Top things to do near Liverpool Airport
See the work of world-famous artists
Tate Liverpool, in Liverpool’s Albert Dock, is where you’ll find the northern end of the National Collection of Modern Art. It hosts “a changing programme of special exhibitions” that offer you the chance to see works of art from all over the world. At different times, you’ll see masterpieces by everyone from Pablo Picasso to Andy Warhol to Claude Monet.
The gallery also holds a number of special events designed to enthral the whole family. The Tate Shop also lets you take home souvenirs from your visit. It takes 29 minutes to drive from LPL to Tate Liverpool via A561.
Go where The Beatles were born
There are many Beatles-related tours on offer in Liverpool, but The Beatles Fab Four Taxi Tour is one that gets the favourable reviews on sites like TripAdvisor. The taxi picks you from anywhere in Liverpool and takes you on a pre-planned tour or, indeed, one tailored to your tastes.
Take the tour to visit the childhood homes of all four Beatles. Paul McCartney’s home at 20 Forthlin Road and Lennon’s home at 251 Menlove Avenue are now owned by the National Trust. The Trust has restored both houses to the way they looked back in the 1950s and early 1960s. A visit here gives you a real sense of how things looked when the duo sat down to unwittingly change the world forever.
You’ll take in Penny Lane, Strawberry Field and St Peters Church (the site of the fete where John and Paul met in 1957). This tour can also take you to see Eleanor Rigby’s gravestone, the bus shelter in the middle of the roundabout and many other places that play a key role in Beatles folklore.
You can book a tour at fab4tours.co.uk.
Discover a “tangled legacy of seduction and decay”
Speke Hall is one of the few remaining wood-framed Tudor manor houses in the country. Built (in its current form) between 1530 and 1598, it offers you the chance to see an otherwise long-lost piece of history. A visit here also lets you “discover the truth behind Liverpool’s most famous ghost story” and its “tangled legacy of seduction and decay”.
The manor house is open 363 days a year and offers time away from the bustling airport. Despite offering such a refreshing contrast, Speke Hall is just seven minutes’ drive from LPL (via Speke Hall Avenue). This makes it the perfect place to visit during a short layover at the airport.
Learn the history of the waterways
The National Waterways Museum has a lovely (and very fitting) waterside setting in Ellesmere Port, just 29 minutes’ drive from the airport via the M56. You’ll take a boat ride through the industrial landscape and watch the resident blacksmith at work. A look inside the traditional narrow boats offers a vivid picture of how people have lived and worked on the canals over the years.
Uncover Liverpool’s hidden depths
The Williamson Tunnels are a labyrinth of underground passageways in the Edge Hill area of Liverpool. They were built on the orders of eccentric Liverpool tycoon, Joseph Williamson, over a 30-year period, starting in 1810.
Some believe that Williamson built the tunnels as a base for a sinister religious sect, but the man himself is quoted as saying that his main motive was to employ the poor as a gesture of charity without “the attendant stifled self-respect”.
The tunnels remained largely forgotten and in a state of disrepair until 1995 when excavations began, but some of the tunnels are now open to the public. Take a guided tour through the tunnels to find out more about both the history of Liverpool and the life of one of its most fascinating characters.
It takes 23 minutes to reach the Williamson Tunnels Heritage Centre from Liverpool Airport via Aigburth Drive.
Get close to nature
Spike Island is an area of open parkland. As the “birthplace of the British chemical industry”, it’s home to items of huge interest to archaeologists and industrial historians.
After being reclaimed as wetlands and woodlands between 1975 and 1982, Spike Island won a Green Flag award in recognition of its cleanliness. The lovely views, wildlife and kids’ play areas make it a great place to walk, relax and have fun.
If you’re driving, Spike Island is 14 minutes away from LPL via Speke Rd.