Liverpool

United Kingdom

Things to do in Liverpool:

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Liverpool Restaurants

Cheap (27)

Tea House Cafe

The city's only Hong Kong-style caf� offers a cheery welcome and big, tasty portions at modest prices. read more
Affordable (38)

Saharaa

Informal and little-known, Saharaa has all the atmosphere of a Middle Eastern bazaar and an authentic, great-value set menu. read more
Good quality (27)

Simply Heathcotes

Housed in a spectacular glass-and-granite building opposite the waterfront, a highlight of this award-winning modern British menu is the rare-breed pork with celeriac and apple puree. read more

Liverpool Nightlife

Chilled (24)

Thomas Rigby

Convenient for the waterfront and the L1 shopping district, this handsome pub has a good lunchtime menu, an excellent range of world beers and prides itself on its warm welcome. read more
Live Music (11)

The Hotel California

Book in for the night at this friendly haven for lovers of rock, indie and metal. There's live music throughout the week but the five-minute trip through the Mersey Tunnel may seem a bit of a... read more
Clubbing (36)

Alma de Cuba

In an amazing setting, enjoy Cuban heels, samba dancers and great cocktails. Set in an old, semi-converted Polish church, it's especially worth visiting at weekends, when, at 11pm, rose petals are... read more

This Month in Liverpool (March):

By Gerry Corner

Shopping: The antidote to the populist, high-street bookseller, News from Nowhere is a radical community bookshop run on a not-for-profit basis, with sections covering everything from food, humour and children's literature to cross dressing and global politics (96 Bold Street, tel: 0151 708 7270).

Sightseeing: One of the greatest collections of stories ever told, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales comes to the Liverpool Playhouse on 23-27 March, in the form of Mike Poulton's witty adaptation for contemporary audiences (tel: 0151 709 4776).

Key areas: Europe's biggest shopping development, the 42-acre Liverpool One, is the new retail heart of the city, embracing 160 stores from high street to ultra-hip independent, and around 30 places to eat or drink.

Day trips: With 16 lakes and 150 high peaks including England's highest mountain, the Lake District is a region of stunning contrasts. The southern slopes are within a two-hour drive of the city, while a further hour's motoring is rewarded with even more rugged terrain.

Liverpool News & Gossip

Christmas film: Sherlock Holmes

Filmed on location in London, Manchester and Liverpool, this new version of Sherlock Holmes is a modern interpretation that goes beyond the dour deerstalker-wearing detective of yesteryear.

Guy Ritchie takes the helm for the latest incarnation and for once the ex-Mr Madonna hasn't cast an array of Cockney wideboys in lead roles. In a defining move, the Snatch, Lock Stock and RocknRolla director cast US actor Robert Downey Jr as the British super sleuth. Out goes the straight-faced ageing intellectual, replaced by a bohemian Downey depiction that is fresh-faced yet edgy. An equally inspired choice is Jude Law playing Dr Watson. Instead of the bumbling sidekick, there's a focus on his background as a soldier, womaniser and gambler.

The adventure takes place in Victorian England circa 1891 and centres on Holmes' and Watson's pursuit of an occultist.

London was used extensively as a backdrop, with key locations including the Freemason's Hall and St Paul's Cathedral, one of the most visited tourist spots in the capital. The north of England also features, with Manchester's colourful Northern Quarter being transformed into an urban Victorian setting. Liverpool also gets in on the action with the tobacco warehouses of Stanley Dock, an atmospheric Grade II-listed site built in 1848, providing plenty of authentic period scenery.

Liverpool Trivia

March: The football net was invented by Liverpool's municipal engineer John Alexander Brodie in 1892.
February: With 27 League Championships, five European Cups, three UEFA Cups, one Cup Winners' Cup, 11 FA Cups and six League Cups to boast of, Liverpool is England's most successful footballing city.
January: Most of the crew of the Alabama, one of the American Civil War's most efficient killing machines, were from Liverpool, where the Confederate vessel was built.