By plane
Most international flights to the region arrive into Manchester approx 9 miles from Manchester city centre, where most of the regions key tourist destinations can be reached from the airport railway station, with Manchester Piccadilly about 15 minutes away by train.
There are also low cost intra-European flights availiable from Liverpool approx 7.5 miles from Liverpool city centre and Blackpool about 3 miles from Blackpool town centre.
By train
The rail backbone of the region is the West Coast Main Line connecting London to Glasgow via the North West, these trains are operated by Virgin Trains. The hub of all other long distance trains is Manchester Piccadilly, from where you can connect to regional trains either directly or via Manchester Victoria.
Liverpool while not as well connected as Manchester still gets direct rail links from London, Birmingham, East Anglia and the North East.
Other cities with long distance rail links include Warrington, Chester, Wigan, Preston and Carlisle.
By bus
National Express and Megabus operate long distance coach services to the North West.
By car
The North West can be reached from other regions as follows
North East - A1 then M62
Yorkshire - M62
Midlands - M6
London and South East - M1 then M6
Scotland - M74 then M6
South West - M5 then M6
South Wales - M48, then M5, then M6
North Wales - A55