The "Gay Village" is said to be the UK's biggest LGBT space outside of London.

On Wednesday nights you will find local and visiting Ladies in some of the bars here, the formal meeting time and location is Iconic Bar in Richmond Street from 8pm to 11pm. The ladies here will vary from just recently out to full time post-op and everything in between so you will always find someone that you can relate to and gain confidence and experience from.

A myth buster; "The Village" is assumed to be a safe area for new and inexperienced Trans MTF to gain experience of being out and socialising as a woman but that is not always the case. Be aware that it can have drunk idiots and a sexualised attitude towards trans MTF fuelled by the 1970's drag queen culture that makes money for most of the bars here. You can find that the main city area of Manchester is a less toxic space where you will be easily accepted as a gender diverse person but I understand that takes confidence and it is easier to say than to do until you gain experience.

Parking; City Council on-street;
Free from 8pm until 8am, other times are at an hourly rate as stated on their pavement machines, you can pay by App or cash. There are lots of local streets with on-street council parking such as, Bloom Street, Chorlton Street, Sackville Street, Harter Street & Waterloo Street.

Parking; non-council & multi-storey;
They all charge 24hrs and close to Canal Street are Chatham Street (Manchester City Council), Sackville Street (NCP) St James Street (Q-Park Piazza) but check their reviews on Google as they all have their foibles and some are safer than others.

South of Canal Street; the most reasonably priced multi-storey parking nearish to Canal Street is the NCP Circle Square car park at the bottom of Princess Street, it is easy to find on the south of the inner City from the Mancunian Way without having to drive through the City centre. £13.95 per 24 hours via the Park Pass App or £14.95 via the machine in the car park but if you leave the car park during any 24 hour period, you'll need to pay for parking up to that point then start a new 24hr period when you re-enter. Use postcode M1 7ED to find the car park. It is less than a 5 minute walk to Canal Street and Princess Street is always safe to walk along.

East of Canal Street the cheapest multi-storey is CitiPark at 30 Tarif Street M1 2FJ it is a small and tidy car park with a discount for Piccadilly Travel lodge guests. If you are a little early and need to park to waste some time you can stay free for up to one and a half hours in the M&S Outlet car park opposite. The walk into canal Street is about 10 minutes and can be challenging late at night as Piccadilly area has a varied population however, I wander through at any time of day or night without event.

North and West of Canal Street tends to be premium prices for parking everywhere.

Driving in Manchester City Centre is slow at peak times and beware of the bus lanes as if you wander into them you will be fined heavily and remorselessly, they make Dick Turpin look like the YMCA. The lines in the roads indicating bus only lanes are there but they are often threadbare so look out too for the road signs.