Earlier this year I visited Manchester, England, for the first time. Flying non-stop from San Francisco to Manchester via Virgin Atlantic, I was able to maximize every second of my trip. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to share mini-moments from the trip and then pull together a full itinerary guide to one of my new favorite cities. Enjoy!

On my last full day of my trip I took the train to the last stop, about a 40-minute commute, to Altrincham Market. This is where I had the best breakfast of my life. Asparagus Toast. You read that right, not avocado toast, asparagus on toast. With parmesan and mushrooms and big sea salt flakes. The bread was thick and toasted with a little bit of rich olive oil drizzled on top. It was, by far, one of the most decadent meals I’ve ever had and I couldn’t get enough of it. I ate every single bite without even thinking about it.

The Market came highly recommended as one of the lesser known but super cool spots in Greater Manchester to have lunch, shop around, and explore. After my visit, I can not recommend it enough.

Beyond the daily shopping options (vintage, food, flowers, etc), they have an indoor dining hall featuring local food makers, bakers, coffee roasters and more. Everything from small breakfast sandwiches and coffees to freshly baked pizzas and big slices of cakes and pastries. This is one of those places that if I lived in Manchester I would visit every week, despite the suburb location.

I was obsessed with the flags hanging all around the market. So festive and fun!

The brick, the chalk board signs, the flowers- this was Instagram drool in real life.

The toast in all her glory. I wish I could eat this photo.

The coffee at Market House was rich and delicious. I loved that you could take home the coffee of your choice, too.

The details, the details. I took about 300 photos of this one morning. 300!

How to get here: From the city centre, take the train (no stops required) all the way to the end of the line. Alternatively, if you rented a car for your entire visit it’s about a 30 minute drive and street parking is fairly easy to find. Bob rented his car from Hertz, and it was a super easy process. I took the train (about 3 dollars or you can get a pass for all day rides).

What to do: Look up the market days online before venturing out there. While the indoor dining hall is open every day, the outdoor market is not. The shopping around the market is pretty cool, too, so give yourself time to explore.

Only have time for one visit? Highly suggest making it a progressive dinner style – ordering a few things at each stall and trying a handful of items. Everything from the pizza to the coffees and cakes are reasonably priced and you’re supporting local farmers and vendors.

More Manchester moments on the blog: A magical lunch in Worsley Village, My New Favorite Park and my interview with Travel Mindset about the entire experience.