Hi all, I'll be going to Manchester for the August bank holiday weekend but all the local hotels were booked so I'm staying out on the M62 and will need to get a taxi in.
I always try to avoid paying the Hackney rates if I can, so, can anyone recommend a cheap but reliable private firm that we can book to take us into town and also back to the hotel in the small hours of the morning?
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Blue - give us a clue whereabouts on the 62 you are staying ?
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Just outsde Manchester, I think it was called the Manchester Birch Travelodge. It's only 8 miles from the city centre, I know that much 'cos I checked!
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at Birch services, yes ?
A bit further west and i might have been able to help. I'll ask around when I'm back in the office on wednesday
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You're staying at the Travelodge at Birch Services on the M62. Car 2000 are as good as any in that patch 01706 622000. I'd reckon you could get £30 for a return journey with a couple of hours notice, providing your return is before midnight.
£20 - £25 for a black cab hailed in Manchester.
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could you not have got a room in south Manchester and then the late night bus service might have saved you lots.
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But then he'd have missed out on staying at Birch Services (and the dubious pleasures of the 42 bus down Oxford Road - not for the faint hearted)
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Bus? What's that?
Is it some sort of purgatory or something? :-)
That price sounds about right, and doing it this way is still going to work out cheaper than staying in Manchester centre, as we get free parking at the services (versus pay per day in the centre) we can offset that against the cost of the taxi too.
Incidentally, is it easy to park in Manchester on a Sunday? I'm thinking that in Sunderland you can park almost anywhere on Sundays so I'm hoping that the same thing applies in Manchester?
We'll be returning to the hotel long after midnight, I'll consider the weekend a miserable failure if I return before then.
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"Bus? What's that? Is it some sort of purgatory or something? :-)"
You'd be surprised how good the buses in Manchester can be that time of night. And I mean until very very late especially on the bus route to/through Didsbury.
Taxis to Didsbury will also be cheaper I would think. You could hail a black cab knowing it won't cost the earth. And East Didsbury has a train station so you could travel into Manchester more quickly and cheaper on the train than a taxi. You're talking less than 10 minutes to the centre.
"is it easy to park in Manchester on a Sunday? I'm thinking that in Sunderland you can park almost anywhere on Sundays so I'm hoping that the same thing applies in Manchester?"
Nope. But it's not too expensive. But if you stayed at the Travelodge at East Didsbury it would be about £1.75 return each on the train.
Anyway I thought East Didsbury Travelodge (£51 a night and available) would be better than Birch even if using taxis. And you could stop for a curry on the way home in Rusholme too.
www.travelodge.co.uk/search_and_book/hotel_overvie...5
Also the problem with Birch is there is West/Eastbound so more of a detour for taxis I would think. And you too.
Edited by rtj70 on 22/07/2008 at 00:47
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If you opted for staying at East Didsbury then I'd also suggest Metro Taxis for the taxis. Might do a fixed price (0161 480 8000) and are Stockport area mainly.
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Unfortunately I jumped at the chance to book on the M62 and have already paid, I got two rooms, one at £29 and one at £39 per night. This was considerably cheaper than what was on offer in Didsbury, hence offsetting most if not all of the cost of taxis to the M62 etc.
I'm on the Eastbound section as well so from looking at the map the journey back to the hotel should be easier.
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That is a lot cheaper than Didsbury at the minute and will cover taxis.
One other thought though.... look into driving in and taxi back without car. Then come back for the car if you're coming back into Manchester on the Sunday. Won't be more than 24 hour parking. You'd need to work out costs. Where are you heading for?
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I'd thought about that actually, except I'd probably have to get a taxi back on Sunday to pick it up as I'll have the only car which would offset the savings of a taxi into town the night before.
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I only mentioned it because you asked about parking in Manchester on a Sunday so assumed you might be coming back anyway.
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I'll definitely be returning anyway, but the daytime session probably won't involve much drinking as I imagine that I'll want to return to the hotel to change before going out on Sunday night so my thoughts were to save two taxis by driving into town myself during the day and driving us back to the hotel. After a quick change we will head back into town and get drunk again :-)
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In which case don't drive at all if drinking ;-) Play it safe.
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Of course, I mean if I drive I won't drink at all, but even if I had a taxi there wouldn't be much drinking therefore it's better just not to bother at all and save the fare.
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Incidentally is it easy to park in Manchester on a Sunday? I'm thinking that in Sunderland you can park almost anywhere on Sundays so I'm hoping that the same thing applies in Manchester?
Busy weekend that, manchesterpride and all that jazz(hands), presumably why the city centre hotels are booked up.
Usual Sunday experience is if you're very lucky you can park centrally on street in a few place for free or more usually pay for a car park. Obviously cheaper and easier the further out you're prepared to park.
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Some car parks are cheaper on Sunday try round Bridge St/Salford station - you're on the right side of town and two or three big car parks there
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