* If coming by train, Manchester has three main train stations: Piccadilly, Oxford Road and Victoria. Those of you coming from the South will most likely end up at Piccadilly station. Outside the old station entrance, there is a City Link bus number 1 (signposted within the station) which is free, and lets you get around the city to your hotel or any other accommodation. If ending up at Victoria or Oxford Road, there's a City Link bus number 2 (also free) which will get you to most places within the City Centre.
* If coming by coach, the main coach station is Chorlton Street bus station, which is very central to the city.
* If coming by plane, Manchester has three terminals. All of these are linked by a long travelator escalator which takes you between them. Most European flights go from Terminal 1 (with some also from 3). If arriving in any terminal, follow the signs for "The Station". This will take you to the bus and train station. Here you have a choice: you can either get a train to Manchester Piccadilly (most of them go beyond there, but they'll have Manchester Piccadilly as a scheduled stop) or from the bus station you can take the 43 or 105 buses, which will drop you in Piccadilly bus station, opposite Piccadilly Gardens. You'll actually go down Portland Street on the bus so you might see the Ibis or Premier Lodge you might be staying at..
Also, the 43 takes you through Manchester's Curry Mile, so you could always stop there for a bite to eat on the way, hehe.
* If you're staying within Manchester, quite a few of the hotels are located on Portland Street and near St Peter's Square. This is walking distance from Piccadilly - just follow the signs for the City Link bus and walk out of the old station entrance down the hill. Keep going along the road until you reach Piccadilly Gardens. Portland Street is on your left, and you can go down there to the end and turn right at McDonalds on Oxford Street to get to St Peter's Square. If you arrive at Victoria, get the 2 bus to Oxford Road station - then from there, walk down the hill, turn left past the Palace Theatre and you'll see McDonalds on the left. Turn right for Portland Street or straight on for St Peter's Square. If arriving at Chorlton Street coach station, come out of the station and turn left, the main road ahead of you is Portland Street.
Travelling Around Manchester:
Since the buses were deregulated in 1986, the buses are run by many companies, but since the mid 1990s two dominate: First Manchester for most North Manchester services, including the 82 and 83 buses to BITLite, and Stagecoach Manchester, who do most of South Manchester.
You can get a ticket which is valid for all buses, just ask any driver for an all day ticket for all buses. This costs £3, but with one caveat: you can only use it until Midnight! Hence if you're heading back into Manchester on the Saturday night, make sure you either leave before then or simply pay single fares each way: night services cost extra up to a maximum of £2.50. First Manchester also do an all day ticket for their buses only (called FirstDay) but it's £2.80.
Getting to the venue from Manchester Piccadilly is easy enough: on the other side of Piccadilly Gardens from the main bus station is Oldham Street. (hint: go down there to Vinyl Exchange and much CD bargains!). The second stop on Oldham Street is where you can get the 82, 83, 180 and 184 from (stop A). Or you can head to Lever Street and use stop F for the 24, 181, 182 buses which also take you there - also note if you're stopping at the Oldham Broadway Travelodge, you need to get the bus to the hotel and to/from the venue. Remember to get off at the last stop marked as Oldham Road/Broadway if coming from Manchester (ask the driver)
This map might prove of use to you which shows you where all the stops are:
http://www.gmpte.com/citycentre/citycentre.pdf
And here's where you get off - follow from the red dot to the black dot via the line to get to the venue:
There is an 82 night service back from near the venue into Manchester, and details of that are here:
http://www.stagecoachbus.com/timetables ... ct2002.pdf
Best to get the one that leaves Oldham at 1am, and gets to the stop near the venue just after 1.10am.
Finally if anyone is planning to take the bus to the venue and they aren't sure where to go, contact me ASAP and I'll do what I can to arrange to meet and show people where to go. I'll have your local friendly Don Kwed with me :)
