5 hours in Manchester Airport - worth it to go into the city and back?

El Tarangu

Like it says in the title, I've a 5-hour stopover in Manchester on Sunday, I'm debating if it's worthwhile to go into the city or not.

The connection between the airport and the city seems good, between 20-30 mins - is there 2 hours' worth of interesting stuff in the vicinity of Manchester Picadilly to justify the mild stress I will experience upon leaving the confines of the airport?

I've never been to this airport, so if anyone has any experiences to relate re: going through security, etc, that will have bearing on my decision, do please let me know.

Thanks!

bren2002

There's a concorde at the airport you can visit, tough to fill 5 hours but could cover half NP.

bren2002

https://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/at-the-airport/attractions/

Poly

Should have loads of time. Trains are frequent from picadilly or oxford

Beechwoodspark

Train takes approx 15-20 into city centre

I personally would do it.

The airport itself hasn’t much to offer. I was in one of the terminals lately and it really is very cramped

El Tarangu

bren2002 wrote: »

https://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/at-the-airport/attractions/

I never even would have conceived of such a thing - many thanks

boccy23

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Train takes approx 15-20 into city centre

I personally would do it.

The airport itself hasn’t much to offer. I was in one of the terminals lately and it really is very cramped

I would agree with this if you are flying back here. The area the Irish flights leave from is very busy, old and very little to do. Hard to even get your phone charged.

McSween

I have flown in and out of there a lot over the years. Id allow plenty of time to reenter security. Maybe aim to be back to go through security 2 hours before departure.

BailMeOut

The Imperial War Museum and Science and Industry Museum are both well worth visiting.

Strumms

BailMeOut wrote: »

The Imperial War Museum and Science and Industry Museum are both well worth visiting.

A +1 for these. There isn’t a whole lot to do ‘on spec’ in Manchester and weather wise it can be quite a wet, cool and miserable stroll at times I’ve visited both of these attractions and very much interesting.

endofrainbow

depends where you're flying to and from

rainbow kirby

McSween wrote: »

I have flown in and out of there a lot over the years. Id allow plenty of time to reenter security. Maybe aim to be back to go through security 2 hours before departure.

This. MAN security are some of the most miserable power tripping arseclowns I have ever had the misfortune to deal with. This goes for all terminals and doubly so if you are travelling with children.

Muahahaha

rainbow kirby wrote: »

This. MAN security are some of the most miserable power tripping arseclowns I have ever had the misfortune to deal with. This goes for all terminals and doubly so if you are travelling with children.

+1 on this, they are real sticklers for security at Manchester airport and queues can be long as a result. They seem to take more people out of the queue for full bag searches than anywhere else Ive seen. Took me more than 40 minutes to get through security there a few years back and almost missed the flight.

El Tarangu

Thanks for all the comments - my incoming flight ended up being delayed, so I didn't have much time in the end - just had time to go to the Chinatown and eat something, then wandered around the gay district and then back.

Indeed, they were fairly sticklers for security, alright.