Manchester's Lovely Lakeside Park Has Gorgeous Gardens, Fishing, And Caribbean Cultural Flair

Manchester is one of the great centers of history and culture in the north of England. It was the world's first industrial city — with a booming cotton trade in the early 1800s — and is synonymous with music, football (soccer), the Suffragettes, and the Cool Britannia movement of the mid-1990s. Manchester, for all its virtues, generally doesn't feel like the greenest of cities. But there are efforts to create better, more accessible green spaces throughout Manchester, and one area that benefited from a facelift is Alexandra Park in the southern suburbs.

Alexandra Park sits roughly between Fallowfield, a residential hub for Manchester's abundant student population, and Moss Side, a multicultural neighborhood trying to distance itself from hard-worn crime stereotypes. The 60-acre park has been around for more than 150 years, initially designed to get locals out of the pubs and into nature. Just over a decade ago, it underwent a £5.5 million redevelopment, adding new features like tennis courts and a cricket oval, and restoring the old pavilion and the turreted Chorlton Lodge, which now functions as an information center and community space.

Alexandra Park is pretty to look at, with its broad lawns bound by trees, a lake surrounded by a strolling path, and Victorian design flourishes (such as a colonnaded water fountain). While you're here, walk along the grand walkway, admiring the park's Victorian-style garden. Join the anglers fishing in the lake, then grab a cup of tea at Bembe Cafe in the restored pavilion. If you're around in August, see the park come alive with music and dance at the annual Caribbean Carnival.

The stereotypes about English weather — rain, grey skies, dark and foreboding winters — are true, and Manchester, one of the U.K.'s rainiest cities, is proof. This means that travelers can benefit from visiting Alexandra Park during summer, the best time for optimal English weather. However, summer can still bring plenty of rainfall. 

When it's sunny, Alexandra Park and its gardens look their best. The gardens run alongside the park's raised walkway, wide enough for horse-drawn carriages to travel two abreast, a nod to its 19th-century past. Large planters adorn the stone staircase, flowering shrubs are planted along the edge and engulf the roundabout, and despite significant tree felling during the redevelopment, stately trees still rise on either side. When the sun's out, you'll also see anglers casting their lines into the 2.5-acre ornamental lake. There are six designated fishing stations, and if you have any luck, you could end up hauling a freshwater bream or mirror carp out of the lake. While fishing, you might also spot some of the park's waterfowl, which include Canadian geese, coots, tufted ducks, swans, mallards, and grey herons.

The Manchester Caribbean Carnival has been running for more than 50 years and is (arguably) the main reason to visit Alexandra Park in summer. Held over a weekend each August, it celebrates Caribbean culture through music, dance, and street food, showing how immigrants from these island countries have been integrating into Manchester since the 1940s. The King and Queen Show costume contest precedes the actual carnival in late July. During August, the carnival starts with a vibrant procession through the streets of Moss Side, with visitors enjoying punchy Caribbean food stalls and musicians performing in various genres. These genres include hip hop, dubstep, soul, afrohouse, grime, reggae, and more.

If you're visiting Manchester, which, despite its rich history, might be one of England's most underrated cities, Alexandra Park is accessible from areas where tourists tend to stay, like the City Center, Salford Quays, and Didsbury. The city has an extensive bus network and tram system. Buses to the park from the City Center or Didsbury take around 30 minutes. From Salford Quays, you'll have to travel into the city center first, or you could walk along the river and through Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United football. This would take a little over an hour, more if you include a visit to the stadium.

Manchester has a large international airport (MAN), fielding flights from across the U.K. and international destinations, including North American hubs like JFK, Toronto, Orlando, and Atlanta. From London, it's about a two-hour train journey to Manchester's Piccadilly Station, or you could drive, which takes around four hours. Visitors to Manchester should consider a trip to nearby Salford, too, which is transforming into one of England's most exciting cultural destinations.