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The best things to do in Stockport in the town centre are within about a ten-minute walk of each other, and most of them are cheap or free: a hat museum in an old mill, a medieval townhouse on the Market Place, nearly a mile of wartime tunnels dug into the sandstone, a black-and-white Tudor hall in its own parkland, and a run of old streets, the Underbanks, that have come back to life with bars, cafés and independent shops. This guide is for anyone thinking of a day out from Manchester, or a longer look at the town, and it is honest about which parts are worth the trip and which are not.
Stockport spent a long time as the place people saw from the train window on the way to London. The view is still the best introduction: the great brick viaduct striding across the valley, the mills, the church tower on the hill. The difference now is that there is a good reason to get off.
Stockport at a Glance
| What | Details |
|---|---|
| Getting there | A short train ride from Manchester Piccadilly; bus 192 from Piccadilly Gardens |
| Hat Works | Free; Thursday to Saturday, 10:00–16:00 |
| Staircase House | Adult £6; Wednesday to Sunday |
| Air Raid Shelters | Adult £6; Tuesday to Sunday |
| Bramall Hall | Adult £7; Thursday to Sunday (Wednesday to Sunday from 5 November) |
| Stockport Explorer ticket | £15.50 adult, £11 concession: Shelters, Staircase House and Bramall Hall |
| Stockport Market | Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday |
| Children | Under-16s free at the three paid museums with a paying adult |
| Best day to go | Thursday, Friday or Saturday, when every museum and the market are open |
That last row matters more than it looks. The council museums do not share a timetable, and Hat Works opens only three days a week. Arrive on a Monday and you will find almost everything shut; arrive on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday and you can do the lot.
Getting to Stockport from Manchester
By train
Stockport is on the main line south from Manchester Piccadilly, and trains run frequently. Direct trains can take as little as eight minutes, so check the service you pick. You do not need to book: buy a ticket at the station or on the app and get on whatever is going next. From Stockport station it is about a ten-minute walk downhill into the town centre, or you can follow the signs to the Market Place.
By bus
The 192 runs from Piccadilly Gardens down the A6 to Stockport and on to Hazel Grove. It is slower than the train but drops you closer to the shops, and it is part of the Bee Network, so a single adult fare is £2 and you can change onto another Bee Network bus within an hour on the same ticket. Check journey times on the Bee Network journey planner, because the A6 can be slow at rush hour.
Buses arrive at Stockport Interchange, the bus station rebuilt beside the viaduct and opened in March 2024. Its roof is a two-acre park, Viaduct Park, which is worth the climb for the view of the arches alone. Our guide to transport passes and tickets explains the fares and caps if you are combining trams, buses and trains on the same day.
The Viaduct
You cannot miss it, and you should not try. Stockport Viaduct was completed in December 1840 and opened to trains in 1842, and it still carries the West Coast Main Line across the Mersey valley. It is listed at Grade II* and built of brick. From below, in the streets around the Interchange and Mersey Square, it does what Victorian engineering does best: makes everything around it look small.
The best free views are from Viaduct Park on top of the Interchange, from the river path beneath, and, oddly, from the train itself as you cross it heading south.
The Old Town, Market Place and Underbanks
Stockport Old Town is the area around the Market Place, on the hill above the river, and the Underbanks, the two narrow streets that run below it. This is where the town’s revival is most visible. Parts of it once stood empty. Now the old shopfronts hold independent cafés, bakeries, bars and boutiques.
Stockport Market
The covered Market Hall, a Victorian glass-and-iron building on the Market Place, is the centre of it. Stockport Market is open on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with more than 30 independent businesses selling, in the council’s words, “everything from beer to buttons”. It is not a giant market, and it does not pretend to be one. It is a good place to start a morning, buy a coffee and something for later, and get your bearings before the museums open.
Stockport also has a regular evening street-food market, Foodie Friday, which brings stalls, music and crowds into the Old Town. Dates and themes change, so check the organisers’ social media pages before planning a trip around it.
Walking the Underbanks
Great Underbank and Little Underbank are short, and you can walk them in ten minutes, but they reward slowness. Look up: the best of the buildings are above the shopfronts, from timber-framed gables to Victorian brick. The steps up from Little Underbank lead to the Market Place, and climbing them shows you how the town sits on two levels.
The Museums
Stockport’s council-run museums are the main reason to come, and they are excellent value. Three of them charge, and under-16s go free at all three with a paying adult; Hat Works is free for everyone.
Hat Works
Hat Works fills part of Wellington Mill, a big brick mill on Wellington Road South, a short walk from the station. The council describes it as the UK’s only museum dedicated to the hatting industry, hats and headwear, and it is a better museum than that sounds. Stockport was a hat-making town for centuries, and the museum tells that story, with factory floor tours on selected dates. Entry is free.
