The Pre-Raphaelite rooms
'The Scapegoat', 'Work' and 'Hylas and the Nymphs' hang in the Victorian galleries, one of the richest holdings of the movement outside London.
David Dixon — CC BY-SA 2.0 · donald judge — CC BY 2.0 · Anthony O'Neil — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Anthony O'Neil — CC BY-SA 2.0
In January 2018 this gallery took John William Waterhouse's 'Hylas and the Nymphs' off the wall to provoke a debate about how women's bodies are painted; the public and the press erupted, and the picture was back in place within a week. That episode sums the place up: an industrial city's gallery that assembled some of the finest Victorian painting in Britain and is still arguing with it. It is also entirely free, no ticket and no booking, a few steps from St Peter's Square. The building is half the pleasure. Two blocks by Sir Charles Barry from the 1820s and 1830s, before he became famous for the Houses of Parliament, the first a Greek Ionic temple front, the second the old Athenaeum club in Italian palazzo style, are stitched together by a 2002 glass extension that carries the lifts and broad stairs, so pushchairs and older relatives move easily across the three floors. The heart of the collection is Pre-Raphaelite: Holman Hunt's 'The Scapegoat', painted on the shore of the Dead Sea, Ford Madox Brown's crowded road-menders in 'Work', Rossetti's 'Astarte Syriaca', then Manchester in the fog by the Frenchman Adolphe Valette alongside his pupil L. S. Lowry. Elsewhere the mood changes: a fashion gallery drawing on one of Britain's largest dress collections, contemporary temporary shows that are hit or miss, and on the ground floor the Lion's Den, a family gallery where children handle, draw and experiment without anyone hushing them. Be honest about scale: this is far smaller than London's great museums and an hour or two covers it comfortably, which is exactly what makes it the ideal stop when Manchester's rain arrives while you are between the Market Street shops and the Town Hall quarter. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00 with last entry at 16:30, closed every Monday, with a handful of late evenings a year running to 21:00. Take the tram to St Peter's Square and walk two minutes, or allow ten to fifteen minutes on foot from Piccadilly station. There is no gallery car park and the city-centre multi-storeys are expensive, so leave the hire car at the hotel. A cafe sits inside, Chinatown next door has plenty of food, but do not count on a prayer room in the building.
'The Scapegoat', 'Work' and 'Hylas and the Nymphs' hang in the Victorian galleries, one of the richest holdings of the movement outside London.
Charles Barry's two buildings, Greek temple and Italian palazzo, are joined by a 2002 glass atrium worth pausing in for its own sake.
A hands-on ground-floor room where children touch, draw and play, buying you a quiet half hour in front of the paintings.
Mosley Street, Manchester city centre M2 3JL
Chinatown, ManchesterThe lavish gateway straddling Faulkner Street was made in China, packed into thr1 minute walk3.9
Albert SquareManchester got its Albert Memorial up years before London did. The Gothic canopy3 minutes walk4.3
John Rylands LibraryHalfway along Deansgate, between the shops and restaurants, stands what looks li7 minutes walk4.9
Mamucium Roman FortThe first half of the word Manchester traces back to this patch of ground. A sma9 minutes walk4.1
Manchester CathedralFourteen carved wooden angels hold up the nave roof, and every one of them is pl10 minutes walk4.8If you have time for only one, the Science and Industry Museum suits young children better; but the art gallery is free, right by St Peter's Square and has the hands-on Lion's Den, so an hour here costs the kids nothing and it is an excellent refuge from the rain.
No, the permanent collection is free and walk-in even in July and August, with no queues to speak of. Only some larger temporary exhibitions are ticketed, and those are booked on the official site.