'We went on the Manchester City Stadium tour - and it left me in tears'

It's just been named one of the best visitor attractions in the UK - so we headed along to give it a try

We headed into the changing rooms of Man City on the Manchester City Stadium Tour (Image: MEN)

Manchester has long been known for its world-famous football clubs, but one of its stadiums can also now lay claim to being a world-beating attraction in its own right too.

The Manchester City Stadium Tour has just been named as one of the top 25 experiences in the whole WORLD to visit, as well as being in the top 3 best experiences in the UK, according to public reviews website Tripadvisor in its annual Travellers' Choice Awards.

It is also the top rated football stadium tour in the UK - the closest rival being Chelsea FC's tour which ranked at number 9 in the list.

While I've visited the Etihad for both football matches and live music gigs over the years, I've never actually done the stadium tour before.

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But now that I have a young Manchester City fan in my household, my nine-year-old son George, it seemed like the perfect time to head along and give it a try in the school summer holidays.

The entrance to the Stadium Tour(Image: MEN)

George has not yet had the chance to see the men's team play, so he was really excited to see inside the ground of his heroes. And what an experience it would turn out to be.

There's a dedicated entrance to the stadium tour, and we were welcomed in like VIPs by the friendly staff. Inside, there's a cafe with things like Man City-emblazoned cup cakes for £1.95, and I was impressed that it was not too pricey with a Latte or cappucino for £2.15 which is probably the cheapest cuppa I've had in Manchester for a while.

We were then guided through to the start of the tour, where our guide Ian talked us through what would be happening on the day. He then introduced a video to give you a brief history of City, and I'm afraid after that I already had tears in my eyes.

I'm not a City fan myself, but there's something about football stories that can get you quite emotional, and this Stadium Tour certainly did plenty of tugging on the heart strings as I was about to discover.

Getting to see inside the ground(Image: Manchester City)

It was then through to see inside the stadium for the first time, and for my young son it was a breathtaking moment to see the huge scale of the place. Ian told us all the history of the ground, how it was originally built for the Commonwealth Games and how it was adapted for use for the Premier League stars.

There was around 20 other people on our tour, and I was quite surprised by how far and wide people had come to see the ground - one from as far as Brazil - while there were also young fans from Leeds and Scotland.

That's what I found great about the tour, that it didn't seem to matter where your football loyalties lie, it was just a fascinating place to see and experience.

Of course for young City fan George though it had plenty of extra thrills - particularly when we were led through to the players' real changing rooms. He was able to walk around and sit where the players really do sit, and find out about their preparation for matches.

Dianne and son George inside the Man City dressing room(Image: MEN)

We visited in July, before we knew Jack Grealish would be departing City, so we've also got a photo for the archived posed up beneath his shirt in the changing rooms before he headed to Everton.

George (as the only actual Man City fan on our tour) then got the honour of leading out all the youngsters through the tunnel as if they were about to play a real game. It was goosebumps moments for me, and yes, I shed another little tear here too.

We weren't allowed on the pitch itself, as it was busy being prepared for the new season at the time, but visitors on the tour did all get to sit in Pep Guardiola's actual seat which was also an exciting moment for fans.

Sitting in the coaching area(Image: MEN)

It was then on to the press room, where the world's media usually get to grill Pep and the team after matches.

This was another brilliant part of the tour, as the youngsters (and older ones if they wanted) could sit at the desk, and then due to whizzy technology, it appeared as though Pep was sat next to them during the questioning.

It was very funny, and you're encouraged to take pictures and videos on your own phone, while there's also the option of having a professional photo too for an extra fee that you can buy in the shop afterwards.

In the press room you can pose with a virtual Pep(Image: Manchester City)

At the end of the tour, you also had the opportunity to do a new Virtual Reality tour of the stadium too, this costs an additional £12 per person.

Youngsters have to be accompanied by an adult if you wanted to do this, but as I'm prone to dizzy spells I had to give this one a miss, much to George's annoyance, but I promised he could come back and do it again with a braver adult than me.

After the tour, you're guided over to the official Man City shop, so be warned if you do have young Blues fans with you, you might be stung for an expensive time. I was persuaded into buying the new black away kit for George's birthday, and we also decided to treat ourselves to one of the official photos from the tour too.

The tour has won a string of five out of five glowing reviews on Tripadvisor, with families loving the chance to get behind the scenes of the Premier League stadium at Eastlands, and having experienced it for ourselves, it's not hard to see why it gets a perfect score.

Looking at Phil Foden's shirt in the dressing room(Image: MEN)

I found it an incredibly emotional experience, to see the success of the team in recent years, and just to see the pride of people involved in Manchester City on the tour.

I've seen on Tripadvisor that many fans of rival teams were left impressed too in their reviews, with Kevin L writing: "We toured 2 other stadiums this week, and although I'm a Liverpool supporter, this was the best tour!"

I think what it shows is that any fan of football would probably enjoy this tour. The price of our tickets on an off peak day for the two of us were £44 (£26 for adult and £18 for child) - and I think that was money well spent for a very different and special day out in Manchester.

How much are tickets?

Tickets for the Manchester City Stadium Tour are based on "peak" times and "off peak" times. You can book timeslots on selected days (naturally not on match days).

Off peak prices are from £26 for adults and from £18 for under-16s and for seniors. Peak prices are £30 for adults and £23 for under-16s and seniors.

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