Update 9/2/24: I will be mainly commenting/updating on the confirmation post so please refer to that post for all the latest news! I can’t guarantee that I will check for any comments in this post after this. Thanks!
Update 8/12/23: The confirmation post is up now! We are all good to for the 6-9 June 2024 for the EuroMeetup in Manchester, UK. Please read the latest post for updated info! And for clarity, I’ve updated the agenda below to match the latest plans. Thanks!
Update: This announcement is rather early but the point is to give you advance notice to make plans and for us to understand what topics/places would interest folks. So, feel free to share your thoughts and ideas as it may well shaped the activities that we do! Thanks! 
Eh-up! That’s the local Mancunian greeting to all you lovely folks on Connect! 
I am proud to announce that @PeteMHW and myself will be co-hosting the next #EuroMeetup in Manchester, UK from the 6th June (Thursday) to the 9th June 2024 (Sunday).
This is just a super-early heads up so that you can start to make your own plans if you’re interested to attend. Please note that we will firm up on the dates in early 2024 but, barring unforeseen circumstances, we should be sticking to the dates above.
The rough agenda for now:
- Thursday, 6th June
- To Be Confirmed (TBC): Pre-event drinks (for those arriving early)
- 7pm: Welcome reception/dinner
- Friday, 7th June
- Explore Manchester
- Saturday, 8th June
Explore Liverpool (day trip)Explore Manchester
- Sunday, 9th June
- TBC: Farewell brunch
- TBC: Explore Manchester (for those leaving later)
Note: We will flesh out the agenda with more details in early 2024.
If you have any questions, do check out the simple FAQ we’ve prepared below but if you have other questions that are not answered yet, you can ask them in the comments too!
FAQ:
What is this #EuroMeetup? What happens during the event and is it for me?
The #EuroMeetup is basically a fun and exciting meet-up somewhere in Europe (past events include Krakow in 2018, Ghent in 2019 (recap) and Munich in 2023 (recap)) and is open to all Local Guides from all over the world! If you can make it, we’d love to have you here!
In a way, you can think of it as going on holiday with a group of friends or strangers (but soon to be friends), exploring the city with a local Local Guide (your hosts) showing you the best places and hidden gems! It is also a great opportunity to share ideas on writing reviews, taking photos and all things Local Guides related.
Attendees are usually very sociable and easy to get on with. We do encourage everyone to stay together as a group when exploring the city (that is the point of the event!) but if you do want to break away for an hour or two to do your own thing as well, that’s absolutely fine!
Who will pay for my expenses (transportation, accommodation, food etc)?
All attendees will pay for their own expenses as this is an unofficial meet-up that is not funded by Google. This is a community led event organised by the community for the community.
Who will sort out my travel and accommodation?
All attendees will plan and manage their own transportation and accommodation. For meals, we are planning on making reservations to accommodate us all as a group. We will pick places that will hopefully cater for all dietary requirements. The cost of the meal, however, will still remain an attendee’s responsibility.
Should I get travel/medical insurance?
We would generally recommend getting some form of insurance but it is at your own discretion to get travel/medical insurance. You should shop around online to see what suits you best.
Should I book my accommodation now?
Some travel sites and accommodation offer free cancellation on their bookings. We would recommend using them and making your bookings as soon as possible to lock in the cheaper prices. We will only confirm the dates in early 2024.
Where should I stay in Manchester?
Manchester is not a big city. You can easily walk (yes, walk!) from one end of the central district to the other end in under an hour. There are overground trams that connect many points in Manchester city centre to the outskirts (Greater Manchester), and a good bus network, as well as trains to Liverpool.
Salford is a neighbouring area and is also walkable to Manchester city centre. Your best guide is to use Google Maps to see how long it takes to walk to Manchester Central Library or Manchester Piccadilly Gardens; these are two POIs that are commonly used as the centre of the city. Salford is also a slightly cheaper area so sometimes you can find cheaper accommodation there.
Will we be visiting any football stadiums?
We try our best to pick places that are free to enter. Football stadium tours and the National Football Museum are, unfortunately, not free. As such, we think it’s probably best to arrange visits to those places by yourselves as not everyone in the group may be interested in football. We would recommend planning those visits on Sunday (if your travel home is later in the day) as the official event ends during the brunch and any visits after are quite free and easy (we will still do a guided ‘tour’ but you’re free to split off for your own plans).
So, if you’re interested, do let us know in the comments section below and we do appreciate that your plans can change next year so it’s just a rough guide for us to understand how many folks may attend! The more, the merrier! 
Enjoy more photos of lovely Manchester to whet your appetite! Pssst… it also rains a lot here so it’s quite common for the day to turn quite grey and gloomy too! 
I’m sure it will be very exciting if I join. I will try to be there. A small question. Do you create a group in WhatsApp-like places for communication before meetings? It will be easier to plan as a group from there.
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