Warrington to Manchester drive: Distance, time & best attractions

The best road trip stops on the Warrington to Manchester drive are Risley Moss, the Deck 747 and the Lowry. The distance from Warrington to Manchester by car is 21 miles, with a 35 minute driving time.

Finding things to do between Warrington and Manchester

The Warrington to Manchester drive takes you from the Mersey to a sporting and musical hotbed.

Warrington is an industrial town on the River Mersey, usually skipped through on the train. However, there are a couple of attractions worth considering here. Walton Hall and Gardens does the stately home with lavish gardens thing, while Gulliver’s World is great with small children. This medium-sized theme park has rides that are fun, but not too scary for the little ones.

Manchester is the de facto capital of northern England, with a strong cultural scene and proud industrial history.

The best ways of exploring Manchester are on a story-packed Rock and Goal walking tour, which pays particular attention to Manchester’s music scene and football heritage, or a river cruise.

Top Manchester experiences include the Manchester City stadium tour, treasure hunts, craft beer tours, Northern Quarter street art walks and cheese crawls

Warrington to Manchester distance and driving time

By car, the distance from Warrington to Manchester is 21 miles. That makes for a driving time of around 35 minutes, traffic permitting.

The quickest route is largely along the M62 and M602.

The best attractions along the Warrington to Manchester drive are Risley Moss, the Deck 747 and the Lowry.

Warrington to Manchester drive: Risley Moss

The Risley Moss Nature Reserve is a preserved mossland and peat bog habitat to the east of Warrington. Now, you can be forgiven for thinking this doesn’t sound especially riveting, but the visitor centre makes special efforts. Once you’ve got an understanding of the ecology, environment and wildlife, head to the bird hides to see what you can spot. Alternatively, there’s a walking trail lined with sculptures.

Best stops between Warrington and Manchester: The Deck 747

It’s possible to have a go on a flight simulator in many locations. What makes the Deck 747 different is that you do so on board a real plane, which has been converted to house a simulator.

The attraction, based at City Airport in Barton, also allows you to wander around the top deck of the plane, test a business class seat out for size and get selfies sitting in the captain’s chair.

Warrington to Manchester attractions: The Lowry

The Lowry in Salford Quays is a concert and exhibition venue, but it also houses an art gallery. Most of what’s on show comes in the form of visiting, temporary exhibitions.

However, there is a permanent exhibition devoted to the works of LS Lowry. The Stretford-born artist is famous for his scenes of industrial areas populated by simplistic, stylised human figures.

A tram runs through central Manchester.
A tram runs through central Manchester. Photo by dimitrisvetsikas1969/ Pixabay.

More Manchester road trips

Darlington to Manchester | Manchester to Durham | Huddersfield to Manchester | Manchester to Hull | Middlesbrough to Manchester | Manchester to Newcastle | Runcorn to Manchester | Wakefield to Manchester | Warrington to Manchester | Manchester to York.