Visit Manchester Insider’s Guide Part 7: Galleries and Museums

This content is drawn from the Visit Manchester Insider’s Guide. Filled with ideas and inspiration for things to see, do, and eat, as well as places to stay, the 40-page guide features dedicated sections on what's new and upcoming, along with maps and spotlight pages highlighting Greater Manchester's towns, boroughs, and trendiest neighbourhoods. It's the ideal resource for planning your next trip.

People’s History Museum

Dedicated to telling the story of ordinary working people and ideas worth fighting for, it couldn’t have a better home than Manchester, the birthplace of the trade union movement and universal suffrage.

Bolton Library and Museum

Art, natural history, Egyptology, social history, archives, libraries, historic houses and an aquarium – there’s something for everyone, all under one roof in Bolton.

Manchester Museum

Boasting 4.5 million pieces in its archive, an impressive Egyptology collection, and new South Asian and Chinese Culture galleries, all in one neo-gothic, Grade II* listed building.

Science and Industry Museum

Based on the site of the oldest surviving passenger railway station, the museum showcases pioneering inventions and work that started in Manchester then changed the world.

Rochdale Pioneers Museum

Widely regarded as the home of the worldwide co-operative movement, this small museum is based within the site of the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society’s first store which opened in 1844.

IWM North

IWM North is about people and their stories; how lives have been, and still are, shaped by war and conflict. The award-winning museum building is designed by international architect Daniel Libeskind.

Manchester Jewish Museum

Committed to using Jewish stories to connect to the world and society, the museum - which is housed inside a former synagogue built in 1873 - has recently doubled in size with a new gallery.

Hat Works Museum

Following an extensive refurbishment, Stockport’s Hat Works Museum showcases the history of the hatting industry in Stockport and its impact on the town during the Industrial Revolution

LOWRY

One of the region’s top theatres and performance spaces, Lowry is also home to the world’s largest public collection of paintings and drawings by its namesake, the enigmatic LS Lowry.

The Whitworth

The city’s flagship gallery is fully integrated into Whitworth Park; blending modern architecture, glass structures and stunning gallery spaces with original features from 1889.

Bury Art Museum

BAM houses the Wrigley Collection comprised of over 200 oil paintings, watercolours, prints and ceramics, whilst the adjoining Sculpture Centre features works by prominent contemporary sculptors.

esea contemporary

esea contemporary presents and platforms artists and art practices that identify with and are informed by East and Southeast Asian cultural backgrounds.

Castlefield Gallery

A lesser-known gem tucked away behind Deansgate Station, Castlefield Gallery has been a champion of Manchester’s contemporary visual art landscape for over 35 years.

Manchester Art Gallery

Packed with much-loved displays of British and European art and design, including world-famous Pre-Raphaelite paintings, the gallery is for and of the people of Manchester.

Salford Museum & Art Gallery

This stunning Victorian building houses the biggest Pilkington collection in the UK, as well as a reconstructed Victorian street that transports you back to 19th-century Salford.

Gallery Oldham

Gallery Oldham features exhibits from Oldham’s diverse collections alongside newly commissioned art, international work, touring exhibitions and work produced with local communities.