Want to immerse yourself in culture? There are so many free museums in Manchester to enjoy. It’s no surprise that Manchester has a ton of amazing museums.
With its industrial beginnings, proud football culture and an array of fascinating stories to tell, Manchester is a fantastic city for museum lovers.
Whether you are exploring all the best free attractions in Manchester or just trying to escape a classic British downpour, there’s plenty to discover.
There are a lot of museums in the city, but here are 14 of the best free museums in Manchester. What’s better than visiting a top Manchester attraction? Not having to spend a penny!
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Museum of Science and Industry
- Address: Liverpool Rd, Manchester, M3 4FP
If you’re looking for a free Manchester museum for kids check out the Museum of Science and Industry.
This museum is perfect for a family day out! Step inside this museum and you will be transported back to the industrial revolution.
This museum has been around for more than 50 years and aims to educate visitors on all things science and innovation, with a particular focus on the industrial revolution in Manchester.
The museum itself is located on historic grounds as it sits on the site of the oldest passenger railway station and the world’s first railway warehouse!
The museum itself is Grade II listed and surrounded by a lovely and informative garden.
Inside the museum there are tons of exhibits, shows, live demonstrations and hands-on activities to discover more about Manchester’s history.
Head to the Textile Gallery to learn more about the city’s cotton industry or to the Experiment Room for interactive family-friendly scientific discoveries.
People’s History Museum
- Address: Left Bank, Manchester, M3 3ER
The People’s History Museum is a top free history museum in Manchester. This museum is unique in that it is dedicated to the issues of democracy, equality, social justice.
This museum is situated in an old Grade II listed pumping station. The museum focuses on a vast array of social issues in Britain including fair wages and the right to vote.
This is one of the best free museums in Manchester city centre for those interested in learning more about British social history.
Events such as the 1819 Peterloo Massacre are meticulously documented in a variety of creative and informative ways.
There is also a moving exhibit called “More in Common: in memory of Jo Cox” that showcases the work and life of the late Jo Cox MP.
If you are a history or sociology student, then checking out the People’s History Museum is a great idea.
Year round there are talks on a variety of subjects that are bound to stimulate those academic brains. After you’ve explored the museum’s many exhibits, head to their new café and bar.
Manchester Museum
- Address: University of Manchester, Oxford Rd, Manchester, M13 9PL
The Manchester Museum is another top attraction in the city. It’s the largest university museum in the UK and is well worth a visit.
The person behind the Natural History Museum in London, Alfred Waterhouse, was responsible for this museums design as well.
So, what can you expect to see at this top Manchester Museum? One of the first things you’ll see is Stan the replica T-rex fossil.
There’s an Egyptian section showcasing mummies and sarcophagi. There’s even a vivarium where you can spot reptiles and frogs.
You should also pay a visit to the statue, Neb-Senu. This statue went viral in 2013 after the museum’s security camera caught the statue moving!
Talk about Night at the Museum! This statues spooky movements have caused a flow of people to come and visit despite experts explaining that it was caused by the room’s vibrations.
Both adults and children love the Manchester Museum. It’s a great way to spend a few hours, learning, investigating and absorbing history and culture.
Manchester Art Gallery
- Address: Manchester Art Gallery, Mosley St, Manchester, M2 3JL
If you are looking for free activities in Manchester this is a top attraction. The Manchester Art Gallery is the best place for admirers of fine art.
The Manchester Art Gallery’s exterior is immediately inviting. Its large pillared entrance screams fine art and grandeur.
The gallery houses a collection of more than 25,000 artifacts including fine art, sculptures, and ceramics.
The art gallery’s collection has been carefully curated for more than 150 years. Its extensive collection makes this one of the best galleries in Manchester.
Some famous artists on display include works by William Etty, John Waterhouse, and Ford Brown.
The Manchester Art Gallery is conveniently located just a short walk from the Central Library and Town Hall. For free days out in Manchester you can add these activities to your itinerary.
Pankhurst Centre
- Address: 60-62 Nelson St, Manchester, M13 9WP
The Pankhurst Centre is pivotal in the retelling of the history of the suffragette movement.
It was inside this very museum on 62 Nelson Street, in 1903 that Emmeline Pankhurst held the first Women’s Social and Political Union meeting.
The building and former home of Pankhurst was due to be demolished but was saved and the Pankhurst Centre opened its doors in 1987.
Manchester was the birthplace of the suffragettes who played such an essential role in women’s rights and activism in Britain.
Emmeline Pankhurst and the women surrounding her were critical in the passing of the Representation of the People Act 1928 which extened the right to vote to women over the age of 21.
Whether you are interested in women’s rights, history or specifically the suffragettes the Pankhurst Centre is one of the best free museums in Manchester.
