The Trafford Centre situated in Manchester is a full day out with plenty to do. After a day here, you will be shattered and your purse will no doubt feel a lot lighter!
From the outside, the Trafford Centre looks very attractive and modern. An interesting shaped building, with glass detail.
One major advantage of the Trafford Centre is free parking. Parking for a full days shopping in Manchester city centre can cost anything up to £20!!! Also because your car is near the Trafford Centre, you can easily go and put your shopping bags in the car during the day, rather than having to carry them around.
There are also reliable public transport services to the Trafford Centre, although I've never used public transport to get to the Trafford Centre. I know there is a bus from Manchester city centre which goes to the Trafford Centre. Check out the Trafford Centre website for more details.
Another major advantage is that the shops are open till 10pm, so you don't need to rush to get to the shops early. Sometimes on busier days like Bank Holidays, it might be better to go later in the afternoon, as it might be less busy.
Shops - theres so many, spread over 2 floors. Major chains like Boots, River Island, Gap, Zara, Miss Selfridge, Topshop and Debenhams. And also more up-market stores such as Selfridges and designers such as Karen Millen. Luckily, there are plenty of maps and guides are available so that you can plan your route and find the shops that you want!!!
Once you've been to the Trafford Centre a couple of times, you will become more familiar with the layout of the place. But at first it can be quite daunting and overwhelming. Plenty of stairs, lifts and escalators to let you move between the 2 floors.
The decor of the Trafford Centre is very nice. A major plus point is that it is very clean and well presented. The glass roof makes it also feel very airy and bright. Because it is all indoors, you can enjoy shopping even if its cold and raining outside. The stairs are wide and easy to get down. There is also a water fall inside, in the centre of the place (where the dome is) which looks spectacular.
In the food and restaurant area, the ceiling is painted blue with white clouds and stars on it, which looks pretty and obviously took a lot of work. There's also a big screen there, which often plays music videos.
Eating in the Trafford Centre - theres plenty of choice to suit all tastes and budgets. From Italian (Tiggis and EST EST EST), to chinese, to fastfood (Mc Donalds, KFC, Subway). There's also carts in the mall itself near the shops selling drinks and snacks and theres benches there which you can sit on for a rest. Plenty of seating in the eating area also.
The cinema shows the latest releases - although I've never been (I'm always too tired from shopping!).
However, the Trafford Centre is a victim of its own success - it just gets so busy especially over Christmas and sales. The shops in the Trafford Centre sometimes are not as big as the same shops found in city centres, (eg. Selfridges is smaller in Trafford than it is in Manchester city centre). This can make the store crowded and busy and lead to long queues for tills and changing rooms. But to be fair, if you are going shopping in the sales or over Christmas, you expect the shops to be busy. But it can get very stressful. My advice is to take regular coffee breaks.
I love the Trafford Centre. Theres so many shops to suit everyone; from cheaper shops to more designer places. My final piece of advice would be to wear comfy shoes, as walking round gets tiring!!
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Advantages: If you're looking to avoid expensive and congested multi storey car parks, the cry of big issue sellers and the famous manchester wet weather while shopping, the Trafford centre could well be the answer to your shopping problems. Disadvantages: Shops are generally smaller and there is less choice than in the larger city centres
parjc 01.05.2001 (01.05.2001)
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Review of The Trafford Centre
Advantages: Wide range of shops, plenty of places to eat, easily accessible by Public transport Disadvantages: Can get very busy, especially in the school Holidays & at Xmas
jayandfoo 14.06.2005 ·
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Review of The Trafford Centre
Mar 14th, 2006
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