There are four hungover souls on my sofa....and all of a sudden I realise something about Manchester nights out

By the time you’re reading this, several 20-somethings are sound asleep on my sofa after a big night out.

They do have homes to go to, but they’ve converged on Manchester for a birthday weekend - one has braved rail strikes to come via coach from Scotland, another has driven from North Wales, and another couple arrived on the train from Yorkshire. My flat will be serving as a makeshift Travelodge this weekend.

So, when they live so far away, why have my pals decided on Manchester for a night out? Leeds is just as accessible, Newcastle is wonderful, and Liverpool can certainly show you a good time.

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Obviously, the lure of free accommodation has likely helped. But these four souls think Manchester is a great night out.

And I can’t stop trying to work out if it is or not. So let’s go through the pros and cons.

We’ll start with the downsides. It’s expensive.

A pint in town is now regularly £5 or more, and the best events charge tens of pounds for entry. Taxis can be costly too, as can a gluttonous gluten feast of takeaway food.

Another negative is how early the tram service ends, which feels like the most reliable end-of-a-night option. Another thing the city lacks is a viable late-night sober spot, a la Bar Italia in Soho, which stays open as a café until 5am.

Coming into bat for Mancunia is variety, though. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find such a wide range of entertainment within walking distance. Last week, I hopped from a pizza joint playing pounding techno to a free-to-enter DJ set in a music bar. They were four minutes walk from one another.

And that variety also drives up quality, I think. If you