Liverpool Hotels

Ferry across the Mersey to a town with a Fab history and a very bright future.

It will be forever synonymous with the Fab Four, two football clubs and a famously testing steeplechase, but these days Liverpool is re-creating itself as a premier European city, riding on the back not only of its pop culture cred but of its glorious past as the mercantile hub of an empire.

The west-coast city of Liverpool stretches for 21km (13mi) along the east bank of the River Mersey, from the estuary on the Irish Sea down to the airport on the southern edge of town. Wales lies over the Wirral Peninsula to the southwest, Manchester is 56km (35mi) to the east and the Roman city of Chester is 29km (18mi) south. Albert Dock, Liverpool's prime tourist attraction, is on the Mersey waterfront west of the town centre. The Pier Head is further north, flanked by the landmark Liver, Cunard and Port of Liverpool buildings. Mathew St (Beatle mecca) is half a kilometre or so east, with Lime Street Station a 10-minute walk away to the northeast. The National Express coach station is a few blocks north of the station, on the corner of Norton Rd and Islington St, and the city's central bus station is in the heart of town on Paradise St. Liverpool Airport (whose official name is Liverpool John Lennon Airport - 'above us only sky') is 13km (8mi) south of the city centre.

In Liverpool, as in the rest of England, April to September is the prime time to be out and about, with pleasant average temperatures of 18°C (65°F); the shoulder months of March and October aren't too bad weatherwise either. Visitor numbers hit a peak in July and August, and no wonder! August is festival time - it seems every weekend has an event or three to celebrate. Winter (November to February) is as miserable here as in any other windswept port town, and those 4°C (40°F) temperatures are best avoided.