Piccadilly-East Centre
Piccadilly-East Centre is the area in Manchester that covers Chinatown, the Gay Village, and Piccadilly Gardens. It is bounded by the A57 (M), Oxford Road, and the A62.
Understand
It lies within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire and is served by Manchester Piccadilly railway station. It contains amongst others, the following neighbourhoods:
- Chinatown: Manchester's Chinatown around Faulkner Street has been a feature of Manchester since the late 1970s. It's a genuine experience — you'll find people on the streets of Chinatown speaking Chinese to each other and most of the signs are bilingual. It's home to the bulk of Manchester's east Asian restaurants as well as many traders in Chinese food and goods.
- The Gay Village: around Canal Street out of the many cotton warehouses in the area. It is home to one of the oldest and most-established gay communities in Europe and is known for its tolerance toward all kinds of people. Many of Manchester's most famous bars and clubs are to be found here, most of which are as popular with heterosexual party-animals as they are with the gay crowd. The Village hosts a major Pride festival every year, when the whole region of town is closed to the public for an expensive and exclusive weekend for gay and gay-friendly people from all over the UK.
- Piccadilly Gardens: As well as being Manchester's central bus station, Piccadilly Gardens is also a landscape garden. It's an interesting choice of design and has not found favour with all of Manchester's residents. The area is dominated by the hideously-ugly Piccadilly Plaza complex, including the Jarvis Hotel and Sunley Tower, an eyesore visible from miles away.
Get in
By bus
As Manchester's main local bus station (Piccadilly Gardens) is in Piccadilly Gardens, many buses in central Manchester heading into town terminate here and in surrounding streets..
By car
This area has numerous one way streets and is best avoided by car.
By tram
1 Piccadilly Gardens. The penultimate stop on all services heading to Manchester Piccadilly. To the north of the square, there is the Market Street station on the line to Bury. 
Services mostly run every 12 minutes on all routes:
At peak times
Peak times are from 07:15am – 7:30pm on Monday to Friday and from 09:30am – 6:30pm on Saturdays:
- 5 trams per hour to Altrincham
- 5 trams per hour to Ashton-under-Lyne
- 5 trams per hour to Bury
- 5 trams per hour to Eccles
- 5 trams per hour to Etihad Campus
- 5 trams per hour to MediaCityUK
- 10 trams per hour to Piccadilly
Offpeak
Offpeak refers to all other times during operational hours:
- 5 trams per hour to Altrincham
- 5 trams per hour to Ashton-under-Lyne
- 5 trams per hour to Bury
- 5 trams per hour to Eccles (via MediaCityUK)
- 10 trams per hour to Piccadilly
By train
2 Manchester Piccadilly, ☏ +44 3457 484950. The main station in the city and is served by services from most of the country.
- Avanti West Coast have 3 trains per hour to London Euston with different destinations:
- 1 tph calling at Stockport, Stoke-on-Trent and Nuneaton
- 1 tph calling at Stockport, Macclesfield, Stoke-on-Trent, Rugby and Milton Keynes Central
- 1 tph calling at Stockport, Wilmslow, Crewe and Stafford
- CrossCountry have 1 train per hour to Bournemouth and Bristol Temple Meads:
- 1 tph to Bournemouth calling at: Stafford, Birmingham International, Coventry, Leamington Spa, Banbury, Oxford, Reading, Basingstoke, Winchester, Southampton Airport Parkway, Southampton Central and Brockenhurst.
- 1 tph to Bristol Temple Meads calling at: Cheltenham Spa and Bristol Parkway.
Both CrossCountry services first call at Stockport, Macclesfield, Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton and Birmingham New Street before continuing to their final destinations.
3 Manchester Oxford Road. This area is also served by Manchester's third most important railway station, for through trains from Piccadilly. It is a Grade II listed building built in the 1960s.
Get around
Map of Manchester/Piccadilly-East Centre
The Piccadilly area is one of the busiest areas in the city, and intense traffic can make it difficult to get around by car, and dangerous to get around by bike. The easiest and safest way to get around is by foot, with wide pavements leading from Piccadilly railway station to all points of interest.
See
- 1 The Portico Library and Gallery, Charlotte Street (corner with Mosley Street), ☏ +44 161 236-6785, librarian@theportico.org.uk. The Portico has been an exclusive members-only library since the early 19th century and many of Manchester's luminaries have been patrons of the Portico over the years. Now hosting its own public gallery and providing admission to some parts for non-members, it is a slice of Manchester's history that has remained almost unchanged since its inception. Call for the latest information. Free entry.
