Hotels near Old Trafford and the Etihad Stadium Tours

Manchester carries two of the most recognised football clubs in the world, and both run stadium tours that are worth doing even if you follow neither. Old Trafford holds 74,000 and has been Manchester United's ground since 1910; the tour walks you through the players' tunnel, the dressing rooms and the museum, which covers the Munich air disaster of 1958 with genuine restraint. Tickets sit around GBP 28 for adults. The Etihad Stadium tour, at roughly GBP 30, is the more modern experience, taking in the tunnel club and the pitchside seats built for Manchester City after the 2002 Commonwealth Games conversion.

Both tours must be booked ahead, and neither runs on match days - that is the single most common trip-planning mistake visitors make in Manchester. Each takes 70 to 90 minutes. Doing both in one day is possible on the tram, since the two grounds sit at opposite ends of the Metrolink network, but it makes for a long afternoon.

Pro Tip: Check the fixture list before you book anything else in Manchester. Home games close the tours entirely and fill every tram heading that way from about three hours before kick-off.