Coronation Street The Tour

I'm pretty sure that if you live in the UK you'll have heard of the very popular Manchester based British soap opera, Coronation Street. Since the show moved over to new premises over at MediaCity back in 2013, the shows old filming location at Granada Studio's have been open for the public to visit. Personally, I've never actually seen a full episode of Coronation Street so this post is coming from someone who knows the bare minimum about the show.

The tour begins in the actors green room. This is the place in the studios which the cast members were able to socialise and relax between takes. Its a nice sneak peak at how actors days would begin before you're led down a corridor of dressing rooms then onto the wardrobe and make up room just like an actor in the soap would have done on their working day. The wardrobe room is full of iconic costumes from the shows history. Our guide also filled us in with information about how the characters get the clothes. For example how the younger characters clothes are mainly from high street stores whereas a character like Roy's come largely from eBay and charity shops.

From there you're moved into Studio One where filming took place and shown a short film showing some of the highs and lows of Coronation Street from over the years. It is from here where fans of the show will be in their element as you walk around sets from the show including Carla's flat and the Platt's living room. Although I didn’t recognise any of the sets, you're told secrets of the sets which is fascinating to hear as although I don't watch the show it was interesting to discover how and why certain things are done which interests even people who don’t know the set. The highlight of this section of the tour without a shadow of the doubt it getting to sit inside the Rovers Return pub. It is here that you're able to pretend to pull a pint behind the bar and get a souvenir photo taken. The photos are then available to buy for £7.50 or two for £10 later in the tour but it really is no obligation at all to buy your photo so it's worth doing regardless.

The next and final section of the tour isn’t guided so you are free to spend as long as you like roaming around and take as many photos as you want. It is the section when you are let loose onto the Coronation Street cobbles. It’s surprisingly smaller than expected and it’s fascinating that this was the actual street that they once filmed the show on. You can overhear many people on the tour pointing out the houses that their favourite characters live in or even excitedly explaining a scene that happened in a certain spot.

Although I am not a fan of Coronation Street in the slightest I still found the tour highly enjoyable. However, if you’re a fan of the show this tour is definitely a must visit for you. It’s situated just a 10 minute walk from Manchester town centre and a free bus runs from Piccadilly Station so it is highly accessible for visitors. For more information about how to visit the tour before it permanently shuts in December click here.