Liverpool

Home of the Beatles and a football city, with Anfield, the Royal Albert Dock and the Cavern Club, plus free-entry national museums.

Liverpool lies on the estuary of the River Mersey in northwest England. In the 18th and 19th centuries it was the British Empire's second-largest port, and it is the hometown of the Beatles and home to two Premier League clubs, Liverpool and Everton. The city's core runs along the river: the "Three Graces" at Pier Head, the museums and The Beatles Story at the Royal Albert Dock, and the William Brown Street cultural quarter and St George's Hall are all within walking distance, and the National Museums Liverpool (the Maritime Museum, International Slavery Museum, Museum of Liverpool, World Museum and Walker Art Gallery) are all free. Southeast of the center are two strikingly different cathedrals, Chinatown and the food scene of Bold Street; the southern suburbs have Penny Lane, Strawberry Field and the childhood homes of John Lennon and Paul McCartney; Everton's new stadium is on the waterfront to the north, and Anfield is northeast of the center. The climate is mild and rainy, with May–Sep the most pleasant; the football season runs Aug–May, and International Beatleweek is held in late August. Getting there: trains from London Euston to Lime Street take about 2 hours 15 minutes, trains from Manchester Airport about 50 minutes, or fly into Liverpool John Lennon Airport. Plan to stay 2–3 days; the center is walkable, and Merseyrail and buses cover the outer areas.

Top sights

• Anfield – The home stadium of Liverpool Football Club. Stadium tours take you into the changing rooms and player tunnel, and on matchdays you can fee…
• Royal Albert Dock – A cluster of red-brick and cast-iron warehouses completed in 1846. It is the largest Grade I listed building complex in England and now hou…
• The Beatles Story – The world's largest permanent Beatles exhibition. It recreates the Cavern Club and Abbey Road Studios and traces the rise and breakup of th…
• The Cavern Club – An underground music club where the Beatles performed nearly 300 times in their early years. Rebuilt in 1984 to its original look, it hosts…
• Liverpool Cathedral – The largest cathedral in England, a monumental Gothic Revival sandstone building. Visitors can climb the tower, about 100 meters high, for…
• Pier Head & Three Graces – Liverpool's iconic waterfront square, where the Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Building, and the Port of Liverpool Building, known as the…
• Mathew Street – The small street home to the Cavern Club, lined with Beatles-themed bars, statues, a wall of celebrity bricks and souvenir shops, with a li…
• Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral – A modernist circular cathedral whose exterior resembles a tent and crown. A central lantern of colored glass fills the round nave with sunl…
• Merseyside Maritime Museum – A free maritime museum telling the story of Liverpool as the second largest port of the British Empire, covering its seafaring history, mig…
• International Slavery Museum – A free museum that confronts Liverpool's role in the transatlantic slave trade, telling the story of African cultures, enslavement and resi…
• Museum of Liverpool – A free museum in a modern riverside building that tells the full story of Liverpool, from urban development and football to pop music and d…
• Royal Liver Building (RLB360) – A 1911 clock tower building topped with two Liver Birds. Take the RLB360 tour to climb inside the tower and get a close look at the largest…
• Mersey Ferries – The Mersey Ferries, known from the hit song of the same name. A 50-minute river cruise offers views of the Liverpool skyline and the opposi…
• Hill Dickinson Stadium (Everton) – Everton's new home opened in 2025, a riverside stadium with a brick exterior built on the Bramley-Moore Dock. Stadium tours are available.
• World Museum – A free general museum with Ancient Egyptian artifacts, dinosaur fossils, an aquarium, an insect house and a planetarium. It suits families.
• Walker Art Gallery – Known as the “national art gallery of the North,” offering free access to European masterpieces by the Pre-Raphaelites, Rembrandt and David…
• St George's Hall – One of the finest neoclassical buildings in the world. Its hall is paved with more than 30,000 tiles of Minton porcelain, and it preserves…
• Liverpool Central Library – A free library in a Victorian building with a modern glass atrium inserted inside. Its circular Picton Reading Room is a popular spot for p…
• Liverpool Chinatown – One of the oldest Chinese communities in Europe. Its entrance archway is one of the largest Chinese-style archways outside China.
• Liverpool ONE – A large open-air shopping district in the city center with more than 160 shops, restaurants and cinemas, linking the docks with the old tow…
• Bold Street – Liverpool's most characterful food street, lined with independent cafés, small restaurants from around the world and vintage shops. At its…
• Baltic Triangle – A creative district made from converted old warehouses, with street murals, craft breweries, a food market and clubs.
• Sefton Park & Palm House – Liverpool's largest Victorian park, with lakes, lawns and an octagonal glass palm house. It is the local residents' weekend backyard.
• Penny Lane – The street from the Beatles' song of the same name. The barber shop and roundabout bus shelter mentioned in the lyrics can still be found…
• Strawberry Field – The former Salvation Army children's home where Lennon played as a child by climbing over the wall. Its red iron gates are world-famous, an…
• Mendips & 20 Forthlin Road – The childhood homes of Lennon and McCartney, preserved by the National Trust. Entry is only with an official minibus tour, and the band's e…
• Speke Hall – One of England's finest Tudor timber-framed black-and-white manor houses, with secret spy holes, Victorian interiors and woodland gardens.
• Port Sunlight & Lady Lever Art Gallery – A 19th-century model village built by the Lever Brothers for their workers, with more than 900 protected buildings and the free Lady Lever…
• Another Place (Crosby Beach) – Antony Gormley's 100 cast-iron figures are spread across 3 kilometers of beach, all facing the sea and gradually disappearing with the tide.
• Formby (National Trust) – Pine woods and dunes by the coast are home to the rare red squirrel, with open sandy beaches and dunes beyond the pines.

Where to eat

• The Art School – A Michelin-selected restaurant set in a converted Victorian schoolhouse, with modern British cuisine helmed by Chef Pau…
• Maray – A popular small-plates restaurant on Bold Street, where the signature Disco Cauliflower is frequently hailed in reviews…
• Manifest – A small, Michelin-selected restaurant in a converted warehouse in the Baltic Triangle, focusing on seasonal modern Brit…
• Belzan – A neighborhood modern bistro on Smithdown Road, highly popular for its Guinness and cheese potatoes and Sunday roast.
• Mowgli Street Food (Bold Street) – The original location of the Mowgli street food brand, focusing on home-style street food and curries.
• Ma Egerton's Stage Door – An old-school pub located behind the Empire Theatre, offering an affordable spot to try Liverpool's iconic local dish…

Itineraries

• Great Britain Classic Loop: England & Scotland – A classic British road trip from London, looping through Bath, the Lake District, Edinburgh, and York.
• Northwest England Cities and the Peak District in – Take the train to Liverpool, Chester and Manchester, then walk the ridges of the Peak District.