Hey there! Well, last week I gave you my first proper Liverpool blog, where I shared visiting a bunch of Beatles’ related spots. Today I will complete my Liverpool tale for you, although I guess it’s not so big of the sights this time around.

But I should take time to say what a wonderful city Liverpool is, it may well be my favourite city in the United Kingdom (at least of the ones I have visited). It’s an industrial city that has taken on a bit of a different life these days, and has two very popular football teams in Everton and… ummm…. Can’t quite remember the name of the other one. The downtown area has loads of shopping and you will find plenty of souvenirs too, as well as a Liverpool FC (oh that’s it!) shop and an Everton shop.

It also has a lot of really interesting buildings, many out of stone and marble. The Port of Liverpool Building is a prime example, not too far from the Mersey River. I definitely got the impression that the Masons have been and to some extent still are big in Liverpool, some of the buildings surely house secret societies of some kind!

Heading down to the Mersey River for a stroll from the Beatles Statues (mentioned last post) you can then wander up the river by foot to the Royal Albert Dock and beyond which is quite an interesting stroll. You’ll memorials to those who fought and died in world wars – Liverpool was actually targeted quite severely during blitz in the Second World War and so many of these buildings had to be reconstructed after the war.

Along here you’ll find the Museum of Liverpool in a grand but much more modern looking building. Also, there is a Maritime Museum and there are remnants preserved in the outdoor area (not inside the museum itself) to check out to the maritime history of the city. There’s even a ship I think a Maritime Museum ticket would get you on board during operating hours (but not 100% sure of that).

There are locks too and the area is quite photogenic. At the Royal Albert Dock, which is like a big square of water, there are loads of shops and the Tate Galleries – oh and outside the Royal Albert Dock a statue of rocker Billy Fury. There are more galleries and statues, museums in the area too, and of course the ‘Beatles Story’ Museum I mentioned last time, is on the far side/entrance to the Royal Albert Dock. And further on again you’ll find the ‘Wheel of Liverpool’ – a large Ferris Wheel.

There are, naturally, plenty of churches in Liverpool if you are interested – some have no interest in visiting churches etc but Liverpool has the Metropolitan Cathedral of Liverpool, built 1962-67 which is the seat of the Arch Bishop of Liverpool. This modern church is circular and has some lovely effects of light and colour through its stained glass windows.

Not that far from there is St Luke’s, built in the early 1800s, it was bombed during the 1941 blitz and remains a shell. It’s worth passing by and grabbing a photo, it does have a website and is ‘open’ but certainly wasn’t when I was there last year. It’s not far from Chinatown which has a beautiful gate at the start too.

Perhaps the best thing I did in Liverpool is take a ‘Mersey Tunnel Tour’. I booked online a week or so in advance, I see they are sold out (on Saturdays) as I write, which is great because they said they needed people to keep coming to keep the tours going. It’s now 14 pounds, it may have been 12 last year but either way it’s still excellent value.

You start in the incredible St George’s Dock Building, which in itself is very cool. You go up to the control room in the top half of the building. The building also acts as one of the vents for the tunnel, which is actually the vehicle tunnel that goes under the Mersey River. I got to see the giant fans that help suck up the air from the tunnel to push/pull it out the vents.

They show you side tunnels and access tunnels too and you do actually step onto a spot at the side of vehicle tunnel. We saw the Queensway Tunnel which was the older of the vehicle tunnels, opening in 1934 which was an incredible engineering feet of the time. I learnt about the construction of the tunnel, got into the emergency areas, saw bits of the city that are now buried. It actually wasn’t what I thought I had booked, there were some much older tunnels found in the last decade or so, but I wasn’t disappointed in the slightest. I highly recommend this tour, not many know about it and it really is something a bit different to discover on your Liverpool visit.

Finally, the place I stayed – Tune Liverpool. It was a cheapie really – I paid around $80AUD for a night for three nights, booking with Agoda. It was a basic but very much decent single room, quiet, great location on Castle Street with the Town Hall just at the end of the road. Five minutes walk to the Mersey River or to Matthew Street where you find the Cavern Club. However, I extended by a night when I was there and it cost me nearly triple that price (around $200AUD) for that night! Anyways, it’s worth considering. Not much in the way of amenities but there’s a Gregg’s next door, a laundromat 2 minutes walk away, and bars and eateries all around – I would stay there again just for the location!

Thanks for popping by and reading today. Do check out my other blog on Liverpool HERE. Really great city! Take care wherever you are in the world and… May the Journey Never End!