Where to stay

Royal Albert Dock is among Liverpool's best-known sights. Thanks to its landmark redevelopment, the historic waterfront area is now packed with budget accommodation options as well as excellent museums including the Museum of Liverpool, the Merseyside Maritime Museum, the poignant International Slavery Museum and Tate Liverpool. More upmarket hotels can be found in St George's Quarter, also part of the city's UNESCO-listed historical center, where architecture buffs can admire some of Liverpool's most beautiful Victorian buildings. Elegant townhouse hotels in the Georgian Quarter draw design influences from different eras, although for a true step back in time, the neighborhood's award-winning ghost tours are not for the faint-hearted.

Liverpool's nightlife is renowned across the northwest of England and beyond. Book a hotel in Liverpool City Centre where the bar scene continues to go from strength to strength, with club culture thriving alongside concept bars, semi-secret speakeasies and live music venues. Booking an apartment or aparthotel in the RopeWalks neighborhood, where ropes were once made for ships setting sail from the docks, is a great choice to be close to a hub of independent venues. From traditional pubs to bars once frequented by The Beatles, its top spots are always buzzing. The heavily regenerated Baltic Triangle offers a cutting-edge alternative. New places to stay open here every year, as do cool pop-up bars, warehouse clubs and modern takes on the traditional English pub.

Staying in the Baltic Triangle is also a great option for trend-driven foodies. As well as plenty of restaurant menus to peruse, there's always something new to sample at the Baltic Market - Liverpool's first street food destination serving delights from pizza and gyros to Korean fried chicken. Book a room in RopeWalks to be closer to modern British bistros, or in nearby Chinatown to satisfy a craving for authentic dim sum. Of course, for those more traditionally inclined, there's nothing more quintessentially northern than a full English breakfast. Almost all hotels in Royal Albert Dock will oblige with the kind of fry-up that would set up any sailor for days at sea.