Manchester Arndale Centre

Advantages: Lots of shops, eateries and it is all very new at the moment after the refurbishments
Disadvantages: Stil lhas tatty parts, and outclassed by the Trafford Centre

In 1996, Manchester City Centre fell victim to terrorism. The IRA bombed the city centre and left a massive amount of damage. Fortunately no one was killed, and very few were even injured, but the Arndale shopping centre was left a wreck on one side, and the large Marks and Spencer store was destroyed. However, in the aftermath it was decided that the city would become bigger and better than ever, and send a defiant message to the IRA while we were ...
...and several others nearby, but Manchester is not a god place to park, it is very expensive. I’d recommend the public transport. The Arndale is well serviced by the city’s local tram, train and bus network, and with the city centre being reasonably condensed you will find it easily. The trams run right opposite it, and the buses and trains a mere 5-minute walk. There are of course also plenty of taxis around, but be sure to get an official one as ... Read review

Advantages: Great choice of shops.
Disadvantages: Makes you spend money.

The Arndale Shopping Centre is an absolutely excellent centre with a great selection of leading High Street stores together with a lot of small stylish shops. The centre has a number of malls spreading in different directions on two separate levels. With over 200 shops there is a great variety of choice and there are shops to suit all tastes. The large stores in the centre include Boots, WH Smith, Argos, Bhs, Index, Spoils and Mothercare and there ...
...days a week with late night shopping on Thursdays. The centre is easy to get to with bus and tram stops nearby and a multi storey car park with 1450 spaces. If you want something to eat or drink there is a good selection of food outlets in an area called the FoodChain. These include KFC, McDonalds, Spud-U-Like, Bakers Oven, Chinese food, an ice cream parlour and more. This area is kept very clean and there is plenty of seating available. The shopping ... Read review

Advantages: Good bargain
Disadvantages: Crowded during weekends

...best place to shop in Manchester and the entire area is expanding daily. The latest addition being the Mark and Spenser shopping complex situated next to it. I rate the Arndale shopping centre the best place to shop in Manchester. You can get almost everything there. There are definitely shops offering great bargains and sales during weekends. At the same time, you can get your weekly food: meat, chicken, fish and other grocery stuff in the market ...
...things on sale is often one of the lowest around. There are so many shops selling clothes, the most popular ones like Top shop, Miss Selfridge, Bay and Mark One. For people who wants to buy a mobile phone, this is the best place to shop around. It has several shops and you can definitely get a good deal at the end of the day. ... Read review

Advantages: City Centre - range of Activities, easy access. Friendly place to meet.
Disadvantages: Often very crowded, quite small compared to The trafford centre. Food Court is also a bit small.

If you live in Manchester or have heard of the Arndale Centre you may be aware of the traditional name given to it. In south Manchester it was always referred to as a public convenience, due to the dirty yellow cladding on the exterior of the building. This even today, 34 years since it was built, still remains on the outside of the Arndale tower. What has changed however is the exterior of the rest of the building. In 1996 the building, as with ...
...as part of "the new Manchester city centre". The exterior was clad with a lovely red brick colour and a lot is now glass fronted, it is a major improvement from the days of old. While a vast area of the western part of the Arndale was out of Action (Argos, Foodcourt etc...) the Trafford Centre opened and removed a vast amount of trade from the City Centre. This has a huge impact on the Arndale centre, as it could not compete with the Trafford Centre, ... Read review

Advantages: shops all together, wide range of shops
Disadvantages: none

I have been shopping in Manchester quite a few times now, and the one place i do go to shop is manchester's arndale centre. It is situated in the centre of manchester. The centre has 2 levels with plenty of shops to go to. It's definitely worth spending a whole day there. You can get to the trafford centre by bus, car or taxi, so there are plenty of ways to get there. There are all kinds of shops here. There is something for everyone. There are ...
...of the shops that are there:- Topshop and Topman HMV Dorothy Perkins Burtons New Look Gadget Shop and many many more! There is also an indoor market too, which sells clothes, food, jewellery and more. This market sells cheaper items than the arndale centre itself though. The arndale centre is a large place and takes quite while to get round it and look in all the shops. It's best to spend the whole day there really. There are plenty of places ... Read review

Advantages: Loads of shops, clean
Disadvantages: None

...Having shopped in The Arndale centre hundreds of times, it seems appropriate to write a review on it. I live near to Manchester, and my Sunday job (I'm still at college) is in Manchester. And to me, The Arndale centre really is the heart of the city centre. The Arndale Centre was built in the 1970s, and was part of a chain of Arndale centres all over the country, including London, Bradford, Leeds and others. Most who read this will remember the bomb in 1996. The IRA bomb in Manchester was the largest bomb to be detonated in Britain (or so I read, anyway!!). No-one died, though more than 200 were injured. The area was evacuted beforehand because of a prior warning. Though, of course, people were thankful that there was no loss of life, looking round a city centre that was in ruins devastated a lot of people. People's workplaces... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Disabled access, huge amount of things to do!
Disadvantages: Quite hard to get to, usually pretty busy.

...For anyone that doesn't know; the Trafford Centre is Manchester's biggest shopping centre and easily more impressive than anything else Manchester has by the way of shopping. But what makes this place sooooo great? Well son, shut your mouth, take your hat off and generally be quiet and I'll tell you! The Trafford Centre takes your traditional shopping centre (e.g. Manchester's very own Arndale centre) and expands it, it then adds a state of the art UCI cinema, loads of restaurants, a market type place, the highest indoor fountain I've ever seen and Namco Station (a sort of arcade, bowling alley, dodgem area). All of these things separately are great - all under ONE ROOF - brilliant!... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Cosmpolitan, China Town, Rusholme, always something to do
Disadvantages: The idiots, Manchester City, Manchester United

...I lived on and off in Manchester for around 5 years (1998 - 2002) and if I wasn't staying there, I visited at least twice a month. I've seen the city evolve over the past few years and now I've moved to Grimsby (review coming soon...) I'm going to write a review on Manchester. Let's start with the positive side. Manchester is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the UK. You have people from all walks of life here and they all combine to make a diverse and cultural experience. There is probably every race, nationality and profession combined in Manchester and if you walk down Market Street (the place the |IRA tried to demolish up in 1996) you'll see what I mean. Staying on Market Street, this is the main shopping hub of Manchester. There is the (really ugly) Arndale Centre (do not confuse this with The Trafford Centre which... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful