Liverpool – More Than Just the Beatles

Liverpool has plenty of Beatles memorabilia to lure you, but you might be surprised to learn that it has much more to offer the traveler – even those who aren’t fans of the Fab Four. An old city with both new and historical architecture, Liverpool is big enough to give you plenty to do but small enough that you don’t have to endure London-like congestion.

I took the very comfortable and easy train run by Virgin from London’s Euston Station. In just over two hours, our train pulled into Liverpool’s Lime Street Station, and I was right in the center of the city. Of course, the most famous part of Liverpool is the Albert Dock on the River Mersey, where there are numerous museums, galleries, restaurants, shops, and hotels.

My first stops were the Merseyside Maritime Museum and International Slavery Museum, which are housed in the same building at the Albert Dock and free to the public. While the museums are relatively small, I was very impressed with the exhibits. Interactive and unusual, they’re a true experience – not just a walk through one room after another staring at “stuff.” They’re the kind of museums that keep school-aged children engaged.

My favorite exhibit at the Merseyside Maritime Museum depicted the colorful history of the Titanic, Lusitania, and Empress ships. As a port city, Liverpool played a key role in the stories of these vessels. The museum has numerous photographs and memorabilia that give you a real sense of the time period and the immensity of the tragedies, and there are models of the ships that show their grandeur.

The International Slavery Museum is now one of my favorite museums in the world. The exhibits are extraordinarily enlightening and moving. Again, as a port city, Liverpool was intricately involved in the transatlantic slavery of Africans in both Europe and the U.S., but the museum focuses on much more than just this key period of slavery. Ancient slavery is included, as well as modern incidents of human trafficking.

You can watch video interviews with people around the world who have experienced these atrocities firsthand, alongside interviews with historians and ancestors of African slaves. African artifacts give you insight into the lives of the people who were robbed from their homeland, and touchscreen exhibits with earphones give you a detailed idea of what life was like on a plantation in the American south, including words written by the slaves of the time.

Quotes regarding slavery are engraved on the walls throughout the museum, and information about the economics of slavery is given in chilling displays. It’s impossible to walk through the museum without becoming emotional.

The other main draw at the Albert Dock is The Beatles Story museum, which I found to be more entertaining than I expected. You walk through a series of fun exhibits that take you from the very beginnings of the Fab Four’s music career to the present.

There were plenty of things I didn’t know about the Beatles, including some of the clubs where they played in Liverpool when they were teenagers. A very early recording of the group before they were even called the Beatles played in this area of the museum, making it easy to tell that these were exceptionally talented boys.

Of course, if you want to really give over to Beatlemania, you can take the Yellow Duckmarine boat tour on the River Mersey and the Magical Mystery Bus Tour that will take you to Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields, among other locations. You can also visit Paul McCartney’s and John Lennon’s childhood homes outside of the city center.

I didn’t manage to do any of these things, but I did manage to catch the temporary Stuart Sutcliffe exhibit at the Victoria Gallery & Museum on the University of Liverpool campus. Sutcliffe, who was the original bass player for the Beatles and a friend of John Lennon’s, died in his early 20s.

While his development as an artist was stopped short, his work is very emotional and interesting. Some of it is the result of art school assignments, so the small selection of his work that remains is very eclectic. Even though the Sutcliffe exhibit is already gone, the museum’s permanent collection is worth a visit with some exquisite Rembrandt drawings and other masters represented. The building’s architecture is also very beautiful, and there is a nice café inside.

One morning, I took a train for a short ride under the river to the peninsula called The Wirral and visited a friend in West Kirby, a town with a view of Wales and a famous sailing club. We walked along the beach, but I opted not to walk to the nature reserve on Hilbre Island while the tide was out. My visit was in November, when the area is quite cold, so I will save that experience for a visit during warmer weather.

I stayed at the Hard Days Night Hotel, a Beatles-themed property that opened in 2008. The four-star hotel is within walking distance of the Albert Dock, and while it is housed in a historical building, the design inside is contemporary. I especially enjoyed the large light fixtures in the lobby with Beatles sheet music hanging down like a mobile, under which are bright orange, green, and red 60s-style chairs.

You might expect the hotel to have a Disneyland-type atmosphere, but nothing could be further from the truth. Located just around the corner from the famous Cavern Club where the Beatles played in the early days, the hotel is very tasteful, and its admiration for the Fab Four is far from cheesy.

As you ride the clear glass elevator, you can view black and white photographs of John, Paul, George, and Ringo on the walls of each floor, which include both original and specially commissioned pieces by photographers like Bill Zygmant and Paul Saltzman.

My room was Paul-inspired with just one beautiful modern portrait of him on the wall. The bed, furniture, service, and amenities were comparable to the world’s best hotels, as was the food served by the hotel’s two restaurants.

My only complaint is that there was no minibar (which isn’t an uncommon omission in Britain), and the shower was a bit small. I loved the black goose down duvet, however, as well as the towel-warmer, electronic control panel by the bed, and appropriately retro décor. I also enjoyed the humor of the doorknob signs, which said “I’ve had a hard days night” and “Help!” instead of “Do not disturb” and “Please make up my room.”

What struck me most about Liverpool is that it’s a cosmopolitan city with plenty to do, but it also has a character that is uniquely its own. An impromptu taxi ride gave me the opportunity to chat with a friendly local, who spoke with great pride about his city and pointed out various places of note as he drove me to my destination.

There is much more to see and do in the city than I managed during my short visit, but considering how easy it is to travel to Liverpool from London, I’m sure I’ll be back – the next time when it’s warmer.