Liverpool is a city with a great cultural heritage and was recently awarded the title of European Capital of Culture 2008.
Liverpool is home to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and is also renowned for being the birthplace of a wide range of popular musicians including The Beatles, Gerry & the Pacemakers and more recently, Atomic Kitten.
The city possesses the largest national museum collection outside of London and has a fascinating and turbulent history as a great world maritime centre. Given this, Liverpool is also home to Europe's oldest Chinatown.
Get around
Liverpool City Centre is small enough to walk around, but black cabs are plentiful if you are feeling lazy. Buses run out from the centre regularly from Paradise Street Interchange (mainly to the south) and Queen Square (mainly north/east).
Both bus stations have travel centers with sometimes helpful staff who will assist with which bus to get and from which stand. At these, Saveaway, Solo and Trio travel passes can be purchased.
The Saveaway presents good value for the visitor, at £2.40 for unlimited off-peak travel for 1 day in 'Area C' (includes city centre, west out to Huyton, north to Bootle and south to Garston).
All-zones saveaways can be obtained for about a pound more, and take you through the whole of the Merseytravel area, perfect for visiting the Wirral or Southport. Trio (train, bus and ferry) and Solo (bus only) tickets require a photo, but have no peak-time limitations and can be bought for a week, month or year, ideal for visitors staying longer or working and therefore requiring more flexible travel. A Trio for one week costs about £12 for one zone, a Solo about the same for one area.
The train service in the Liverpool is quite reliable and efficient these days. The main stations in the city centre are Central, Lime Street and Moorfields. Lime Street is the terminus for many national lines and the local City line to Manchester.
Moorfields is just off Dale Street, ideal for the business centre of Liverpool and Central is usually used by shoppers and visitors. Local trains run very frequently between Hunts Cross, Kirkby, Ormskirk and Southport on the Northern line, every 15 minutes during the day and 30 minutes in the evening.
Central station is the main station for the Northern line, although the 'loop' links the three main city centre stations. The Wirral line forms the link between the Lime Street, Moorfields and Central, so all of these stations act as an interchange between the City, Northern and Wirral lines.
A new station in the south of Liverpool replaced the old Garston and Allerton stations in June 2006. This links the Northern and City lines and is ideal for the airport. It also acts as an interchange for a number of local buses.
Bus fares in Liverpool seem to rise all the time, but you can expect to pay around £1.50 for a 3 or 4 mile journey. Some buses are subsidised by Merseytravel, such as early morning and hospital services, and there is a maximum fare of around 80p. If you plan to travel a lot, a pre-paid pass presents much better value.
