A good pint near every Manchester station

Anyone who gets the train in Manchester knows the feeling: the board says delayed, again. The good news is that some of the best beer in town is a few minutes' walk from every station, so you might as well make the most of it.

The walking times are rough, from the station entrance, at a normal pace. Not the leg it for the 17.42 pace.

Piccadilly

Piccadilly Tap is right on the station approach, so you can keep one eye on the departures from your stool. A short keg list, a couple of cask pumps and a proper lager, open from late morning. It was the first of the three station Taps.

Round the back of the station, under the arches and on the trading estate, is the best few hundred yards of beer in Manchester. Sureshot, Balance and Pigeon Beer Wanderer are next door to each other, about five minutes away, and Track and Cloudwater pour their own beer next to the brewing kit about ten minutes away. Balance only opens Thursday night to Sunday and Pigeon from Wednesday, so check first.

If you're heading into town instead, The Rat & Pigeon is a backstreet boozer over a few floors with pies on the bar. Good for a swift one before your train. Better for three.

Victoria

Sadler's Cat is two minutes from the station on Sadler's Yard. It's Cloudwater's pub, with cask next to their keg and a proper kitchen. If you want an old-school pub, The Marble Arch is ten minutes up Rochdale Road, sloping tiled floor and all, with the full Marble range. Derby Brewery Arms, Holt's own brewery tap, is about the same the other way, at Holt's prices.

Oxford Road

Oxford Road Tap is right at the station and the newest of the Taps. It's tiny, the cask list is worth the trip on its own, and the tap font is made out of an old National Rail sign. It gets rammed after work, so get there before the 5.15 crowd. North Taproom and Bundobust are both a couple of minutes away: one has twenty-odd lines of North Brewing beer, the other brews its own inside an Indian street food place.