- 2 Imperial Chinese Archway, Faulkner Street, Chinatown. The Chinese arch in the central square of Chinatown was a gift to Manchester from the Chinese people in 1987 and is the only one of its kind in Europe. It is a beautiful and elaborate piece of artwork, reflecting the designs of Ming Dynasty China and is not to be missed.
- 3 Sackville Gardens, Sackville Street. This small park in the heart of The Village is notable for its memorial to Alan Turing, the father of modern computer science, whose homosexuality in an age of intolerance led to his suicide. The bronze statue on a park bench bears the legend 'Father of computer science, mathematician, logician, wartime codebreaker, victim of prejudice'. Also in the park is "The Beacon of Hope", an illuminated memorial to those who have died of HIV/AIDS worldwide.
Do
- 1 Piccadilly Gardens. Relax and watch the world go by in Piccadilly Gardens - the lung at the centre of the city. The Gardens are also home to the controversial concrete 'Berlin Wall', which houses cafés and seating. Free.
- Chinese New Year. Follows a lunar calendar, so the next is Saturday, 10 February 2024, starting the Year of the Dragon. Expect firecrackers, drums and weaving dragons around Chinatown.
- 2 Manchester Pride festival. The Village hosts a major pride festival every year when the whole region of town is closed to the public for an expensive and exclusive weekend for gay and gay-friendly people from all over the UK.
Buy
Market Street and the Arndale Centre are just off the northern part of Manchester Piccadilly Gardens. Here you will find the usual High Street stores.
- 1 Manchester Arndale Shopping Centre, Manchester Arndale, M4 3AQ, ☏ +44 1618 339851. Daily 9PM–8PM. Largest shopping centre with 210 stores including many of the large familiar high street brands.
Eat
- Bar Burrito, 1 Piccadilly Gardens, ☏ +44 161 228-6479. M-F 11:30AM-11PM, Sa 11AM-11PM, Su noon-10PM. Excellent Mexican style fast food, specialising in burritos but also serving salads, nachos and tacos. Licensed.
- Tepanyaki, China town. Impressive and expensive tepanyaki restaurant. Really good food, but pricey. main dishes £10 upwards.
- Bar de Reve, 57 Hilton Street. M-Sa noon-7PM. A quiet, chilled, chic gem of Manchester. Serves fresh and fine cuisine to order. It's worth the walk and the money!
- Tropeiro, Brazil St (opp. Sackville Street Gardens), ☏ +44 161 923-6846. True Brazilian barbeque that serves eleven cuts of meat from chicken, pork, lamb and beef and a range of salads and side-dishes. Also tasty caiprinha cocktails.
- Number 1's, 48 Whitworth St (between Oxford Rd Station and the Gay Village). A really cheap Chinese buffet.
- 1 Samsi, 36 Whitworth St. City centre. A great sushi restaurant that also caters well for those that don't like raw fish. With a well-stocked, but small Japanese supermarket below (accessed from inside the restaurant).
- Yang Sing, 17 George Street. By Princess Street at the south-western edge of Chinatown, Yang Sing has long been considered one of the best Cantonese restaurants in the country.
- Bouzuki By Night, 88 Princess St, M1 6NG, ☏ +44 161 236-9282. Greek restaurant with live music.
- Red Chilli, Portland St. A very good standard and is unusual in Manchester in specializing in Beijing and the very spicy Szechuan cooking. It has a large Chinese following, which is always a good sign.
- Tokyo Season, Portland St (between Piccadilly Gardens and the Gay Village). Serves traditional Japanese dishes at reasonable prices, with a full menu of drinks also available including Asian and world beers, spirits and wines.
- 2 GoFalafel, 3 Newton Street, M1 1HW. 10AM-10PM. A 100% vegan take-away just outside of Picadilly Gardens. Serves freshly prepared falafel wraps, hummous and a choice of fruit juices, smoothies and salads. Most items priced between £3-5. Receives great reviews and can get quite popular during weekends, but is worth the wait.
- 3 ZOUK, 5, The Quadrangle, Chester Street, M1 5QS, ☏ +44 161 233 1090, manchestermanager@zoukteabar.co.uk. Indian restaurant specialized in traditional south Asian cuisine and finger food.
- Happy Seasons, 59-61 Faulkner St (between Princess St & Chinese archway), ☏ +44 161 236 7189. M-Th noon-10PM, F Sa noon-11PM, Su noon-9PM. Very popular basic licensed Chinese restaurant. mains £12-£17.
