Sightseeing tour rolls into Manchester.

Manchester will join the likes of Barcelona and London later this week when it welcome its first daily sightseeing bus tour.

‘Sightseeing Manchester: the hop-on hop-off city tour’ will give visitors a new way to discover Greater Manchester’s top tourist attractions - stopping at 15 hot spots across Manchester, Salford and Trafford.

The initial route will start in Albert Square before eventually incorporating areas of East Manchester and the University corridor which are currently being developed.

It may rub some people up the wrong way though - the bus will only stop at one of the city's football stadiums... and they've chosen Old Trafford.

The tour will run every day apart from Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day with multiple departures per day.

Philip Higgs, managing director at Sightseeing Manchester, said: “As a born and bred Mancunian who has operated sightseeing tours in other cities across Europe, it always struck me as odd that Greater Manchester, with its many iconic tourist hotspots, has not previously had a daily, year-round bus tour.

"Having recently returned to the city after a number of years away – and seeing how far the tourism industry has come on in that time – I am delighted to be able to start a new business to fill the gap in the market and I’m looking forward to packing our striped green buses with tourists.”

Sheona Southern, managing director at Marketing Manchester part of the Manchester Growth Company, said: “We’re delighted by the news that Manchester will soon have a dedicated daily sightseeing tour and we are very excited for the imminent launch. Greater Manchester’s lack of a daily sightseeing bus tour has been something we have wanted to remedy for a number of years – especially given the rapid growth of the region’s tourism sector – so we are very excited by the introduction of such a fantastic bookable tourism product operated by an industry expert like Phil.”

There are 15 stops on the initial route: Manchester Town Hall; King Street; Aytoun Street; Piccadilly Gardens; Church Street; National Football Museum and Victoria Station; Manchester Cathedral; Salford Cathedral; Salford University; The Lowry and The Quays; Trafford Road; Old Trafford; Imperial War Museum North; Museum of Science and Industry; Bridgewater Hall; and returning to Manchester Town Hall.

Visitors will be able to hop on and off at any stop within a 24 hours of purchasing their ticket.

‘Sightseeing Manchester: the hop-on hop-off city tour’ will launch on Friday 14th April with the inaugural tour departing from outside Manchester Town Hall in Albert Square at 10.30am.