The catch is the timetable: Hat Works opens on Thursday, Friday and Saturday only, from 10:00 to 16:00, with last admission at 15:15. Check the events calendar on the council’s website for tour dates.
Staircase House
Staircase House, at 30 Market Place, is a fifteenth-century townhouse, and a good way to see how old the centre of Stockport is. You move through it room by room and period by period, and the house is named after its Jacobean cage-newel staircase, which the council says is one of only three surviving in the country.
It is open Wednesday and Thursday 10:00–17:00, Friday 12:00–17:00, Saturday 10:00–17:00 and Sunday 11:00–16:00, and closed on Mondays, Tuesdays and bank holidays. Last admission is an hour and a quarter before closing. Tickets are £6 for adults and £4.50 for concessions.
Stockport Air Raid Shelters
If you only do one thing in Stockport, make it this. During the Second World War the town dug a network of tunnels into the red sandstone cliffs beneath the centre, nearly a mile of them according to the council, which could shelter as many as 6,500 people. The shelters at 65 Chestergate are open to visitors as a record of life in the town during the war. It is atmospheric without being gimmicky.
Opening hours are Tuesday to Friday 13:00–17:00, Saturday 10:00–17:00 and Sunday 11:00–16:00, closed on Mondays and bank holidays. Adult tickets are £6, concessions £4.50. The council also runs bookable evening explorer tours; dates and prices are on the shelters’ page on the council website. The tunnels are cool all year, so bring a layer even in summer.
Bramall Hall
Bramall Hall is the odd one out, south of the town centre in Bramhall: a black-and-white timber-framed Tudor manor set in 70 acres of parkland. Inside there are painted walls, panelled rooms and a chapel, though The Solar, one of the upstairs rooms, is closed while its roof is restored.
The Hall is open Thursday to Sunday, 11:00–16:30, and closed Monday to Wednesday and on bank holidays. It opens extra days over the October half-term (from Monday 26 October, Tuesday to Sunday) and then Wednesday to Sunday from Thursday 5 November, when the Christmas decorations go up. Check the council’s opening-hours page before a special trip. Adult tickets are £7 and concessions £5.50, bought at the visitor centre on the day. The park itself is free to walk in.
Bramhall has its own railway station on the line south from Stockport; check the journey planner for the best connection, and allow a short walk from the station or bus to the Hall.
The Stockport Explorer ticket
The Stockport Explorer ticket gives one visit each to the Air Raid Shelters, Staircase House and Bramall Hall for £15.50 (concessions £11), and you can buy it at any of the three. Bought separately, those three cost £19 for an adult, so it saves a few pounds if you plan to do all of them. If you are only doing the town-centre pair, buy them separately. Hat Works is free anyway, so it is not part of the ticket.
Stockport Plaza
The Plaza on Mersey Square is a 1932 Art Deco “super cinema” and variety theatre, restored by volunteers and still running classic film screenings, live shows and concerts. The interior, with its organ and its gilded, glowing auditorium, is the real star. If you can time your visit for an afternoon film or an evening show, do. The programme and any building tours are listed on the Plaza’s own website.
Eating and Drinking in Stockport
The food and drink scene is the clearest sign of the town’s comeback, and it is concentrated in the Old Town and the Underbanks.
Where the Light Gets In
The restaurant to book ahead for sits at 7 Rostron Brow, opposite St Mary’s Church. Where the Light Gets In serves a five-course set menu with no choice of dishes, built on seasonal produce, including produce from its own community garden, to a dining room of up to 40 guests. Book well ahead, and check the restaurant’s website for the current days and prices. Our guide to fine dining in Manchester covers the best of the rest of the region.
Old Town cafés, bars and pubs
Beyond that, the Old Town is best treated as somewhere to wander and pick: coffee in or around the Market Hall in the morning, lunch at one of the small places along the Underbanks, and a drink in the evening. Stockport has a strong pub culture, and and the family-run Robinsons, whose Stockport roots on Lower Hillgate go back to 1838, is a well-known local brewer. The Arden Arms on Millgate and the Petersgate Tap on St Petersgate are both a short walk from the Market Place. Opening hours vary, especially early in the week, so check before you set off.
One honest note on the brewery: Robinsons’ Unicorn Brewery site on Lower Hillgate is a landmark, but it does not advertise public tours, so do not plan a trip around one.
Parks, Walks and Lyme
Stockport sits where the Mersey begins, at the meeting of the Tame and the Goyt, and the borough has more green space than people expect. Reddish Vale Country Park, north of the centre, has a river valley walk under another railway viaduct. To the east, Marple is where the Peak Forest Canal climbs a long flight of locks, a lovely towpath walk on a dry day, and the Peak District proper begins not far beyond.
