Now whether you are sharing a bucket of chicken wings or attempting the gourmet menu at Michelin-starred Juniper in Altrincham, you will want to be able to experience everything this amazing city has to offer. We'll come to the sport-related stuff in a minute but, in the meantime, you could simply go for a walk.

If retail therapy is what you need, carry on towards Selfridges and Harvey Nichols or try some of the vintage clothing shops in the Northern Quarter, not far from the MEN Arena. Nowhere outside London boasts such a remarkable shopping experience - with the bonus that purchases in Manchester are generally better value. The Hacienda exhibition at Urbis closes in February 2008 but is well worth a look for former ravers.

Before the game, or whichever event you have come to see - the cycling, athletics, squash, boxing, swimming, whatever - you should really have a look at the award-winning museums at both Old Trafford football ground and the City of Manchester Stadium. While there you can buy souvenirs of both teams but if a Ryan Giggs bedspread is not really what you're looking for you could always try the Paul Floyd Blake exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery.

The photographic portraits show ordinary people participating in a variety of sports from football to fell running - depicted against the backdrop of their chosen pursuit. And it's free.

If a ticket to your chosen event proves elusive but you just fancy a long weekend in the capital of the North, you will be relieved to learn that there is no shortage of bars showing the City and United games live. Or indeed any sporting event that might be on terrestrial or satellite television: including England [football], the Rugby Union World Cup, SuperLeague, curling.

There are a number of sport bars but the most popular is probably the Sports Café on Quay Street, near Granada Television. It has 2 Super screens, 9 Plasma screens and 150 TV'ss. The atmosphere can be rocking.

As with all football-mad cities, however, it is probably best to avoid the bars and sports cafes when the Manchester derby is taking place. It can get quite heated. But, apart from those two high-octane occasions every season, you will find Mancunians the most friendly and knowledgeable sport fans in the country. You can sit in a pub in London on your own for the duration of a game but in Manchester somebody will engage you in conversation and, in all probability, offer to buy you a drink whether they agree with you or not. Just not on derby day.

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