By Air:-

Manchester Airport has retained its position as the biggest UK airport outside London and is situated a mere 12 miles outside of the city centre with fast transport links.

Some 100 airlines fly in and out of Manchester Airport's three terminals to around 200 destinations worldwide. These include the following 15 UK destinations:- Aberdeen, Belfast City Airport, Belfast International Airport, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Inverness, Isle of Man, Jersey, London Gatwick Airport, London Heathrow, Newquay, Norwich, Plymouth and Southampton. The following 5 Irish destinations are also served to and from Manchester:- Cork, Dublin, Galway, Knock and Waterford.

A variety of airlines, including low-cost carriers, service these destinations so when looking to book check out airline websites like Flybe, BMI Baby and Monarch for budget fares and their now regular special offers. Manchester airport also runs an extensive and helpful website at www.manchesterairport.co.uk.

Once you have arrived there are a number of ways that you can easily travel into the city centre from the airport.

The first is by train as Manchester Airport has its own station where trains run every 15 minutes to Manchester Piccadilly station in the city centre with the journey time being under half an hour. The cost of the fare generally tends to work out cheaper if each person buys two singles and at time of writing an off peak single into Manchester Piccadilly is about £3.10.

The second alternative is by bus. Two buses run from Manchester Airport station, the Stagecoach 43 and the Stagecoach 105 and they will both take between 30-45 minutes to take you into Piccadilly Gardens in the town centre. You can only purchase single fares on these services as returns only cover same day travel so the cost will be around £2.50 per person per single ticket.

The third alternative is via a taxi or private hire vehicle. Outside each of the three terminals are hackney cabs at all times ready to take you into the town centre or you can pre-book a private hire company to transport your group in. Costwise one taxi will be, depending on the driver, around £20 to take you into your hotel in the city centre.

The final option is to organise an airport transfer in a vehicle big enough to take your entire group of stags or hens. This can be done through Stag and Hen Manchester or through other firms like PCS airport transfers who have the contract at Manchester airport to provide transfers. You can either get a quote and pre book via their website at www.pcsairporttransfers.com or use the numerous phones in arrivals when you get to the airport to arrange a transfer then. Prices will vary - however, to give you an idea, Stag and Hen Manchester can hire a 16 seat minibus to go there and back for £170 which works out as only £11 return per person to get you to your hotel front door.

By Rail:-

Virgin trains now run a fleet of high speed trains that have cut the journey time from London stations and the South of England to only two hours and made train travel easier and comfier, allowing your party to get started early before you have even arrived in Manchester. Online Virgin Value fares can dramatically reduce the cost of a trip if you book well enough in advance (at least 14 days is advisable), purchase two single tickets (one for each leg of the journey) and/or travel outside of peak times (after 9am and before 3pm during the day, after 6.30pm in the evening).

First Trans Pennine Express covers the other end of the country and now operates services from all over the north of England, Edinburgh and Glasgow direct into Manchester.

To check journey times and costs of fares visit www.nationalrail.co.uk.

NB When looking at which Manchester station to get tickets to, wherever possible Stag and Hen Manchester advise that you head for Manchester Piccadilly Station as this is closer to the hotels we use meaning you won't have a long walk or tram ride to contend with.

By Coach:-

If travelling by train or air doesn't take your fancy and you don't want to drive then another method could be  to travel to Manchester by coach. Chorlton Street Coach Station is the central coach station in Manchester, located close to the centre, between Chinatown and The Village on Chorlton Street.

National Express run services to four locations in Manchester City Centre and you can easily find the most convenient location to depart from using their extensive website at www.nationalexpress.com. If you are unsure as to the best option to choose please ask us and we will let you know.

Stagecoach Megabus is another alternative and can be very cheap (some cities have buses to Manchester for as little as £1). You must book in advance over the web at www.megabus.com.

Do have in mind however that although cost effective this option is the one that will probably give you the longest journey time depending on the time of day and number of stops on the route. Although great to sleep off any alcohol on the way home, a long trip isn't great for the excited stags or hens wanting to get there and spend the most time possible having fun.

By Car:-

The outer ring road of the Manchester conurbation is the M60. It is accessible from Leeds or Liverpool by the M62 and from Scotland and the south by the M6. From the north and Scotland follow the M6 and then the M61. From the south take the M6 and the M56. The most direct route from the M6 to the M56 and South Manchester is to take the A556 leaving the M6 at junction 19, but note this has a 50mph speed limit for most of its length and can be somewhat congested at busy times of the day. It is signed Manchester and Manchester Airport. Another route would be to carry on northbound up the M6, taking you directly to the M6/M62 interchange. Here you would follow signs for Leeds and Manchester North. This can seem a longer way round, but it does also give you access, via the M60 orbital road, to places around the conurbation and is a much better option if you wish to access the northern part of Greater Manchester.

Many websites will help you produce routeplanners e.g www.theaa.com or Stag and Hen Manchester can provide you with postcodes of all the places your group will need to be throughout the course of your Stag/Hen Party for those who have sat nav's. All our hotels either have their own parking or links to an NCP car park so secure parking once you arrive shouldn't be a problem either.

Manchester City Council has a joint venture with NCP Car Parks for off-street parking and encourages visitors to use an NCP car park during their stay.
However should you want to look for on-street car parking then bear in mind it is divided into three zones for one hour, two hour and three hour stays depending on where you are in the city and operates tariff pricing between 8am and 6pm Monday to Saturday.