Greater Manchester Police Museum & Archives
- Address: 57A Newton St, Manchester, M1 1ET
Are you one of those people who just can’t get enough of true crime? If so, you will find this is one of the best free things to do in Manchester.
Many people by-pass this museum for the more popular Manchester museums. Located on Newton Street in Northern Quarter the late night revellers and cocktail drinkers probably forget come day time that this museum is just around the corner.
This museum is housed in a former Victorian police station, the perfect start to a police-inspired museum.
You can start by investigating the city’s law enforcement history which is retold through original police records and photographs.
Next you can check out the restored police cells and see what it would have been like to face jail during the 19th century.
There are police uniforms, weapons, coins, medals and more on display at the museum. There are also several WWWII artifacts that demonstrated the dangers facing civilians during the war.
There’s an impressive book with a hole in it that was caused by shrapnel from a bomb that was dropped on the 23rd of December in 1940!
With so many fascinating things to see at the Greater Manchester Police Museum & Archies make sure you leave several hours to fully enjoy the museum.
The John Rylands Institute and Library
- Address: 150 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3EH
Located in Deansgate, The John Rylands Institute and Library is housed in an imposing neo-Gothic Victorian era building.
The exterior is impressive but its nothing to what greets you as you step inside. When you’re there you may be confused that it’s actually a library, as it resembles an elaborate cathedral or even a castle.
John Rylands was one of Manchester’s industrialists with a personal wealth of around £2.75 million.
Rylands’ wife commissioned the library in 1890 in memory of her late husband. Now the Rylands Institute is part of The University of Manchester.
The library houses a world-class collection of books and manuscripts including the oldest piece of the New Testament, the St John Fragment. There are more than 250,000 printed volumes and more than a million manuscripts.
This is any academic, architecture or literary lover’s dream museum and very much an underrated Manchester attraction.
National Football Museum
- Address: Urbis Building Cathedral Gardens, Todd St, Manchester, M4 3BG
Football is almost synonymous with Manchester. With two of the most famous premier league teams, United and City, Manchester is a football fanatics’ dream, unless you support Liverpool.
There seems no better place for the National Football Museum than Manchester. Now admittedly this isn’t technically one of the free museums in Manchester City centre because it’s only free to a select few people.
The museum is free for Manchester residents and essential caregivers. You can also enter for free if you use the Art Fund or Museum Association pass holder or with a National Football Museum gift card.
Whether you qualify for a free ticket or have to pay it’s still really worth visiting if you are a football fan. This ultra-modern museum is four floors of football memorabilia and interactive games.
The museum is home to the FIFA, FA, and Football League collections. Spy the 1966 world cup ball as well as Maradona’s 1986 ‘Hand of God’ match shirt.
There are also a number of exhibits dedicated to women’s football.
For the little ones, there’s a discovery zone where kids can dress in different kits and listen to football stories.
There are reaction goal-keeping games, challenges to test your ball skills as well as the opportunity to take your photo with significant trophies and become a football commentator.
Salford Museum and Art Gallery
- Address: Crescent, Salford, M5 4WU
This museum and art gallery situated in Greater Manchester is an excellent activity to add to your to do list. Many think of Manchester as the cultural hotspot but Salford has a proud creative heritage.
This museum first opened to the public back in 1850. The building is a mix of Victorian and 20th-century architecture.
Lark Hill Place and The Victorian Gallery are two popular permanent features of the museum. There are also a number of rotating exhibits that provide regular visitors with something different to discover.
There are works by Geoffrey Key, Harold Riley and LS Lowry as well as a number of 20th-century British artists. They also showcase a number of Black, Asian and minority artists.
If you are worried that this is just an attraction for adults don’t be. Children visiting the museum can enjoy drawing activities, quizzes, and the ‘Let’s Explore Discovery Trail’.
Imperial War Museum North
- Address: Trafford Wharf Rd, Trafford Park, Stretford, Manchester, M17 1TZ
This is another excellent free Manchester museum for kids, history lovers and aviation enthusiasts. The Imperial War Museum North is just a few minutes from Media City.
If you are interested in history or have kids studying history at school, you must head to this museum.
The exhibits cover an array of global conflicts including stories from the Cold War to World War I and II.
On the museum’s first floor you will find all the permanent exhibitions. You can see a Russian T-34 tank, a U.S. Marine Corps ASV-8B Harrier and a British Army gun which fired the first shot in WWI.
Head outside and you can see an Iraqi Army T-55 tank that was captured at the start of the war in Iraq in 2003.
There’s also a really fascinating permanent display entitled “Mixing It: The Changing Faces of Wartime Britain”.
This exhibit details the forgotten histories of ethnic minority civilians and service people during WWII.
