Mr & Mrs Smith

Manchester no longer closely resembles the gritty urban landscapes of LS Lowry but you can admire the artist's work (and the matchstick men and matchstick cats and dogs) at the Lowry Gallery in Harbour City; take the tram from Piccadilly Gardens (www.thelowry.com). Manchester Art Gallery is on Mosley Street (www.manchestergalleries.org) and if you like the Staying Cool concept then you’ll love the cultural exhibition centre, Urbis (www.urbis.org.uk).

Innovation is in the blood in Manchester. Among the lengthy list of ‘firsts’ the city can lay claim to are the first computer, the first splitting of the atom, the first Rolls Royce and the first railway station. The city’s creativity and ingenuity also carry over into popular culture; ever since the first Top of the Pops was broadcast from a church in Dickenson Road in Longsight, Mancunians have been telling the world that some of the greatest music and clubs can be found in the city. They may well have a point.