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Guides
What's on
Where to go
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Manchester’s top freelancer-friendly spaces

Creative Tourist

A tried and tested list of the city’s top spaces for working on the go – complete with laid-back staff and plug sockets a-plenty.

An unreliable work pattern and sketchy job security are the top two freelancer concerns. Closely following on, however, is the dilemma of where to work when your kitchen table just doesn’t cut it. The following are our top alternatives, whatever your work load. The golden rule of café surfing? Order a drink every two hours, or risk being that freelancer…

Our top picks

Chapter 1 Books

Chapter 1 Books, 19 Lever Street, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M1 1BY - Visit now

A fountain at the front and a row of vintage typewriters at the back make this bookshop-cum-cafe a temple of quirky charm and a hidden gem for those in want of comfortable chairs, or an impressive array of Margaret Atwood books. The bookshop atmosphere is very much respected, meaning noisy neighbouring tables are not an issue at Chapter 1.

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Photo of a new releases bookshelf

Ziferblat Manchester

Ziferblat Manchester, 23 Edge Street, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M4 1HW - Visit now

The idea behind Ziferblat is simple: help yourself to as much tea and cake as you desire, and pay instead for the time you spend. Clocking in at 6p per minute, you’d think it wouldn’t be entirely ideal for long-haul working – but if you drink caffeine the way a chain smoker inhales cigarettes, it quickly becomes worth the money. The vibe is similar to your favourite grandma’s living room and Freelancer Friday’s are an actual event here.

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Ben Williams

Manchester Central Library

Manchester Central Library, St Peter's Square, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M2 5PD - Visit now

It was a long time coming, but the revamp was worth the wait. Manchester Central Library is now an awe-inspiring cathedral to books, film and archive. As public places to work go, the circular reading room is just about unbeatable – particularly for its idiosyncratic echo. Put your phone on silent and enjoy people watching as much as the space itself.

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Manchester Central Library
Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

John Rylands Research Institute and Library

John Rylands Research Institute and Library, 150 Deansgate, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M3 3EH - Visit now

If variety is the spice of life, the gothic architecture of John Rylands Library will not fail to pique your interest. Tourists wondering through with magnified mirrors may be a slight turn-off, but the anachronistic joy of working sockets in a 19th Century library, and a silence you won’t find in any coffee shop, makes this a great place to work.

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Magic bowls event. Image shows The historic Reading Room in John Rylands Library
Image courtesy of John Rylands Library.

HOME Manchester

HOME Manchester, 2 Tony Wilson Place, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M15 4FN - Visit now

Manchester’s leading cross-arts centre is not limited to culture buffs. The downstairs bar provides a light and airy work space, and boasts an impressive collection of ales and cocktails. It’s a happy glass-faced, all day alternative from the sometimes dingy Northern Quarter cafés.

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HOME Manchester

Ezra & Gil

Ezra & Gil, 20 Hilton St, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M1 1FR - Visit now

On the corner of Hilton St and Newton St in the Northern Quarter, Ezra and Gil is a popular choice with the Creative Tourist team.  The coffee is excellent, as are the breakfast and lunch menus, but beware, the cakes and pastries are dangerously tempting.

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Common Bar

Common Bar, 39-47 Edge Street, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M4 1HW - Visit now

Those who know, know. Common is one of the best workspaces in the Northern Quarter, with lightning-fast WiFi, plenty of plug sockets and a ton of other freelancers all doing the same thing, just itching to share tips and gripes.

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Common Bar in Manchester's Northern Quarter
By Ben Williams

Burgess Cafe Bar at IABF

Burgess Cafe Bar at IABF, International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Engine House, Chorlton Mill, 3 Cambridge Street, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M1 5BY - Visit now

It might be small but it’s perfectly formed. The Burgess cafe bar has just a handful of seats but it makes for a great place to knuckle down to whatever work you have lined up for the day. The piles of books add a sense of ‘serious creative at work’, which as any good freelancer knows, is what we tell ourselves.

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Where to go in Manchester

Medlock Square
Manchester
Event venue
Medlock Square

Medlock Square is a new £300m entertainment complex betwixt the Etihad Stadium and Co-op Live, with Zadie’s, Little Beast, a hotel, market hall and more.

Zadie's
Manchester
Restaurant
Zadie’s

Italo-Japanese plates and razzle-dazzle glamour at Medlock Square. Featuring live acts, a space-age bar and a bird’s-eye view onto the Manchester City pitch.

Grafton Arms
Manchester
Bar or Pub
Grafton Arms

Grafton Arms has undergone an impressive revamp. The Eagle Inn team have turned this traditional pub into a standout live venue and drinking destination.

Proloco
Manchester
Restaurant
Proloco

Honest Crust’s Richard Carver and Rainy Heart’s Dan Hope join forces at Proloco, a music-led Ancoats restaurant serving 18-inch pizzas and seasonal plates.

