A Weekend in the City – Liverpool

When I was younger, Liverpool was always represented as a grey, gloomy city full of blokes with big perms and shell suits wandering around telling everyone to either calm down or crack on soft lad.
It didn’t appeal to me at all – even the floating weather map wasn’t enough to make me want to visit.

Since then, Liverpool has undergone massive regeneration, shaken off that image and become a far more desirable destination to visit.

A Weekend in Liverpool

Liverpool is not only ideal because it’s so close to us, less than two hours away by car. It also has the benefit of being home to Liverpool FC.
Now, that fact is neither here nor there for me BUT being married to a Liverpool fan, it makes it far easier to convince him it’s the perfect place for a weekend in the city and why not when there is SO much to do there?

We can start with a tour of Anfield (not on match day – my generous nature does not extend that far).
Rory can visit The Kop, see the hallowed turf, touch the famous sign and sniff the changing rooms or whatever it is fans do when they visit places like this.

Then the weekend in Liverpool can start proper.

Liverpool is an eclectic, vibrant and cultural city with loads to see and do and, as you would expect from the European Capital of Culture 2008, Liverpool has something for everyone.

The city that gave us Cast, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Lightning Seeds and Frankie Goes to Hollywood is also, rightly, the home to the British Music Experience. Here you can see outfits worn by David Bowie and Freddie Mercury (not at the same time), and instruments played by The Rolling Stones and Noel Gallagher.

After that, it is only good and proper to visit possibly one of the most iconic locations in Liverpool.
The birthplace of Liverpool’s most famous export – The Beatles, not Atomic Kitten – The Cavern Club.
OK, so it’s not the original club but it’s still probably the most famous nightclub in the world and it would be rude not to pop in to watch a band and have a beer.

If you like your culture to be a little more ‘high brow’ then head to Tate Liverpool which, until 2003, was the largest gallery of modern and contemporary art in the UK outside of London. For something more classical, The Walker Art gallery housing one of the largest collections of classical art in England.

As delightful as it is, a weekend cannot be survived on the arts alone. Luckily there are shops, restaurants and bars in abundance in the city.
Liverpool One – a 42 acre redevelopment in the heart of the city – is home to over 170 shops, bars and restaurants. After a mooch about in John Lewis, eyeing up beautiful things I can’t afford, I would then be inclined to head to Roxy Ballroom to indulge in pool, ping pong, pints and some banging tunes.
You know – the ones that remind you of being young again and keep you up dancing, shoeless, until 1.30am despite being far too old with a dodgy hip (true story).

There really are so many ways to fill a weekend in Liverpool…and there isn’t a shell suit to be seen!