Deansgate

Deansgate is a mile of Victorian grandeur, Roman history and modern glass. Walk south from St Ann's Square past Kendals, past the neo-Gothic John Rylands Library, past the Great Northern Warehouse with its rooftop cocktail bars, and you'll hit the Beetham Tower. The Cloud 23 bar on the 23rd floor does the city's best afternoon tea with a view. Castlefield is a minute's walk further, with the Roman fort ruins of Mamucium, reconstructed viaduct arches, and the oldest canal basin in Britain. Dining on Deansgate ranges from El Cantina's precise Mexican to Hawksmoor's steaks to San Carlo's white-tablecloth Italian.