Richmond Street, Manchester, Manchester, M1 3HZ - Visit now

Where better to kick back and while away some of those extra hours off than an Alice In Wonderland-themed gaff that features an Easter icon in the form of the White Rabbit, and serves up dainty afternoon teas and perfectly crafted cocktails.

Image courtesy of Richmond Tea Rooms

Manchester Wine Tours

Manchester Wine Tours, Various locations in Manchester city centre, Manchester , M1 - Visit now

Kelly Bishop’s Manchester Wine Tours are fun-packed affairs, with plenty of great chat, amusing tales and, of course, great vino with equally great people. Best of all, you can use “CREATIVETOURIST” for 10% off any tour in March or April.

Manchester Wine Tours

Mayfield Park

Mayfield Park, Mayfield Park, Manchester, M1 2PY - Visit now

Manchester’s newest green space is well worth checking out as the days get a little longer and hopefully a little warmer. Tucked away behind Mayfield Depot, with its bars and oft-changing eateries, there are play facilities for the little’uns plus the chance to spot dippers and other wildlife on the newly daylighted River Medlock.

Mayfield Partnership

Goodtime Games

Goodtime Games, 212 Burton Road, West Didsbury, Manchester, M20 2LW - Visit now

Rain or shine, Goodtime Games’ shelves are piled high with hours and hours of turn-based amusement, with owners Tom and Melissa on hand to offer up a wealth of knowledge and recommendations. While you’re there, nip up the way to the Burton Road OG of Cocoa Cabana for some Easter-inspired chocolate treats, including delicious hot choc, or wheedle in a trip to La Chouquette in nearby Didsbury Village.

goodtime games
Goodtime Games

Climat

Climat, 8th Floor, Blackfriars House St Marys, Climat, Parsonage, Manchester , M3 2JA - Visit now

Rooftop views in Manchester don’t get much better than Climat, a wine-led, French-leaning wine bar and restaurant in the city centre. You’ll find it just beyond the end of Market Street, tucked down one of the city’s many winding streets, through an inconspicuous door, down a monochrome-panelled corridor, up a lift and so on. All very Faraway Tree.

Ian Jones

Dunham Massey

Dunham Massey, Altrincham, Greater Manchester, WA14 4SJ - Visit now

With over 300 acres of freely roaming fallow deer, ancient trees to climb and wild trails to tread, Dunham Massey is one of our top go-tos for a quick city escape. And Easter – when the country estate bursts into bloom with white carpets of snowdrops and yellow coverings of daffodils – is the perfect time to visit.

Dunham Massey
National Trust

Formby Beach

Formby Beach, Victoria Rd, Formby, Liverpool, L37 1LJ - Visit now

April might still be a little early for a bracing dip, but it’s the perfect time to visit Formby Beach – spring being when the local native red squirrel population is most active. The beautiful National Trust reserve is bordered by a glorious stretch of coastal pinewoods. Combine with a trip to nearby Crosby Beach, where contemporary sculptor Antony Gormley’s striking iron men gaze into the horizon.

By Berit from Redhill/Surrey, UK (Formby beach) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Beer Gardens in Manchester & Salford

Spring is springing, so fingers crossed we might be able to sneak in an alfresco pint over Easter.

Society Manchester
Timekeepers
Spotlight on

Light Festivals in the North

From enchanting lantern parades to epic LED installations, light festivals are a brilliant way celebrate the magic of the winter months.

Take me there

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.