Walking Tours in Manchester by Jonathan Schofield

Johnny James, Managing Editor

With its rich industrial past, iconic architecture and vibrant arts scene, Manchester is a city that begs to be explored step by step. It’s the only way to truly connect with the place. But one better than strolling solo is to book onto a walking tour, led by a guide who knows the city like the back of their hand.

Enter Jonathan Schofield, Manchester’s top walking tour provider and a registered Blue Badge Guide since 1996. What Jonathan and his team don’t know about this city isn’t worth knowing, and the mix of information and entertainment they bring is pitch perfect.

Led by a knowledgeable and experienced tour guide, you’ll get closer to the sights, sounds, and spirit of the city. You’ll also uncover more than meets the eye. After all, this is a city of stories. Of people who shattered convention. Of ideas that changed the world. Of workers, of thinkers, of dreamers.

The walking tours below will place you at the heart of these stories, while Jonathan Schofield and his team bring them to vivid life. Some take place in the city centre, others leafy suburbs, and there are even a few walks near Manchester, for those wishing to nip beyond the city limits.

Whether you’re a history buff, culture enthusiast, or just looking to uncover the soul of Manchester, these Manchester walking tours are the perfect way to get to know the city a whole lot better.

Our top picks

The Manchester Music Walkabout

The Manchester Music Walkabout at The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester and online, Until 6 December 2025, From £25.00 - Book now

Manchester’s famous musical legacy comes to life in this walking tour around the city, which will take you from the 1960s to the present day as you tread in the footsteps of everyone from Joy Division to Oasis.

Walking Tour Stock imagery
istock.com - Iryna Melnyk

The Manchester Pub Walkabout

The Manchester Pub Walkabout at Manchester Central Library, Manchester, Until 6 December 2025, From £25.00 - Book now

Stagger across three hundred years of Manchester’s drinking history in one of the city’s most fun-loving walking tours, packed with fascinating stories, brilliantly bizarre facts and hilarious fun and games.

Bars
Band on the Wall

Secrets of Stockport

Secrets of Stockport, Until 1 November 2025, From £20.00 - Book now

The ‘new Berlin’, which it’s been dubbed recently, might be a bit of a stretch, but Stockport is most certainly on a meteoric rise, with so much of interest to see and learn here.

Stockport Plaza
Stockport Plaza

The Peterloo Massacre Tour

The Peterloo Massacre Tour at Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, 16 August 2025, From £20.00 - Book now

Join the definitive tour about a moment that helped shape the future of the nation: The Peterloo Massacre.

St Peter's Square
Ben Williams

Southern Cemetery Tour

Southern Cemetery Tour at Southern Cemetery, Manchester, 6 September 2025, From £20.00 - Book now

The UK’s largest public cemetery is home to fascinating stories, beautiful architectural details, and the inspiration behind one of The Smiths’ best songs.

Southern Cemetary Chorlton by Tom Jeffs
Tom Jeffs

Chetham’s Medieval Buildings

Chetham's Medieval Buildings at Chetham’s Library, Manchester, 10 September 2025, From £20.00 - Book now

With a history stretching back to the 1420s, Chetham’s Library and the surrounding school are among the most venerable buildings in the North West. Exploring their interiors is a rare privilege, and one granted to Jonathan Schofield Tours.

After Hours at Chetham's Library
Chetham's Library

The Railway Age Begins: An Anniversary Tour

The Railway Age Begins: An Anniversary Tour at Science and Industry Museum, Manchester, 13 September 2025, From £20.00 - Book now

On 15 September 1830, a page was turned in human history, with the Liverpool to Manchester Railway becoming the first fully operational, steam-powered passenger railway in the world. Join Jonathan Schofield Tours for a closer look at this breakthrough moment via the buildings that remain of that period, while exploring the far-reaching developments that followed.

Science and Industry Museum
Science and Industry Museum

Secrets of Didsbury

Secrets of Didsbury, 4 October 2025, From £20.00 - Book now

No matter how well you think you know Didsbury, there are hidden histories, fascinating buildings, and lots of local personalities that you almost certainly won’t know on this walking tour.

St James' Church, Didsbury (1)
Jonathan Schofield

Secrets of The University of Manchester with Interior Visits

Secrets of The University of Manchester with Interior Visits at The University of Manchester, Manchester, 9 October 2025, From £20.00 - Book now

Epic architecture, hidden green spaces and ideas that changed the world. The University of Manchester is home to some incredible stories, and this walking tour places you at the heart of them.

The University of Manchester
The University of Manchester

Suffragettes, Significant Women and Manchester

Suffragettes, Significant Women and Manchester at Manchester Central Library, Manchester, 12 October 2025, From £20.00 - Book now

In 1905, the Suffragettes raised their first ‘Votes for Women’ banner at Manchester’s Free Trade Hall. It’s just one of many pivotal moments in the fight for equality explored here.

Emmeline Pankhurst statue, St Peter's Square
Jonathan Schofield

More Jonathan Schofield Walking Tours

Emmeline Pankhurst statue, St Peter's Square
TourManchester
Suffragettes, Significant Women and Manchester

Explore the Suffragettes’ epic fight for equal rights on this guided tour around significant buildings and landmarks.

