Manchester/South Manchester

The south of the city is dominated by the massive university district around Oxford Road. Manchester has the largest student population in Europe with two Universities near the centre. The South of the centre is also the dominant residential area of the city with many apartment blocks sprouting up to accommodate the new generation of residents. The campus is also home of the fine Whitworth Gallery. Because of the three universities located around Oxford Street the area is packed with students. As a result this is the place to get cheap food and the place of many venues for entertainment.

Heading further South, Oxford Road turns into Wimslow Road. At the start of Wimslow Road, you will find yourself in Rusholme home to a multicultural community and Manchester famous Curry Mile. This street is alive with Europe's largest Asian business community, including restaurants, jewellers and clothes shops.

Following Wilmslow Road further south will bring you to Didsbury. Historically, the home of many of the wealth merchants who traded in the city and an area with strong Jewish links. Further developed as railways grew with much more housing built in the 1930's. Now you will find a mixed academic cosmopolitan community with a smattering of media stars. The area is worth visiting for the remnants of an English village feel. Along Wilmslow Road you will find a small independent butcher, cheese merchant and fishmongers. Heading a little further south past the shops will bring you to pubs clustered around the remnants of a village green, Parsonage Gardens, the lovely Fletcher Moss Botanical Gardens and access to the semi-rural Mersey valley. Check out the small tea room in the Fletcher Moss Gardens (only open afternoons at the weekend).

Just to the West of Rusholme (still in South Manchester) is Moss Side, another multicultural community. This area has a very bad reputation due to a history of gang violence and a racist mainstream media. However, it is well worth a visit, for its Caribbean take-aways and pubs as well as Alexandra Park, a beautiful large victorian park.

Heading back into town from Moss Side you will encounter Hulme (pronounced hue-lme). Its reputation is not quite as bad as Moss Side. Hulme is the heart of Manchester's counterculture, but may not seem like much to a lonely backpacker. The area has suffered the consequences of inept town planning since back to back terraced housing was knocked down to build concrete blocks in the 1970s and the concrete was knocked down in the 1990s. Now gentrification is slowly taking affect and pushing local people out of the area. Up until the mid 1990s this was a hotbed of squatting. It is one of the birth places of the European dance scene and home to many artists, punks, anarchists, environmental activists, free party people and generally unwashed never-do-good trouble makers, as well as vibrant multicultural community. A scene which can be difficult but rewarding to hook up with.