Take the Family holiday rating
| Timezone | GMT |
|---|---|
| Local Currency | British Pound |
Reborn over the last decade or so, Liverpool is one of Britain’s most hip and happening cities, and well as one of its most fascinating, by virtue of its maritime heritage. You could spend a week here and still not tire of its family attractions.
After a triumphant year as European City of Culture in 2008, the city has plenty of new attractions – the stunning waterfront Liverpool Echo Arena, the Liverpool One retail and leisure centre, and a new cruise-liner landing point. By 2010 they’ll be joined by the waterfront Museum of Liverpool, an exciting world-class urban history attraction.
Weather-wise, it’s seldom great here, so take your pick of the seasons in which to get drenched and thank the stars for the wealth of indoor attractions here.
The Crowne Plaza couldn’t be more central – it’s on the waterside beside the landmark royal Liver building with its famous clock towers topped by cormorant-like birds – the city’s symbol. The hotel has very good-value family rooms starting at £110, with two double beds. There’s also a children’s pool in addition to the main pool, and children under 12 eat free in the brasserie.
Take a 50-minute ferry ride up the Mersey and discover the city’s history-laden waterfront, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Make sure to stop off at Seacombe Ferry Terminal, for Spaceport , an attraction based around Space and Space travel. The Seacombe terminal also houses model boats, a large café, a soft-play area and a mini-karting track that replaced the old aquarium.
Get an hour-long overview of the city aboard The Yellow Duckmarine, a Second World War landing vehicle that begins at the waterfront and takes in Liverpool’s best-known sights before splashing down in Salthouse Dock, with trips accompanied by live commentary. Older kids might like to see the city from a rather different angle, on one of the Shiverpool ghost tours.
Make time for some of Liverpool’s museums and galleries. A real crowd-pleaser (and one that is free to boot) is the World Museum Liverpool, formerly the Liverpool Museum and now boasting new galleries such as World Cultures, the Bug House – complete with giant animatonics including a 2m house-fly – an aquarium with a low-level tank designed for little visitors, the Weston Discovery Centre (archaeology and ethnology), the Clore Natural History Centre, and the Treasure House Theatre (music, dance and more). In short, there’s enough here to keep you occupied for a whole day and beyond, plus a café and a Fair Trade shop.
For those who love bugs, there's also the new-in-2009 Bugworld Experience at the Albert Dock, with seven world zones where you can get up close and personal with various creepy critters - very close indeed, in the handling section, and closer still in the tasting section… Ick!
Otherwise, explore Liverpool’s seafaring heritage at the Merseyside Maritime Museum in the Albert Dock, also free. As well as housing the new International Slavery Museum and Customs & Excise National Museum, plus displays on emigration, on merchant seafaring, on the Battle of the Atlantic during World War II, and on the tragic sinkings of the Titanic, Lusitania and Empress of Ireland, it offers the Sea Urchin maritime-themed play area for tots.
Also at the Albert Dock is the northern outpost of the world-renowned Tate Gallery of modern and contemporary art, the Tate Liverpool, another free venue (except for special exhibitions) with plenty to entertain families, especially on Sunday afternoons, with Tate Explorers discovery sessions for all ages up to 12, drop-in activities for kids 5–12, and Family Bags that you design, taking inspiration from your visit. Depending on the time of year, there are also storytelling sessions and school-holiday specials, or all year round there’s a free activity trail for ages 5–12.
For more free art, head to the wonderful Walker Art Gallery of fine and decorative European pieces dating from 1300 to the present day: everything from portraits of Tudor royals to Hockneys (not for nothing is it dubbed ‘the National Gallery of the North’). Kids are more than welcome here: the dedicated area for children up to eight, Big Art for Little Artists, hosts activities inspired by the Walker’s world-class art collections, including puppetry, storytelling and dressing up.
Learn about Liverpool's musical heritage at The Beatles Story , which takes you on a journey into the life, times and culture of the iconic pop group as well as their music. In 2008 the visitor attraction was expanded to include a family Discovery Zone with interactive activities, including creating your own newspapers, creating a Beatles-inspired artwork, and playing a Beatles tune on a giant piano.
Swing by Underwater Street, a discovery centre where kids up to 10 can try out a mass of hands-on activities from panning for gold, experimenting in a laboratory or building a house to standing inside a giant bubble, climbing a rock wall or exploring an underground water cave.
Don’t miss Liverpool Cathedral, the UK’s largest, and holder of several other records – it has the world’s highest and widest Gothic arches and its highest and heaviest peal of bells. Climb the tower for views of the city and beyond, and visit The Great Space, where you can watch a panoramic film including a ‘fly-through’ the cathedral and helicopter-shot aerial views of the city. There are also special audio tours for kids, interactive computer terminals and a café-bar with fabulous views.
Sports-mad kids will know that the city is home to two major football clubs: Liverpool and Everton , both of which offer stadium tours. Liverpool’s ground, Anfield, also has a museum including the Champions League trophy and two film-shows.
A little outside the centre, towards the airport, Speke Hall, Gardens & Estates is a stunning Tudor house with period interiors (including a secret priest hole and a thunderbox loo), landscaped gardens, and countryside and woodland walks with views over the Mersey Basin towards North Wales. There are family trails in both the house and gardens, children’s Tracker Packs, behind-the-scenes tours and podcast-tours. Within the grounds, the Home Farm Visitor Centre is a restored Victorian farm building with a kids’ play area with adjacent picnic tables, an orchard, a restaurant and a shop.
On the northwest outskirts of the city, Croxteth Hall & Country Park is another country estate with an historic hall, a Victorian walled garden and a home farm (the park is free; the attractions can be visited individually or by a combined ticket, which saves you money). It's also home to Jungle Parc Liverpool, a high-wire family adventure park with treetop courses involving rope bridges, cargo nets and zip-lines. The kids’ courses have three levels and are suitable for ages four and up (minimum height 1.05m).
Just 13km north-west of the city lies Knowsley Safari Park, which has free-roaming exotic animals galore, from African wild dogs to wildebeest, a bug house and a bee house, a woodland walk, Mizzy Lake Farm, and lots of animal-themed amusement rides. In November and December there’s also a Santa’s grotto.
Liverpool has the usual family-friendly chains, including two branches of Pizza Express and a Gusto , both of which have children’s menus. Another well-reputed Italian is the Olive Press , where kids get their own Little Olive menu (toddlers eat free and every kids’ meal sold racks up a 25p donation to ChildLine) as well as the chance to make their own pizzas. The Olive Press’s sister restaurant, Simply Heathcotes, has a similar policy regarding children; Sunday lunch is a particularly good time to enjoy its British classics en famille.
Alternatively, there’s a famous Chinatown where lovers of Asian food will find plenty of delicious edibles from the familiar to the more adventuruous.
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