Sale

By plane:

From Manchester Airport you can take any train to Piccadilly then change, though it's a big station with a long walk between some platforms. But two trains an hour (for Blackpool and for Liverpool) run via Manchester Deansgate on the tram route: the fare is the same but it might save 20 min. You could even take the tram all the way from the airport, a slow journey for not much cheaper.

By tram:

Metrolink trams (green and purple lines) take 25 min from central Manchester via St Peters Square, Deansgate, Old Trafford and Stretford to Sale, continuing via Timperley to Altrincham. Sale is in Fare Zone 3 so a single journey from city centre is £3.80; trams run every 10-15 min 6AM-midnight. The purple line starts from Piccadilly, and the green line starts from Bury and runs via Prestwich and Victoria then through city centre. Change in city centre for the other lines to Sale Water Park, Wythenshawe and the airport, to Imperial War Museum and Trafford Centre (this line opened in 2020), through Piccadilly to Ashton-under-Lyne, through Victoria to Oldham and Rochdale, and to Salford Quays and Eccles. See TGM website for fare deals, service updates and travel planner; you must buy your ticket before boarding.

By car:

Sale stretches along A56, which connects Altrincham to Manchester. From M60 take jcn 6 for the water park and eastern parts such as Barlow Moor, jcn 7 for main drag along A56, and jcn 8 for western parts such as Ashton-upon-Mersey.

By bus:

Bus 263 runs every 15 min from Manchester Piccadilly via Old Trafford and Stretford to Sale (35 min), continuing to Altrincham.