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Once the second city of the British Empire, Liverpool has, since the Second World War been in decline. In recent years there has been a remarkable increase in investment with the city centre undergoing regeneration. In 2008 Liverpool was the European Capital of Culture for the full twelve months there were countless events ranging from music concerts featuring world renowned artists to exciting exhibitions of art. Now the dust has settled what is there to attract tourists to this lively city? Well there are many new Liverpool hotels catering for all tastes. In the article below I introduce the reader to three tourist attractions in Liverpool.

Tate Liverpool

Found at the waterfront in Liverpool, as part of the Albert Dock complex, is Tate Liverpool. Since opening in 1988, the Tate, for a short period of time, was the largest gallery of contemporary and modern art in the United Kingdom, outside London. The Tate is a very popular visitor attraction in Liverpool, seeing over 600,000 visitors through its’ doors each year. The gallery is in one of the five converted warehouses orignally converted by James Stirling. However, the building had to undergo further refurbishment in1988 to create more gallery space. In 2007 the foyer was redesigned, giving the gallery a  more modern appearance and better proportions in the reception area.

Albert Dock

Liverpool’s Albert Dock was named after Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, who opened the docks in 1846. The docks were very busy over the years,, but eventually had to close to shipping in 1972. For many years the docks lay derelict and quiet, until the 1980’s when they were redeveloped with funding from the Merseyside Development Corporation. The dock consisted of five warehouse buildings, all of which are Grade I listed, making the Albert Dock complex the largest set of Grade I listed building in the United Kingdom. The docks are now home to a number of tourist attractions, including the Merseyside Maritime Museum and the Tate Liverpool.

Liverpool Anglican Cathedral

Liverpool is renowned for having two cathedrals: the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral and the Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral. When John Charles Rye was appointed Bishop of Liverpool in 1880, ironically there was no cathedral in Liverpool as that time. Soon, after a lot of discussion, the powers that be decided that a cathedral was required. In 1902, they chose to hold an open competition for the design of the cathedral. The winning design was chosen in 1903, and surprisingly, was a proposal by student Giles Gilbert Scott, who had no former construction experience. Another architect, George F. Bodley, was nominated to work with Scott, and oversee all building works and designs. King Edward VII laid the foundation stone in 1904, and in 1910, the first part of the cathedral, the Lady Chapel, was finished.

Besides the 3 visitor attractions examined above Liverpool has a great many more. As well as this there are a huge number more not too far from the city, perfect for a day visit. If you are planning to spend time in Liverpool you may wish to take a look at our web site which has a comprehensive list of Liverpool bed & breakfast as well as a selection of serviced and unserviced apartments in Liverpool.

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