City Guide

Things to Do in Liverpool

Ben Maples  · Feb 25th 2021
Liverpool city with River mersey in the backdrop

The city of Liverpool is one of the most popular cities in the country and has started to become famous for its wonderful student population.

In this guide, we will look at the city’s history, its sporting culture and its location as well as show you the various things to do in Liverpool.

Things to do in Liverpool

Location

One of the major cities in the United Kingdom and home to two of the most popular teams in the Barclays Premier League, we have the city of Liverpool. Boasting a population of roughly 2,200,000 inhabitants according to the very most recent figures, it is one of the most densely populated areas in England.

Culture

The draw of a university is often the ability to go out and experience the rich and vibrant nightlife of the city that you’re staying in. With the city of Liverpool, you’ll most certainly be in for a great night out. We’ve compiled a list of three places that we think will tickle your fancy, check them out!

First up we have Sanctum, a nightclub in the city that has a very loyal following. The club offers everything from live music and DJ sets all the way through to the very best alcohol that you can buy and a great atmosphere to boot. We cannot recommend this club enough! Check it out; you won’t regret it. Secondly, we have Cream, which truly does have to be seen to be believed. The club has everything from a large performance stage with the best live acts and DJ sets in the UK, but also the best atmosphere you can ask for in such a large venue, great drinks, friendly staff and an awesome night out! And finally, we have Heebie Jeebies, the nightclub that has everything you need if you’re a student. Offering a “Meat & Greet”, don’t worry, we haven’t spelt that wrong, it is literally a grill and a chance to meet some of your new students and try some food while you’re at it. The whole club offers everything from alcohol to a dancefloor to awesome alcohol!

Once the European City of Culture, Liverpool has a rich and vibrant history dating back as far as 1207 and is regarded by many as being one of the greatest metropolitan areas in the UK today. The city has a number of museums that commemorate the history and culture of the city such as; the Museum of Liverpool, the World Museum, the Merseyside Maritime Museum, Sudley House and the Walker Art Gallery.

There are a number of cinemas in Liverpool too, with everything that you could need to be covered. The latest and greatest from Hollywood are shown here, and you can go to either the local Odeon (With its own IMAX screen), Showcase Cinemas or even the Picturehouse at FACT. However, more independent features are available at one of the city’s many film societies.

The city has a number of ways that it brings the people together, one of the best ways is with their Liverpool Sound City Festival, which has a great selection of musicians that play live, previous acts have included Ed Sheeran, whose first gig was the festival, we recommend you grab tickets while you still can!

Things to do with kids in Liverpool

Transport

As one of the biggest cities in the UK and one of the most well-known cities in Europe, it’s no surprise that the transport in the city is considered to be exceptional.

The buses in the city are managed by Mereseytravel with a number of different companies providing services in the city such as Arriva and Stagecoach. Liverpool also offer a night bus every Saturday night as well, they also have a number of services provided by National Express as well.

Liverpool also has an extensive railway network, a network that is generally considered to be one of the best in the UK. The main railway station is Lime Street Station. The city has a number of different links to other cities in the country as well such as Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Nottingham and Sheffield. The city also travels locally as well as they have a number of services to local stations and also to places like Chester.

The city also has a main airport called Liverpool John Lennon Airport, which is named after the former Beatles member. The airport travels internationally, regionally and commercially.

Universities in the City

There are three universities in the city.

The main university in the city is the University of Liverpool. The University of Liverpool was established in 1881 as University College Liverpool. The university is part of the coveted Russell Group of Universities.

The university has a rich history, especially when it comes to the world of sport, the university is known as Sport Liverpool in this instance, though it is often known as the University of Liverpool in other instances. The university mainly challenges in the Christie Cup, which is a cup that brings the cities of Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester together and pits the three cities against each other in a variety of different sports. The university does also share a friendly local rivalry and a number of derby events with Liverpool John Moores University.

The second university in the city is Liverpool John Moores University, the university was established in 1823 as Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts and then became a full university in 1992 and is also part of the University Alliance.

The student body of the university are represented by the Liverpool Students’ Union, for which every student is automatically enrolled. The union takes responsibility for the production of various student media outlets, such as The Looprevil Press, which is the student newspaper and Looprevil Radio, the student radio station.

The university regularly takes part in the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Leagues and competes in a number of different sports across the leagues. The university also takes part in the annual Varsity Cup, with the University of Liverpool.

The third university in the city is Liverpool Hope University, which was started in 1844 as a Teacher Training College. The college received university status in 2005.

The student body at Liverpool Hope University is represented by Liverpool Hope Students’ Union (LHSU). The union is connected to the National Union for Students (NUS), which means that students are entitled to their own NUS Card.

The union also represents elements of the student media as well, such as THIS Radio (The Hope Institute of Sound). The station broadcasts globally. The previous radio station, Radio Hope was rebranded and upgraded in order to suit new facilities and equipment.

Things to do with family in Liverpool

History

The borough of Liverpool was essentially created in 1207 as part of King John’s letters patent. Over the centuries, Liverpool’s growth was steady but began to really boom around the time of the industrial revolution.

Before that, the city’s ownership changed hands multiple times, especially during the outbreak of the English Civil War, which even included a remarkable eighteen day siege on the city in 1644. As Chester’s port began to die out, the city began to establish its own on the River Mersey and began to thrive.

By the time the 19th century had started, Liverpool was seeing a huge portion of industry, trade and population changes coming through. Liverpool and Manchester became the first cities to have an intercity railway link.

The city was also a great way for the country to bring imported goods like wool and textiles into the country from the Deep South in America. The city’s rise to prominence meant it was dubbed the New York of Europe. The city’s influx of immigrants from around Europe, led to the construction of a number of different religious structures for the religious communities.

During World War II, Liverpool was one of the most important cities in the UK and was seen as a strategic trump card by prime minister Winston Churchill. Unfortunately, Adolf Hitler felt the same way, which led to the Luftwaffe carrying out over 70 air raids on Liverpool and the surrounding area, which killed over 2,000 people and damaged half of the homes in the area.

Sport

The city has a rich and extensive history when it comes to sport.

The city’s main sport is football and the two main clubs in the city are the city’s namesake, Liverpool and their fierce rivals Everton. Liverpool play at Anfield, whereas Everton play at Goodison Park. The two clubs play in the Premier League, with Liverpool winning the competition in 2020. Liverpool are one of the most successful sporting teams in the history of English football, and also recently won the UEFA Champions League in 2019. The derby between Everton and Liverpool is often referred to as the friendly derby, although the amount of sendings offs in the fixture tends to discredit that.

Boxing is another hugely popular sport in the city, with the city boasting over 22 amateur boxing clubs. In fact, the city was the most represented city in the GB Boxing team in the 2012 Olympics. Large scale boxing events tend to happen in either the Echo Arena or the Liverpool Olympia.

In terms of horse racing, Liverpool is home to one of the famous steeple chases, the John Smith’s Grand National.

The city also has the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, which is in Hoylake. The club has presented the Open Championship multiple times and was also the venue to host the Walker Cup in 1983.

Who’s from Liverpool?

There are a number of famous people from Liverpool too, including Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Kim Cattrall, Abbey Clancy, Keith Chegwin, Miles Kane, Holly Johnson and Daniel Craig.

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