Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
through its sugar, spice, and tobacco trade with the Americas. Under Queen Victoria,
it became Britain's biggest commercial seaport. Despite population hemorrhages over
the past couple of decades, it retains a compelling ethnic mix, including Britain's
oldest black community (descendants of 18th-century seamen, slaves, and traders'
children) and Europe's oldest Chinese community (with 19th-century seamen fore-
bears), plus many Welsh and Irish, the latter due to migration from the Great Famine.
It also continues its transformation into a major world city. Mid-2011 saw the
partial opening of the
Museum of Liverpool
(p. 585) in a fabulous new landmark
building on the Mann Island site at Pier Head, at the core of the waterfront World
Heritage site. Pier Head is also home to the listed
Royal Liver Building
, one of
the city's “Three Graces,” along with the neighboring Cunard Building and Port of
Liverpool Building. Home to the Royal Liver Assurance friendly society, the landmark
Royal Liver Building stands out for the famous pair of metal-sculpture Liver Birds
sitting on top of it—Liverpool's symbols, these mysterious cormorant-like birds are
said to protect the city's people as well as sailors coming into its port, and if one were
to fly away, the city would cease to be.
It's from Pier Head that you can catch a famous
Ferry 'Cross the Mersey
(
&
0151/639-0609;
www.merseyferries.co.uk),
which serves as both a locals'
shuttle service and a tour boat offering the best views of Liverpool's awesome skyline
with its mixture of the historic and the ultra-modern. Round-trip River Explorer tick-
ets are £11 adults, £6.50 children 5 to 15, and £4.50 children 3 to 4; you can also get
joint tickets to stop off at attractions at terminals across the water:
Spaceport,
Sea-
combe Terminal (
&
0151/330-1566;
www.spaceport.org.uk), with themed galleries
and temporary exhibitions, and
U-Boat Story,
Woodside Terminal (
&
0151/330-
1000;
www.u-boatstory.co.uk), a real German submarine housing interactive displays
and archive film footage. Seacombe Terminal is also home to a soft-play area and
cafe. Alternatively, Mersey Ferries also runs
Manchester Ship Canal Cruises
15
from Pier Head along the 35-mile waterway to Salford Quays (p. 567). In addition to
giving you the chance to learn about the canal itself, which helped shape the history
of Manchester and the northwest as a whole, the trip lets you take in Manchester
sights such as the Imperial War Museum North (p. 567). Trips cost £37 for adults,
£35 for kids, with return bus transfer.
Due south of Pier Head lies another hive of activity, the handsomely regenerated red-
brick
Albert Dock complex
(www.albertdock.com), now home to shops, restaurants,
hotels, and several attractions, including the
Merseyside Maritime Museum
(p. 584), the
Tate Liverpool
(p. 585), one of The Beatles Story sites (see below) and a
new 60-m (197-ft.)
Echo Wheel
(
&
0151/709-8651;
www.worldtouristattractions.
co.uk), which may turn into a permanent fixture. The Dock is also the starting-point for
tours of the city in the
Yellow Duckmarine,
a converted World War II DUKW
amphibious landing craft, and the Yellow Boat Cruise, a water-based heritage tour (both
&
0151/708-7799;
www.theyellowduckmarine.co.uk).
There's plenty to lure you away from Liverpool's waterfront. At the city's heart is
the
World Museum Liverpool
(see below). Close by, also on William Brown Street,
the
Walker Art Gallery
(
&
0151/478-4199;
www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk)
has an outstanding collection of European art from the 1300s, but is especially rich
in European Old Masters, Victorian, pre-Raphaelite, and contemporary British
works, and also has an award-winning sculpture gallery and a kids' gallery. Another
free venue, it's open daily 10am to 5pm.
