Piccadilly Gardens

- City Tower, Market Street, Monument to Queen Victoria

Piccadilly Gardens is a large square and gardens in the heart of Manchester. and traffic hub for the yellow trams and the blue double deckers. At Piccadilly Gardens you find a lot of sculpture and fountains, such as the Monument to Queen Victoria and the Wellington statue. The modernist 30-storey, 107m tall City Tower, built in 1965, is situated right next to the square. It is currently the 3rd tallest building in Manchester (2016), next to it stands the futuristic "hanging" Mercure Hotel. You can also find a lot of pubs in the area, and street musicians. During our visit there was a nice food market on the square. The hip Northern Quarter neighbourhood begins here, as well as the road Piccadilly, where you find the Piccadilly railway station. In 2001 the square was reconstructed by Leslie Jones Architects. During my visit Piccadilly Gardens was under renovation, so the large fountains, the gardens, the sculpture were not visible and the 53m high high ferris wheel called the Wheel of Manchester, was sadly enough demolished in 2015. So no opportunities there to take great skyline photos for us.

There are lot of obscure types in this area, especially after dark, such as homeless people, drunk youngster and drug dealers, so beware!

The shopping street called Market Street begins at Piccadilly Gardens, where you find department stores such as Debenhams. There is a really charming second hand store near the square, that sell everything from books and records to toys!