The personal stories, including oral recordings, are beautifully presented and provide a deeply interesting perspective on life during the war.
It’s a fascinating sociological display that’s been contributed to by the University of Huddersfield.
The Whitworth
- Address: Oxford Rd, Manchester, M15 6ER
Art enthusiasts will love this particular free museum in Manchester city centre. This Oxford Road art gallery has a collection of around 60,000 items.
The museum’s collection spans the last 200 years. The gallery itself can be found in Whitworth Park which is part of the University of Manchester.
Back in 2014 The Whitworth received a £15 million redevelopment that doubled its exhibition space. This art gallery has a variety of collections to discover.
There’s historic fine art, modern and contemporary art, prints, sculptures, and a textile exhibit. With such a variety of pieces there really is something for everyone at The Whitworth.
After you’ve wandered around the museum stop for a break at the sites café and pick up a souvenir at their shop.
Stockport Museum
- Address: 30 Market Pl, Stockport, SK1 1ES
Want to learn more about Stockport? Well, the Stockport Museum seems like the perfect place to start.
You may not have ever thought about Stockport in prehistoric times, but this museum outlines the city’s history from that time to the present day.
With over 10,000 years’ worth of Stockport history to learn about you can spend a good few hours at this museum.
From the Mellor Iron Age to the Victorian era, the regions thriving textile industry, and the impact of WWII, this museum concludes with a look into modern day Stockport.
There are numerous family-friendly interactive activities to get stuck into.
Kids can follow the Museum Mouse around the building learning and discovering new things about local history in a fun kid-friendly way.
HOME
- Address: 2 Tony Wilson Pl, Manchester, M15 4FN
HOME is an arts centre that simultaneously acts as a cinema, theatre, and art gallery. HOME work with both UK and international artists to produce theatre, film and visual arts performances and pieces.
Though going to the cinema isn’t free, all of their exhibitions are! Their art exhibits are diverse and interesting.
They’ve had exhibitions from Banksy, art dedicated to fungi, and a ton of other innovative shows.
This art museum’s aim is to push the boundaries of technology and form. They want to experiment with art and its meanings by taking risks!
They also strive to elevate the efforts of local and national artists. HOME was formed by Cornerhouse and the Library Theatre Company, two of Manchester’s top art organisations.
With such a variety of free exhibitions year-round, there’s something for everyone.
Bolton Steam Museum
- Address: Mornington Rd, Bolton, BL1 4EU,
This is one of the top free museums in Greater Manchester.
Drive just 14 miles northwest of Manchester’s city centre and you’ll discover the Bolton Steam Museum. Kids, adults, and particularly mechanic and history enthusiasts will thoroughly enjoy this top museum.
More than 100 years ago, Lancashire produced half of the world’s cotton.
This level of production was only able to happen because of the hundreds of mills that were spinning, weaving and bleaching the cotton.
There were around 10,000 engines most of which were built by locals. The Bolton Steam Museum is dedicated to displaying and honouring the history of these impressive engines.
This museum is run entirely by dedicated volunteers who want to showcase the critical role that Lancashire played in the global textile industry.
Many volunteers even had ancestors who were involved in the engine-making process.
You should check the Bolton Steam Museum website for their next “steam days”. This is when the engines will be in steam, and you can get a real idea of the magnitude of their role in the textile industry.
Free Museums Manchester: Frequently Asked Questions
Now that you know where to find the museums in Manchester with free entry, it’s time to answer some of your most frequently asked questions.
Are Manchester museums free?
All public museums and galleries in Manchester are free. Donations are welcome but there is no entry fee. Most museums in Manchester are free however some of them charge a small fee at the entrance to cover their charges.
All the museums mentioned in the article are free for everyone except the National Museum of Football which is only free for Manchester residents.
Are all museums in UK free?
National Museums in the UK are usually free but donations are accepted and they may charge for temporary exhibitions.
In the case of Manchester, free museums include the MOSI, the People’s Museum, Manchester Museum and many more.
Are there history museums in Manchester?
Yes there are several history museums in Manchester. The best ones are the Museum of Science and Industry where you can learn plenty about the Industrial Revolution in Manchester and the People’s history museum which will tell you everything you need to know about the history of Manchester and the UK.
Are there any Manchester Museums for kids?
All museums in Manchester are kid-friendly however, the MOSI and the museum of transport are the best ones to visit with children.
Is Manchester art gallery free?
Yes, Manchester art gallery is free and open to all. You will find a donation box at the entrance if you want to donate a bit to help with the upkeep of the gallery.
You may have to pay for some of the temporary exhibitions though (but you don’t have to go to the exhibition and can simply visit the permanent collection for free).
Is Manchester Museum open now?
Yes, Manchester Museum was closed for renovations in 2021 but is now open to the public.
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