The waterfront of Liverpool featuring the historic Liverbuilding.

Liverpool: Our historic home city

Welcome to Liverpool, our home and one of the friendliest cities in the UK. Forged from a long, culturally-rich past, Liverpool is a place with a strong sense of community built throughout its history.

Discover Liverpool

Today, Liverpool is a flourishing metropolis. Ranked the 7th best city in the world, it now boasts a population of around 484,000. And with over 55 million visitors annually, we’re not the only ones who like it here.

Liverpool is home to historic buildings, a thriving music and arts scene and countless restaurants, bars, and pubs that make it a fantastic place to live, study, work or visit.

This is a city where you’ll feel at home. But its prime location and transport network means you’re also well connected to the UK, Europe, and the wider world. Its combined city region contains 53 miles of coastline, beautiful beaches and parks. No wonder six in ten of our graduates remain in the city after graduation.

Find your place. Discover Liverpool.

Liverpool City Region

Aerial shot of city centre University campus

Liverpool is one of the fastest-growing UK city economies. It's also the beating heart of the larger Liverpool City Region. The Liverpool City Region is a metropolitan area that unites 6 boroughs - Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral.

Together, they work to drive prosperity and ensure a strong combined infrastructure. The City Region invests heavily in innovation, healthcare and research and development, such as providing funds to the Investment Zone. This initiative unlocks £800 million of public and private funding to boost economic growth and job creation. It focuses on advanced manufacturing, digital and creative and life sciences.

We're dedicated to working with the Liverpool City Region to achieve these goals. In our strategic framework, Liverpool 2031, the Place and Innovation pillar outlines our vision for prosperity and wellbeing for the Liverpool City Region. We want to achieve this through excellence in research, innovation and partnership for local and global impact.

Our location

Liverpool is the perfect combination of connected and cosy. We’re just 2.5 hours from London. And the substantial rail network and motorways provide great links to Manchester, Leeds, Wales and even Scotland. For adventures a bit further abroad, Liverpool’s John Lennon International Airport connects the city with the wider world.

Being in the North West means Liverpool is close to some of the most breathtaking natural landscapes in the UK. Beyond the beaches and parks in Liverpool, Snowdonia National Park in North Wales and the Peak District are both just over an hour away.

Whether by foot, boat, bus, train or plane, exploring is easy in Liverpool. Being so well-connected means that our reach is greater, our neighbours are closer, and from here, we have easy access to the world around us.

Culture and sport

One of Liverpool’s most prominent features is its love of all things sport. The city is home to two of the biggest and most historic football clubs in the UK, Liverpool and Everton. But there’s a raft of other sport that also grips the city. The Liverpool City Region also boasts St Helens, the most successful rugby league club in the Super League era. The region also hosted the 151st British Open golf championship at Royal Liverpool in 2023.

Sport is as much participation as it is for spectators in our region, however. It's home to hundreds of sports clubs, including football, rugby, cricket, rowing, lawn bowling, basketball and more. If you can think of it, there’s probably a club for it in Liverpool. Our public spaces are designed to get people involved. There are 15 bowling greens that are free to use in Liverpool. You can even apply for angling permits to fish in eight of Liverpool’s local parks.

Arts and architecture

Statue of the 4 members of the band, the Beatles at Liverpool Pier Head

Be inspired by a local arts scene bursting with creativity. From aspiring artists to world-renowned stars, Liverpool has it all. The city has more galleries and museums than any other outside London. Among the fantastic array of museums and galleries are the Tate Liverpool and our own Victoria Gallery and Museum. The Liverpool Biennial Art Festival also brings cutting-edge contemporary art to Liverpool, transforming the city into an exhibition space.

In terms of cultural impact, however, Liverpool’s most prominent mark on the world comes from the music industry. There’s a reason we’re a UNESCO City of Music. Hometown of the Beatles, Liverpool’s connection to music is woven through its history thanks to bands like Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Gerry and the Pacemakers and The Lightning Seeds. The city also hosted the iconic Eurovision event in 2023, and welcomed Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour to Anfield Stadium in 2024.

Liverpool is also home to Africa Oye - the largest free festival of African music in the UK.

Liverpool is also a treasure trove for architectural enthusiasts. There are 27 outstanding Grade I listed buildings dotted around the city, such as the stunning Royal Liver Building, the Gothic Revival Anglican Cathedral and Saint George’s Hall. The city is a feast of varying architectural styles, from the Georgian townhouses, Victorian warehouses, the Art Decco Philharmonic Hall, Modernist buildings and more.

Nature and green spaces

Anthony Gormley iron man statue against a dramatic sunset

Nature is woven throughout the Liverpool City Region. With 250 parks and open green spaces, as well as miles of coastline and beaches to explore, it’s easy to escape into nature.

