When you’re on the move, you can hardly jam an antique sofa into your rucksack. But sometimes wandering around shops full of treasures from times long gone is a great way to familiarise yourself with a different culture or to simply cut your imagination loose.

Levenshulme Antiques Village, a short bus ride from Manchester city centre, is home to a jumble of shops selling vintage and unique items under one beautiful, eclectic roof.

The building itself is worth a visit, an ex-town hall clad in decorative green tiles standing over a backyard space peppered with sheds, outhouses and working studios.

Selling anything from Eames furniture and kitsch jewellery to art deco silver and old 78 records, the antiques village will give your eyes and imagination a mighty exercise. You may even find a small souvenir for a loved-one or a keepsake to remind you of your travels.

Make sure you’re hungry when you visit, as the village is home to a much-loved old-school English tea room with prices that have barely changed over the years.

This is the city’s best spot for an English breakfast and old-fashioned mug of tea. If it’s a rare sunny day, you can sit outside at a cast-iron picnic table with the locals and watch treasure hunters come and go across the cobbled yard.