Cheap flights to Liverpool from RON87*

Liverpool is not only famous for the Fab Four and football – it has the UK’s largest concentration of museums, galleries and listed buildings after London so there’s much more to see. This is a city that has reinvented itself as a centre for the creative industry by turning palatial buildings and waterfront warehouses into museums, shopping centres as well as exhibition and concert spaces with accompanying bars and restaurants growing organically alongside them into the new Liverpool.

 

A magical history tour

Liverpool pairs an industrial past with unrivalled musical history, multiple museums and a world-class waterfront, not to mention the football and the club scene for a hard day’s night. Scousers, as the locals are known, named after a stew for sailors, are proud of their city’s urban transformation, and rightly so.

 

Imagine

At Liverpool waterfront you’ll find Royal Albert Dock, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site that had a revolutionary (at the time) system for ships to load and unload directly from warehouses. Now the complex is home to attractions including the Merseyside Maritime Museum, the Tate Liverpool and the Beatles Story. Liverpool’s most popular museum has a replica of the Abbey Road studio, George Harrison’s first guitar and much more. If you’d like a broader view of musical history, visit the British Music Experience in the Cunard building. Soak up more culture from historic to art to pop. The World Museum Liverpool reviews Earth’s entire history, the Walker Art Gallery offers an enormous collection of paintings and sculptures across the centuries, or head to Anfield Stadium to pay homage to Liverpool’s football club. The impressive neo-Gothic Liverpool Cathedral is the world's largest Anglican cathedral, designed by the same architect as the quintessentially British red telephone box. Some say the neoclassical Saint George’s Hall is more impressive, or just witness the so-called Three Graces at Pier Head to see three waterfront masterpieces at once.

 

All you need is...

Food and drink? Well, the Baltic Triangle, once the well-worn workshop of the city, is now the burgeoning heart of creative industries in Liverpool, and the bar and restaurant scene is bubbling up alongside it. Start with the Camp and Furnace, ranked one of the UK’s coolest restaurants, where street food steams inside vintage caravans alongside open log fires in spaces strung with lightbulbs. Other parts of Liverpool offer up more classic dining experiences, such as a proper afternoon tea in gilt-and-velvet chairs at No. 9, English breakfast or a real roast dinner at Pippin’s Corner, or steak and kidney pie at The Edge at Joey Orr’s. There’s lots of world cuisine to try as well, from the elegant Viva Brazil, or have Lebanese at Fattoush or Spanish at Neon Jamon. For drinks beyond the pint at the pub, sip a G&T at Jenever Gin Bar or have a cocktail at Berry & Rye.

 

A hard day’s night

Liverpool ONE is an award-winning open-air shopping complex built into the streets of the city, with all the High Street shops done up large. Pop into The Bluecoat for a rest in the courtyard or garden of this former school. Visit Mooshy La La or Red Brick Vintage for retro women’s clothing and funky accessories, or explore Grand Central Hall which has clothing and home items in addition to produce and street food. Liverpool and Everton FC items abound, of course, for souvenirs. To start your evening at the pub, don’t miss The Ship & Mitre for two floors of Art Deco and a beer selection to die for. Ye Hole in Ye Wall is Liverpool’s oldest pub, with footie on the telly. The Dead Crafty Beer Company and the Slaughterhouse are renowned as well. The Cavern Club calls itself the cradle of British pop music, the place where the Beatles got their start, so perhaps a pilgrimage is in order, in case you see the world’s next big act. Speaking of the Beatles, SGT Peppers is a great bar with live music, or head to Liverpool Comedy Cellar for some comic relief.

 

Day tripper

True Beatles fans will want to head to Paul McCartney’s and John Lennon’s childhood homes, drop by Penny Lane for a selfie and see the red gates of Strawberry Fields, all on the outskirts of Liverpool. Visit Speke Hall, a diagonally patterned Tudor house from 1640, before you leave for your tour. Further afield, you could tour North Wales from Liverpool, such as the Victorian seaside resort town of Llandudno, the possibly haunted 13th-century Conwy Castle, or Snowdonia National Park, home to Wales’ highest mountain, Mount Snowdon, with views across to Ireland in nice weather. Or head north from Liverpool to Blackpool, the UK’s favorite holiday resort with a sandy seaside, family entertainment, historic buildings and beautiful gardens.

 

Liverpool airport

Liverpool John Lennon Airport is 30 minutes from the centre. There’s public bus service and the double-decker Arriva 500 Airport Flyer Express Bus service to city centre train stations or try ArrivaClick, an on-demand minibus service. Car hire and taxis are also available. In terms of shops, there are duty-free, accessories, travel items, books, groceries and souvenirs. Food options include pub fare, Italian-American, coffee, fast food and deli outlets.

 

Liverpool weather

Liverpool has mild summers, cool winters and rainfall spread fairly evenly throughout the year. Spring and summer are your best bets for sunny weather, July being the warmest with an average of 16°C.