The Liverpool City Region hugs the North West coast of England, wrapping around the opening of the River Mersey. Within our local area, you can find beaches and bathing areas, as well as sand dunes and coastal walks aplenty.

Crosby Beach is even home to the fascinating sculpture installation ‘Another Place’ by Antony Gormley. There are also 8 beaches on the Wirral, as well as Birkenhead Park, the first publicly funded municipal park. For those who want to see something a little different, the National Trust location at Formby is a great place to explore, with the added bonus of having the chance to see endangered red squirrels.

Closer to the city centre, you’ll also find the Grade I listed Sefton Park, a favourite amongst Liverpudlians for a jog, walk, or picnic. Covering over 200 acres, Sefton Park has beautiful, curved walking paths that wrap around the lake, through the trees and past the beautiful glass Palm House. You can also discover Calderstones Park, named after the decorated, ancient megaliths located inside. The Liverpool City Region is home to a diverse range of beautiful, natural landscapes. Whether you’re looking to go for a swim, hike on the dunes, or just take a walk through the park, Liverpool has it all.

Albert Dock

The revolutionary Royal Albert Dock helped propel Liverpool to a global powerhouse. At the height of activity in the 1800s, it hosted 40 per cent of global trade. Now, the refurbished Dock is a stunning home to some of Liverpool’s most influential museums, independent shops and restaurants.

The Dock originally opened in 1846. Dominating the waterfront of central Liverpool, it represented a huge hub for global trade. The unique design merged the docks and warehouses, allowing ships to unload their cargo directly into the secure warehouses, cutting the ships' turnaround time in half. The Albert Dock was also home to the first fireproof warehouse in the world, as well as the world’s first hydraulic cranes.

Today, the area pulses with new life, blending rich history with modern creativity. Walk along the Dock to encounter trendy restaurants, unique shops, and beautiful views of the Mersey.

A staggering 6 million people visit the Albert Dock each year, making it the most visited UK tourist destination outside London. This iconic waterfront is also home to world-class museums that delve into Liverpool’s past, including The Beatles Story, the Tate Liverpool, the Merseyside Maritime Museum, and the International Slavery Museum, which addresses Liverpool’s shameful role in the transatlantic slave trade.

Albert Dock is a dynamic destination where the spirit of Liverpool's past meets the excitement of its future.

History

Royal Liver Building in Liverpool, England by Drone

Like the Mersey River it was founded on around 800 years ago, Liverpool has been shaped by the ebb and flow of its history.

Rocketing from humble origins to become the booming economic power and essential hub of international trade in the 1800s, Liverpool became the second city in England. As trade shifted and manufacturing declined, Liverpool fell into an economic recession in the late 1900s. But its resiliency and entrepreneurial spirit carried it through to its economic renaissance at the turn of the century, when it was recognized as a world heritage site.

Today, Liverpool is one of the fastest-growing cities in the UK, an investment hub for innovative businesses, and has been named one of the top ten cities in the world.

Liverpool’s resilient, independent, and strong civic spirit has remained unchanged throughout this long history. A long history of immigration has enriched the city’s culture and added to the welcoming and worldly spirit it gives off.

Economic success and challenges have fostered the pioneering and forward-looking entrepreneurial spirit and creativity. The unification of the Liverpool City Region shows the civic pride and independence of the city. Liverpool’s history has strengthened the city, imbuing it with the characteristic sense of humour, pride, and warmth that you can feel to this day.

The future

Growth, innovation, sustainable development and excellent quality of life for all.

A city on the rise, Liverpool is investing in infrastructure, continuing to grow business and academic progress, supporting the arts and culture in the city, and doing all of this sustainably.

The significant investments made in the Knowledge Quarter have cultivated a research and innovation hub that marries academia and industry. The rail network is expanding, with new trains and rail lines opening to increase connectivity within the region.

Liverpool’s future is sustainable too, with a plan in action to reach net zero carbon by 2040 or sooner and to grow inclusively by investing in its residents through skills training and initiatives. Liverpool has always been a place with a strong culture, passionate and welcoming residents, and an eye on the future.

Knowledge Quarter

Home to our own city centre campus, the Knowledge Quarter is a vibrant district known as a hub for cutting-edge research, innovation, and education. It is a massive focus for investment in the future, and is being developed as a partnership between the Liverpool City Council and the University.

The Knowledge Quarter is well-named, as it stands at the forefront of education, science, and creativity and is one of the country's largest academic and clinical campuses. In addition to the University’s cutting-edge research and world-class research facilities, the Knowledge Quarter is also home to the Liverpool Science Park. This facility is a hub of over 60 science and tech businesses composed of a community of collaborative and ambitious innovators, developers, scientists, start-ups, and blue-chips.

Liverpool: Our historic home city

Explore Liverpool

Knowledge Quarter