Manchester Storm visiting away fans can have one of the best experiences in the Elite League. Altrincham, is the current home of the Storm and has previously topped and remains in the the Sunday Times, top 10 places to live in the country! Manchester is one of the coolest cities in the UK and the city centre is also a really short, drive, tram or train ride away from the rink too. The rink is also really well served for transport links!
First of all, let’s address the elephant in the room. How do you say Altrincham… It’s pronounced Al-Trink-Ham (you don’t make a ‘ch’ sound). You’re welcome.
Getting to Altrincham as a Manchester Storm visiting away fan
So, first of all you have to get here right. Well you’re in luck because the ice rink is well suited for all forms of transport. Altrincham is situated to the South West of Manchester and just out side the M60, a circular ring road around Manchester. This means its close to the M6 if you’re coming from the North or South and to the M60 if you’re coming from the West.
The Altrincham train station, could not be closer to the ice rink. If you leave the train station to the correct side, you will literally be in the car park for the rink! If you’re coming a reasonable distance by train, it is likely that you will be routed through Manchester, which gives you a perfect opportunity to get involved in the city centre.
It is also worth noting that next to train station, is the Altrincham interchange. The good thing about this is that there are regular trams that take about 20 mins into the city centre!
Before a game
Altrincham Market
Altrincham is famous for it’s market and is one of the main reasons, the Sunday Times described its as ‘suburbian utopia’ (lol). Joking aside though, if you like food (and who doesn’t right), it is amazing. The best bit… it’s only a 10 minute walk from the rink!
We are talking home-made sausage rolls, Portuguese custard tarts, pizza, coffee, sushi, anything you can think of you will find here. Not only will you find it, it will taste amazing! Oh did we also mentioned craft beers, wines and other goodies too. Not only this but all of the traders are independent and so by shopping there you will be helping small, local businesses!
We really can’t recommend this place enough. Even if it doesn’t sound up your street, give it a try and see for your self. Also in the same area, there are a number of bars a restaurants that are also very good. A number also offer outdoors seating, great for those sunny Manchester pre-game days!
The market welcome’s Manchester Storm visiting away fans from 9.00am to 10.00pm on Saturday and weekdays (except for Monday when its closed all day). It is open from 9.00am to 6.00pm on Sundays.
Check out their Instagram page for a better ide of what they offer!
For kids
One of the best things for kids to do before the game is surely have a skate! the Planet Ice Altrincham rink is literally just there!
If the kids need some more space to run around, Dunham Massey or Tatton Park are great options.
Coffee
Now if you’re into coffee, there are a number of amazing independent options in the market for Manchester Storm visiting away fans. If you want something a little more ‘hockey’ related though. Altrincham has a Tom Hortons! For those not in the know, Tim Hortons is Canada’s most popular franchise (there are more of them than McDonalds) and is a coffee shop set up by two ex-NHL players. One of those players was called Tim Horton! So, if you want a ‘hockey coffee’, where better to go! They also do mini-doughnuts called Timbits. Definitely worth a try.
Heading into the city centre
Another great option is to head into the city centre. It’s only a short train or tram ride from the rink and you will find a host of different and amazing options to keep you busy pre-match. This however is another topic, for another day!
Manchester Storm
If you want to know more about the Storm, check out our latest blog posts on the team.
- Complete season preview 2021/2022
- Manchester Storm visiting away fans – The Guide
- The Elite Series 2021 – Storm preview
- How much do Manchester Storm players get paid?
- Elite League Hockey – The best in Europe?
We hope you have amazing time visiting Machester and Altrincham! Thanks for checking out the page and remember your support, helps grow and improve the game for all in the UK! Enjoy the game!
#growthegame