Drink
In the Piccadilly Area
- 1 Piccadilly Tap, 8 Gateway House, Piccadilly Station Approach, M1 2GH, ☏ +44 161 393 4168. Su-W noon-11PM, Th-Sa 11AM-midnight. Real ale outlet outlet close to main entrance to Piccadilly station. There is more seating upstairs.
- 2 Bulls Head, 84 London Road, M1 2PN (diagonally opposite taxis & Piccadilly metrolink station.), ☏ +44 161 236 1724. M-Sa 11:30AM-30AM-11PM, Su noon-10:30PM. Traditional pub with Victorian exterior, diagonally opposite rear entrance of Piccadilly station. Lunchtime food on weekdays. May close early if empty.
- Manna Manchester, 1 Piccadilly Gardens, ☏ +44 161 236-3230. M-Sa 7AM-8PM, Su 10AM-5PM. Nice little café with friendly staff on the edge of the landscaped garden. Serves good coffee, sandwiches, drinks, and sweet things. Everything here is both Fair trade and organic, so feel good when you go there!
In the Gay Village
- 3 Molly House, 26 Richmond Street, M1 3NB, ☏ +44 161 237 9329. Su-Tu noon-midnight, W Th noon-1AM, F Sa noon-2AM. Food: noon-8PM. Bar & cafe with a good reputation for food.
- Tribeca..
- Poptastic.
- Velvet, 2 Canal Street.
- Queer, 4 Canal Street.
- Churchills, 37 Chorlton Street.
- Via, 28-30 Canal Street.
Sleep
- 1 The Alan, 18-24 Princess Street, M1 4LY, ☏ +44 161 236-8999, fax: +44 161 236 8999, hello@thealanhotel.com. A modern hotel inside a fine old building with restored façade. Rooms are reasonably spacious for the UK, bathrooms modern and there is air conditioning. The beds are comfortable and the rooms have irons, safes, fridges and heated bathroom mirrors. Residential floors are secured; access requires your room key card. Breakfast has a good selection and may be included in the room rate. It is eaten in the hotel's own restaurant and bar in the basement and accessible by lift if you don't want to leave the hotel. The restaurant also has its own separate street entrance. In-room broadband is available for a fee. The reception area is modest. Parking is a few hundred metres away in a multi-storey public park; the hotel has none of its own. from £125.
- 2 Britannia Hotel Manchester, 35 Portland Street, ☏ +44 161 228-2288. An attractive hotel, converted from an ostentatious warehouse. From £26 for a single room.
- 3 DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Manchester - Piccadilly, One Piccadilly Place, 1 Auburn Street, M1 3DG (just across Manchester Piccadilly train station), ☏ +44 161 242 1000, fax: +44 161 242 1001, manpd.info@hilton.com. Check-in: 3PM, check-out: noon. The hotel has 285 rooms and suites, some of them with French windows. It offers free Wi-Fi, non-smoking rooms, an on-site restaurant, fitness centre, concierge, room service and 16 meeting rooms. Modern rooms with large in-room bathrooms, more suited for business travel than couple city trips. Not to be confused with another hotel named DoubleTree near Manchester Airport. £68.
- 4 The Gardens Hotel, 55 Piccadilly, M1 2AP (Opposite Piccadilly Gardens), ☏ +44 161 236-5155. Modern hotel in classic building. from around £45.
- 5 Ibis Styles Manchester Portland, 3-5 Portland St, ☏ +44 161 228-3400. £42.
- 6 Malmaison, 1-3 Piccadilly, M1 3AQ (Piccadily), ☏ +44 161 278-1000. Fine hotel with A la carte or Bar food menu £90-280 for a standard room.
- 7 Premier Inn, Manchester City (Piccadilly), 72 Dale Street, Manchester, M1 2HR (near bottom of station approach), ☏ +44 333 321 9286. Check-in: 3PM. from £47 per room.
- 8 Roomzzz Manchester City, 36 Princess Street, Manchester, M1 4JY, ☏ +44 161 236 2121, manchestercity@roomzzz.co.uk. Check-in: 3PM, check-out: 11AM. Aparthotel housed in a Grade II listed cotton warehouse, with high ceilings, long windows, soaring interior spaces and grand Victorian character. Each room has a luxury pocket-sprung memory foam bed, an Apple computer, widescreen LCD TV with Freeview and free wi-fi, local and national calls.
Connect
Go next
| Routes through Piccadilly-East Centre |
| Castlefield ← Universities ← | W  E |
→ becomes  → East Manchester → Hyde |
| Salford ← Spinningfields-Albert Square ← | NW  SE |
→ South Manchester → Stockport |