Air Canada Vacations

Before you leave Canada

Entry requirements

A valid Canadian passport is required for Canadians intending to visit the United Kingdom. The passport should be valid for at least the expected duration of stay in the country. For all other nationalities, consult your consulate or tourist board for details. You can also visit www.voyage.gc.ca for up-to-date information.

Baggage

Please refer to aircanada.com for baggage information.

Airport check-in

City highlights

Today, a striking and bold new cityscape has been developed. Modern buildings such as the slender glass Beetham Tower is the tallest building in the United Kingdom outside London and the Millennium Quarter is a blend of modern and historical achievements including the six-storey Urbis Centre for Urban Culture. The Northern Quarter, once the city’s clothing district, is now home to funky bars, cafés, quirky shops, design and fashion stores and converted loft-style housing. The colourful Gay Village, around Canal Street in the south-east of the city, is not far from the Chinese Arch, built by Peking craftsmen as an entrance to Manchester’s Chinatown, one of the city centre’s most distinctive areas.

Wherever you are in the city, you won’t be far from one of its historical waterways. The Castlefield district is a great place to relax over a cup of coffee near the first man-made waterway, the Bridgewater Canal. You can take a trip along the Manchester Ship Canal, which runs from Salford Quays to Liverpool, through locks and bridges that have remained mostly unchanged for 100 years.

Inviting, innovative and completely original, there is something for everyone in Manchester.

Getting around

The Metroshuttle service is a free city centre bus that connects all the main train stations and shopping areas. Look out for the brightly coloured buses and stops. It offers three circular routes from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.

The System One DaySaver ticket is great for travelling across Greater Manchester with any bus, train or tram operator. A full day ride on any bus in Greater Manchester - £4.60, bus & train - £5.30, bus & tram - £5.80, train & tram - £6.30 and all three bus, train, tram for £7. Tickets are available at Piccadilly Gardens Travel Shop, from bus drivers, tram ticket machines and train stations.

Shopping

Funky. Fashionable. Chic. Seek out rare finds at the Tib Street fashion market. Browse vintage boutiques and explore record shops in Manchester’s Northern Quarter for one-off promos or head out to King Street for the ultra-distinctive clothes and accessories from famous designers. Shopping in Manchester is an experience like no other.

Individual and unique pieces at affordable prices can also be found at the Manchester Fashion Market. It is the first dedicated fashion market in the North West and houses the latest up and coming designers from Manchester. Clothes, lingerie, bags, purses, hats and jewellery are all available, allowing you to purchase independent, label designs at reasonable prices. The market is open every Saturday on Tib Street.

Instead of outdoor markets and boutiques, you can also spend the day shopping at the Manchester Arndale Centre which offers over 240 shops and several major department stores. The Triangle Shopping Centre is situated in Exchange Square. This excellent shopping centre has all your shopping and relaxation needs covered with fashion, food, drink, health and beauty brands that you can't find anywhere else. Visit Manchester’s oldest department store – House of Fraser (formerly Kendals) on Deansgate. The 1930s building is a giant, old-fashioned icon of a store, but behind its Art Deco façade you’ll find the modern delights of Nicole Farhi, Kenzo, Joseph and many more.

The Manchester Craft and Design Centre includes a range of artist-run studio spaces selling jewellery, pictures, furniture and fashion, has an excellent café and a rolling program of exhibitions from leading national and international designers.

King Street is the place high fashion and haute couture meet and features designer shops like DKNY, Vivienne Westwood and Armani Collezioni/Emporio Armani.

Dining

You can eat your way around the world in Manchester, sampling everything from Armenian and Australian to African. Just behind the Piccadilly Plaza, experience the sights and smells of Chinatown, which is home to predominantly Cantonese restaurants. Exotic vegetables, dim sum and classics like Cantonese roast duck are not to be missed. Rusholme’s Curry Mile, just outside Manchester’s city centre, displays bright neon signs inviting patrons to try Indian cuisine. Many Rusholme restaurants offer a BYO (bring your own) policy so you can bring your own drinks. Manchester also offers traditional takes on Italian, Spanish and French.

Sightseeing

Cornerhouse
Cornerhouse is Manchester's international centre for contemporary visual arts and film. Located in the heart of the city and open seven days a week, it covers three floors of contemporary art galleries, three screens showing the best of independent cinema, a bar, a café and a bookshop.

The Great Northern
Manchester's most exciting leisure and shopping experience includes a 16-screen cinema and is situated adjacent to Manchester Central on Deansgate.

Manchester Art Gallery
This is one of the country's finest art collections. The gallery's recent £35 million transformation has enabled the collection to be presented to visitors in imaginative new ways.

Manchester Museum
Explore the world at the Manchester Museum with its four floors of displays and exhibitions in 15 galleries featuring collections from all over the world. See the famous Egyptology galleries; the world of nature featuring mammals, birds and live animals; ethnology collections from South America and the Museum's own collection of fossils and minerals. 

Urbis
Located at the heart of Manchester, Urbis is an exhibition centre about city life. You can explore exhibitions about contemporary art & design, gardening, music, the environment and the people who make our cities what they are.

Wheel of Manchester
This 60-metre high big wheel has 42 capsules which seat up to eight people, all with wheelchair access, air conditioning and heating. With spectacular views across Manchester and beyond, it's an unforgettable experience for all.

Entertainment & nightlife

Dancing, eating, drinking, music, comedy or people-watching; there’s always something going on in Manchester.

With over 500 licensed premises in Manchester, it is the perfect host. Party hotspots include Deansgate Locks, Deansgate, the straight-friendly Gay Village on Canal Street and the bohemian Northern Quarter.

Known as a music metropolis, the music scene is thriving in Manchester with a variety of venues offering world-class bands, classical concerts, alternative and live-jazz sounds. It is host to the urban music festival, the Hungry Pigeon and a five-day celebration of new music, In The City. Check out the Manchester Academy, a newly refurbished state of the art venue that features current acts as well as unsigned bands.

The Northern Quarter has quickly become the most popular place to go for a night out with some of Manchester's best independent bars and traditional pubs to be found there. Located around the recently revamped High Street and the 'original Northern Quarter' on Oldham Street, it's just north of both the Arndale Centre and Piccadilly Gardens.

Manchester is also home to some of the country’s finest comics, including Peter Kay. The Comedy Store Manchester and Manchester’s The Frog and Bucket are the best venues for an unforgettable evening of laughter.  

Your departure from destination

Hotel checkout

Hotel checkout times may vary depending on the property but generally you must vacate the room by 12 p.m. (noon).

Duty-free shopping

After an absence of 7 days or more, Canadian residents are permitted to return with a maximum of 750 CAD of merchandise per trip without paying duty. Each time you leave Canada for at least 48 hours, you are eligible to declare up to 200 CAD of merchandise. A written declaration may be requested. Each adult is allowed 1.1 litres (40 oz.) of liquor, 200 cigarettes, 50 cigars or cigarillos, 200 tobacco sticks and 200 grams (7 oz.) of manufactured tobacco. To calculate the number of days absent, do not count the day you left Canada but include the day you return. If you include cigarettes, tobacco sticks and loose tobacco in your personal exemption allowance, only a partial exemption will apply. You will have to pay a minimum duty on these products unless they are marked “Canada-Duty paid.” Canadian made products sold at duty-free shops will be marked this way.

Customer care

For inquiries relating to extension of stay or hotel changes, please e-mail us at: prevoyageclientele@vacv.com. We are at your service seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST Monday to Friday and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST Saturday and Sunday.