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28 Hours in Liverpool with the Kids

Sep 9, 2019

Do you like the idea of taking the kids away for a night to a city? We spent 28 hours in Liverpool with the kids and we loved it!

Even two years ago the idea of taking the kids for a whirlwind trip to a city would have sounded like more effort that it was worth.

They’re 6 and 8 now and it was brilliant trip. As a tourist city for a family trip I can’t recommend it enough.

In this post I’ll talk through what we did, and what we thought.

We decided it would be best to book an Aparthotel, mainly so we could have two bedrooms. We stayed at a really nice place right in the middle of the city, no more than 15 minutes walk from everywhere we wanted to go.

It was £88 for a 2 bedroom apartment with a kitchen, living room, 2 bathrooms wifi, and underground parking! – Staycity Aparthotel Duke Street

 

DAY 1

It was about an hour and a half trip from Chesterfield and we arrived at 11am.

After parking the car and checking into the hotel we headed first to The Royal Albert Dock

I’ve been quite a few times before but it’s still a treat, it’s such a beautiful place with all the huge red columns and beautifully preserved buildings.

CAMERA AND LENS CHOICE

I am always undecided about taking my ‘proper’ work camera out with me for a full weekend.

Knowing full well that I’d spend the whole time thinking about the pictures that I could have taken, I decided to take it.

So I packed my Sony A7r iii just with one spare battery and one lens – Sony 50mm f1.8 – mainly because with this lens it fits nicely into my small camera bag.

I know, even a picture of me!

First Stop – The Beatles Story

My husband is a huge music fan. I’d read lots of really good reviews about The Beatles Story museum, so it was an obvious first stop.

TIME FOR ME

What I hadn’t anticipated was that the kids would love it!

When you go in everyone gets headsets which plays commentary and music as you go around.

Now, I don’t want to sound uncultured but as a wife of a music documentary nut I feel like I probably know enough about the Beatles.

Photography is my hobby and my obsession. I love light, imagery and colour.

While everyone else walked around in complete silence with their headsets on, I switched mine to music only and quietly snapped away, it was bliss (whilst pretending to look at some of the exhibition so that I don’t look disinterested).

My 8 year old absolutely loved it and considers himself a huge fan now.

Below, Elliot twinning with the John Lennon statue!

AROUND THE ALBERT DOCK

You could definitely spend an hour just walking around the Albert Dock without going in anywhere. Everything is perfectly clean, spacious and amazing for kids who like to climb and jump.

There are loads of quirky little shops too.

TATE LIVERPOOL

After a run around and a stop in a coffee shop (mind-blowingly expensive FYI) we decided to stay at the Albert Dock and visit Tate Liverpool 

I don’t know how the kids would get on going from one museum straight to another but again it was a huge hit.

It’s geared up really well for kids, with backpacks that they can borrow packed full of goodies to use while they walk round (a magnifying glass, mirror, note book, cool glasses, crayons).

Seeing Art through new eyes

Did I mention that I love colour, and pattern, and straight lines, and photography, and my kids……. happy happy me!!!

Art – Jim Lambie’s Zobop

Mirrors

We all loved this piece so much. I think you might be able to tell.

It was a 4 sided mirror box with circles cut out.

Art – The Passing Winter by Yayoi Kusama

Playing with a spot light in a dark corridor

Spooky but cool!#

When your six year old kid old looks at a piece of art for a while before asking the gallery assistant if the lady was looking for her knickers in her washing pile?

Art – Venus of the rags by Michelangelo Pistoletto

Evening with the kids

We really wanted to take the kids somewhere different from the usual chain ‘kid friendly place’,

After looking at loads of different options we went to a Brazilian restaurant and it didn’t disappoint!

The restaurant was called Viva Brazil, a small chain I think and perfect for a family. It had an impressive foyer and stairs which got a ‘wow’ the kids, and a buffet style salad and sides bar.

They then bring different meats round to the table on squewers from the BBQ for you to take if you wish.

It was only 5 minutes walk from the hotel, and the boys were tucked up and asleep-ish (after some threats of going home if they weren’t quiet) form about 8pm.

Day 2

I brought breakfast with us from home, so we hung out in the apartment until about 9am Morning still starts for us at 6.30am) and then headed up to Mathew Street where the original Cavern Club was.

Interestingly the council filled it in with concrete in the 80s, and then rebuilt it once they realised that tourists would probably like to see it.

Having been in one fake Cavern at the Beatles Museum, we decided it wasn’t worth seeing another. We had a nice time walking up and down the street though.

Liverpool World Museum

The Liverpool World Museum was a slow 15 minute walk from The Cavern.

It’s a huge building, set over 4 floors. We decided to go mainly because of their space exhibition which I knew the kids would enjoy.

We enjoyed it, we weren’t blown away, maybe we were a bit too full of facts from day one. I think having been to lots of other great general museums around the country with a a similar feel we found it a little disappointing.

Still, I got a cool picture of the kids on an internal glass bridge which connects one side to the other, so I was happy.

Tired Tourists

After consulting google maps it was decided that the 20 minute walk back to the Royal Albert Dock was just too far so we took a bus. It was £7 for the 4 of us so we really could have got a cab. They loved the novelty of sitting at the front of the top deck though.

We then spent more money on Beatle tat….. I mean memorabilia, and then we went on the Wheel of Liverpool.

There were some boards at the bottom showing Ariel views of different towns and the boys found Chesterfield – exciting moment I’m sure you’ll agree!?

Just next to the Wheel of Liverpool there was a Pizza Express – always a family favourite, and perfect if you have the meerkat vouchers – 2 for 1 on all starters, mains, and deserts, bargain!

The Perfect City for Families

We really had the most amazing, jam packed 28 hours.

There wasn’t a single minute when I felt worried about the kids safety.

It’s a vibrant, interesting, clean and modern city, perfect for a mini break with your young family.

I’ll leave you with this amazing image of The Beatles in a sweet shop window, made out of jelly beans!

#collaborationnotcompetition

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post – if you would like to see more inspiration from other professional photographers within the #collaborationnotcompetition project then feel free to visit any  of the websites below

Anna Hurst Photography

Catriona Mairi Photography

Charles Thorne Photography

Clare Harding Photography

Clare Walpole Photography

Dandelion Photography

Derya Vicars Photography

Hannah Cornford Photography

Jo Haycock Photography

Photography by Leela

Light Monkey Photography

Louisa French Photography

Lyndsey Abercromby

Lynne Harper Photography

Mel Wilson Photography

Nadine Brandt Photography

Sarah Gibson Photography

Portrayed Photography

Danielle Reeder Photography

Tor Keene Photography

Nina Mace Photography

2 Comments

  1. Sarah Gibson

    I’ve never visited Liverpool before, so found this fascinating. I’d like to go for the Tate exhibitions alone!

    Reply
    • Helen

      It was so great! Highly recommended. Thanks for commenting Sarah x

      Reply

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