City Centre
Restaurant
GiGi Gusto Griglia

GiGi is a lavish Italian restaurant just off Deansgate, with 1950s décor and a menu that sticks to the classics.

Manchester
Restaurant
Dahlia Stereo

Dahlia Stereo is a Latin American-inspired open-fire kitchen and bar off the Northern Quarter’s Stevenson Square, with a pitch perfect soundsystem.

Balance Taproom
Manchester
Restaurant
Balance Taproom

Manchester has a glut of taprooms, and Balance Brewing’s is far and away the best. Drinks, decor, service – all a cut above.

Richard Hards ‘Strangeways’
Manchester
Gallery
Moon Grove

A Georgian front room in Rusholme houses Moon Grove, an independent gallery with an unusually ambitious international programme.

In Focus: Chinese Contemporary Art.
Manchester
Gallery
New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery

New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery opened in 2016, providing a permanent space to showcase the University of Salford Art Collection within the New Adelphi School of Arts and Media.

City Centre
Bar or Pub
Schofield’s Bar

Schofield’s could be Manchester’s most grown-up bar. Very precise drinks in an upmarket city centre venue. It’s not cheap, hey, but true class costs.

See all places

Manchester Visitor Guides

Vegan and Vegetarian Food

Whether you’re a proud vegan or merely ve-curious, let us guide you towards the best vegan and veggie food in Manchester.

Bars & Pubs in Manchester

Pint of mild, limited-run natural wine or cocktail drowning in dry ice? You'll find them all in Manchester. But maybe not together.

Contemporary Season
at Lowry

Lowry stages are where you’ll catch much of this autumn’s most forward-thinking performance. Here are our top picks.

Casual Dining in Manchester

Casual dining doesn't mean low effort. Manchester has a host of laid-back restaurants where you can drop in and kick back.

New Openings in Manchester

Manchester’s food and drink scene is thriving. Here are the recently-opened venues who are worth your pounds, shillings and pence.

Manchester Restaurant Deals

Manchester's restaurants are bending over backwards to create deals that take the sting out of eating out. Here are the best of the bunch for January.

Manchester District Guides

The cafe in the trees at the Whitworth
Oxford Road, Manchester

We cherrypick our favourite spots on Oxford Road, taking in unique theatres, characterful gig venues and fascinating museums.
Deansgate, Manchester

When you think of Deansgate, you might think about the long (seemingly endless) street that runs from the Manchester Cathedral all the way down to the Deansgate Towers. And you…
Outside Aviva Studios by the River Irwell
City Centre, Manchester

The heart of Manchester is packed full with history and stories. This industriousness is evident across the city centre, where proud heritage meets contemporary ambition, and a forward-looking mix of…
Cutting Room Square
Ancoats & New Islington

Ancoats, just off the Northern Quarter in Manchester, is one of the city’s most increasingly desirable neighbourhoods. Find out why.
Northern Quarter, Manchester
Northern Quarter, Manchester

Manchester’s most characterful, independent district is a jumbled network of streets to one side of Piccadilly Gardens. Here are the places you need to check out.
Salford museum and art gallery exterior
Salford, Greater Manchester

Cross over the River Irwell, and you’ll find yourself in another city entirely – Salford, which is enjoying something of a regeneration.
The front of Didsbury restaurant Volta.
Didsbury, Manchester

Didsbury has the perfect split between big brands and independent businesses, welcoming all from far and wide.
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,…
Festive Happening Camerata
Spotlight on

Christmas Theatre and Concerts

As the big day approaches, you can count on theatres and concert halls across the North to pull out all the festive stops.

Take me there

Destination Guides

Culture Guides

Food and Drink in the North

It's autumn and time to get scheduling those hearty meals. Here's the October guide to food and drink in Manchester and the North.

Theatre

The nights are drawing in. Theatre across the North is refusing to play it safe. November brings experimental performance, queer comedy and plenty of surprises.

Exhibitions

It’s a good season for contemporary art fans in Manchester, with many of our favourite small galleries launching something big.

Music

Grubby dance music meets high-gloss hyperpop and wildly ambitious opera in our latest music guide.

Emily Lloyd-Saini as Grace in Space and Harrie Hayes as Lieutenant Strong in Horrible Science
Family things to do in the North

Whether you’re after storybook theatre, museum wanderings or illusion-bending play spaces, there’s plenty to keep curiosity ticking through winter and beyond.

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Cinema in the North

There's no shortage of great films out at the moment, whether you're looking for the latest blockbuster, that hot arthouse flick fresh from Cannes or a cosy classic.

Poet Helen Mort.
Literature Events in the North

One to add to your TBR pile, our latest round-up is a bumper edition and features some amazing events in Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and beyond...