Elizabeth Gaskell's House
TourManchester
The Manchester Literary Tour

On the eve of Elizabeth Gaskell’s birthday, join Jonathan Schofield Tours for a stroll around the sites (and sights) of Manchester’s literary past.

St Ann's Church
TourManchester
Halloween: The Ghosts of Manchester

Explore Manchester’s creepiest corners this Halloween, when Jonathan Schofield Tours will reveal the city’s ghosts with the most.

Photo of the John Rylands Library from outside
TourCity Centre
Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx in Manchester

Explore the ways in which Manchester helped shape and reinforce the ideas of the fathers of communism, Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx.

Walking Stock Image
TourManchester
Bombed and Besieged: Manchester at War

Marking the anniversary of the Christmas Blitz, this walking tour explores Manchester’s history of conflict, from the English Civil Wars to the World Wars and beyond.

Photo of the exterior of the Palace Hotel
Spotlight on

Hotels in Manchester

To make life easy when it comes to booking your stay, here’s our guide to Manchester's best hotels.

Take me there

More things to do in Manchester

Until
ComedyManchester
XS Malarkey

Providing award-winning Comedy since 1997, XS Malarkey is a not-for-profit comedy club, hosted every week by Toby Hadoke.

From £3
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
Commons at SODA
Until
ExhibitionsManchester
Commons at SODA

Commons is a programme of openly accessible, interactive events led by digital artists, showcasing the nuances of our interactions with tech.

Free entry
St Peter's Square
TourManchester
The Peterloo Massacre Tour

Visit key locations associated with a moment that helped shape the future of the nation, tracing the footsteps of those who stood for change.

From £20.00

District guides

  • 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.

  • Ancoats, Manchester
    Ancoats & New Islington

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

  • People enjoying drinking in Altrincham
    Things to Do in Altrincham

    Plan a day out down Altrincham way, and you’ll soon find that one day isn’t nearly enough. Getting there is easy on the tram, or how about cycling along the...

  • 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.

  • chinatown, manchester in sun by ben williams
    Chinatown, Manchester

    Chinatown is a network of back streets dotted with Chinese restaurants – go to Ho’s Bakery for perfect honey buns, Hunan for spice and Middle Kingdom for a very affordable menu.

  • The Quays, Greater Manchester

    The Quays is home to MediaCityUK (the largest media hub in Europe) and studios purpose-built for the BBC’s move up North in 2011.

  • 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,...

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Canal Street, Manchester

    Manchester’s picturesque Canal Street and its surroundings constitute what is reputedly the oldest gay village in the country.

  • Photo of a handwritten label in a cafe that says
    Burton Road, West Didsbury, Manchester

    Tis Burton Road is the heart of West Didsbury, a beautifully maintained leafy hubbub of shops, bars and restaurants where independence is paramount. The main strip is home to fifteen...

  • Beech Road Chorlton, Manchester

    A laid-back mix of gift shops, independent outfitters, restaurants, pubs and parks, on a sunny weekend afternoon it’s heaving.

Ego Death
Spotlight on

Hidden Bars in Manchester

Manchester's best secret, hidden and hard to find bars - here's our guide.

Take me there

Visitor guides

Buttercups with the St Aidan's Dragline- oddball- in the background
Spotlight on

Tours and Activities in the North

"Tours, tours, tours!" If this month's Tours and Activities guide were a sentient speaking person, this is what it would say.

Take me there

Culture guides

  • Blondshell by Hannah Bon.
    Music in the North

    From Lyra Pramuk’s sacred synths to the sugar rush of YAANG, our latest music picks bring ritual, rebellion and ridiculous levels of fun.

  • Two women stand next to an orange car.
    Cinema in the North

    August brings a huge LGBTQ+ film festival, plus a reggae classic and a spotlight on Japanese animation.

  • Theatre in Manchester and the North.
    Theatre in the North

    From outdoor shows to drama in the dark, our theatre guide celebrates genre-pushing work, new writing and contemporary performance.

  • Author portrait
    Literature Events in the North

    Our latest round-up features plenty of one-off live literature events to wrap your ears about, so get those diaries ticking over...

  • Exhibitions in the North

    Monumental sculptures, charcoal confessions and a show of two paintings only - all this and more in this month's exhibition picks.

Hotels in Manchester

Chancellors Hotel is a Grade II listed Victorian mansion located in South Manchester surrounded by five acres of beautiful landscaped gardens, in a relaxed, scenic and picturesque setting.
Manchester
Hotel
Chancellors Hotel

Chancellors Hotel is a Grade II listed Victorian mansion located in South Manchester surrounded by five acres of beautiful landscaped gardens, in a relaxed, scenic and picturesque setting.

iStock.com/SimoneN
Deansgate
Hotel
Malmaison Manchester Deansgate

The building’s striking architecture combines classic brickwork with sleek, modern design elements, creating an inviting atmosphere that captures the essence of Manchester’s vibrant energy.

Manchester
Hotel
Forty-Seven

Forty-Seven is a luxury boutique hotel on Peter Street in Manchester city centre, above the high-end Indian restaurant Asha’s.

City Centre
Hotel
Treehouse Manchester

Treehouse Manchester brings a new kind of luxury hotel experience to Manchester, with food curated by some of the city’s most admired names.