Lyme
Lyme, the National Trust estate at Disley on the edge of the Peak District, is the big day out in this corner of the county: a grand house, formal gardens and a deer park on the moorland edge. For the park and garden, adults pay £9.90 with Gift Aid (£9 without) and children £5; the house, park and garden ticket is £20.90 with Gift Aid. Tickets are bought on arrival.
In the colder months the house is closed for long stretches while the gardens stay open, so check the National Trust’s calendar for the day you plan to go. Without a car, take the train to Disley: it is about half a mile from the station to the park entrance and then another mile up to the house, with a volunteer shuttle on most days, subject to availability.
Football at Edgeley Park
Stockport County play at Edgeley Park, a short walk from the station on the other side of the line from the town centre. A County home game is a very different afternoon from Old Trafford or the Etihad: cheaper, easier to get into and full of locals. Check the club’s own site for fixtures and tickets. For the big clubs, our guide to getting football tickets in Manchester explains how it works.
A Day in Stockport
Morning. Take the train from Piccadilly on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Walk down from the station to Hat Works for when it opens at 10:00, then head up to the Market Place for coffee in the Market Hall and an hour at Staircase House.
Lunch. Somewhere small on the Underbanks.
Afternoon. The Air Raid Shelters on Chestergate (from 13:00 Tuesday to Friday, 10:00 on Saturday), then a walk past the viaduct and up onto Viaduct Park for the view.
Evening. A film or a show at the Plaza, or a pint in the Old Town, and the ten-minute train back into Manchester.
If you have a car, or a second day, swap the town-centre afternoon for Bramall Hall, or spend a whole day at Lyme.
Stockport with Children
Stockport is one of the cheapest family days out in Greater Manchester, because the council’s rule on children is generous: under-16s go free at the Air Raid Shelters, Staircase House and Bramall Hall when they come with a paying adult, and Hat Works is free for everyone. Two adults with two children under 16 can do all three paid museums for the price of two adult tickets.
- The Air Raid Shelters are the obvious winner with older children: dark, narrow and real. Very small children may find them a bit much.
- Hat Works costs nothing, so it is an easy one to leave if attention runs out. Remember it is Thursday to Saturday only.
- Bramall Hall has its parkland to run off energy, and the Christmas decorations make the Hall worth a winter visit from 5 November.
- Viaduct Park on the Interchange roof is free, close to the station and good for a breather between museums.
Pushchairs are easier on the flat streets around the Interchange than on the Underbanks steps, so plan a route that uses the lifts and ramps if you have one. Ask the museums about access before you go, particularly at the shelters and in the older rooms at Staircase House.
What Is Not Worth It
- Going on a Monday. Almost everything worth seeing is shut. Tuesday and Wednesday are only a little better.
- Merseyway for its own sake. The main shopping centre is a perfectly normal shopping centre. You did not come to Stockport for chain stores.
- Driving into the centre. The train is quicker and leaves you in the right place. Drive only if you are also going to Bramall Hall or Lyme.
- The Explorer ticket if you skip Bramall Hall. The two town-centre museums cost £12 bought separately, less than the Explorer ticket.
- Planning around a brewery tour. Robinsons does not advertise public tours.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best things to do in Stockport?
The Air Raid Shelters, Hat Works, Staircase House and Bramall Hall are the highlights, along with walking the Old Town and the Underbanks, the view of the viaduct from Viaduct Park, and a film or show at the Plaza. Lyme, at Disley, is the best bigger day out nearby.
How long does it take to get to Stockport from Manchester?
A short train ride from Manchester Piccadilly: direct trains can take as little as eight minutes. The 192 bus from Piccadilly Gardens takes longer, depending on traffic on the A6.
Is Hat Works free?
Yes. Hat Works is free to visit, but it opens only on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 10:00–16:00, with last admission at 15:15.
How much are the Stockport Air Raid Shelters?
Adults £6, concessions £4.50, and under-16s go free with a paying adult. The shelters are open Tuesday to Sunday; they are closed on Mondays and bank holidays.
Is Stockport worth a day trip from Manchester?
Yes, especially on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday when all the museums are open. It is cheap, close and very different from the city centre, and the Old Town is very different from the shopping centre down the hill.
What is the Stockport Explorer ticket?
A combined ticket for the Air Raid Shelters, Staircase House and Bramall Hall, £15.50 for adults and £11 for concessions. It saves money only if you visit all three.
Planning the Rest of Your Trip
Stockport is one of ten boroughs in our guide to Greater Manchester’s towns. For other easy days out, try Bury and its market, Saddleworth and Dovestone, or our full list of day trips from Manchester. If Lyme has given you a taste for the hills, the Peak District day trip guide is next.
For another town with a food scene worth the train ride, see our guide to Altrincham and Hale.
Travelling with children? Our family guide to Manchester and rainy-day ideas have more for wet days and small people, and getting around Manchester covers the trains and buses.