Help me plan my first trip to Manchester (and England)

[Skilly McRailnob]

I'm finally starting to think about a trip to see City in person. I would be flying over from the states, so obviously I need to put a little preparation into the trip.

Right now I'm thinking about a late February or early March trip (was considering this fall as well, but probably too late to get a reasonably priced flight), meaning these matches are possibilities:

Feb 25 - Blackburn
Mar 3 - Bolton
Mar 10 - @ Swansea
Mar 17 - Chelsea

The trip would hopefully last around a week. Would love to catch some other matches (maybe some championship or league 1/2) as well as take in some sight seeing if possible.

Some initial questions:
1) how easy is it to get tickets (home and away)?
2) how is the weather in late Feb/early March?

Any comments/suggestions are welcome...cheers!

 

[Ken Shabby]

Bring an umbrella ...

 

[danny123]

If Swansea tickets sell as fast as Blackpool away did last year, not a chance of an away game mate :) But you should get home tickets easy enough but might have to sign up for an accesscard (details come out in July). It is best to wait a few weeks so you can see what Sky have done with the fixtures and look at if FA Cup coincides with any of these fixtures. Also, bring an umbrella as the guy above said ;)

 

[cyberblue]

Weather always iffy anytime of the year .Contact the club direct. Danny Wilson best bet regarding away tickets .Sky is bound to change some games .loads of good cheap hotels round Manchester Good Luck & have a great trip

 

[law74]

bring an umbrella as the guy above said ;)

Dont.
Either you wont get it through security at the airport or they will charge you extra for it :-0
Easier to but one at one of the £ shops.

Oh, but DO bring some jumpers as it could be cold (as well as wet)
The Mitre hotel is a decent location to stop at, in Shambles Square, beside the Cathedral, opposite the Arndale Shopping Centre, very close to the Printworks (and the bars and night clubs therein, a short stroll from Shudehill Bus station that will take you to 'Dale, Bury and any of the other lower league games you might wish to attend, and is reasonable priced.
Tickets for home games shouldnt be a problem, but for some away games could be difficult to obtain unless someone on here helps you out.
When you come over, make sure to go to Old Trafford to visit the museam, it is a very good experience, some of the bats on display have a LOT of history.

 

[DontLookBackInAnger]

There used to be an International supporters group(not sure if there still is, or their relationship to the OSC), but I know they got an allocation of tickets to home and away games, at one time, might be worth checking that out.

 

[southern muppet]

I would totally second the recommendation of staying at The Mitre.

The weather will be wet (rains intermittently most days in Manchester, it's like the English Seattle - rarely heavy though) and chilly but not freezing.

I'd imagine even if you could get away tickets, travelling from Manchester to Swansea on public transport would be a pain in the arse, involving at least one or two changes on the train, British trains are overpriced and crowded as shit on the weekends. This is unless you're hiring a car obviously, but most Americans don't like to drive over here (stick shift + different side of the road + roundabouts errywhere)

 

[Kaiser Soze]

Stock up with plenty of duty free

 

[biffa]

Don't think of sight seeing just in manchester and area - the UK is such a tiny place you can get to that London in around two and a half hours and about the same time to Edingburgh. (London to Manchester being about £70 return out of peak).
So many things to see, you should get people to list them...
Various places to go but my recommendation is Stockport Viaduct...

 

[standupifyouhatemanu]

BANDWAGONER........

GLORYHUNTER..........

TOURIST...............

LOL :) :) :)