Private Liverpool Self-Guided Tour

Here is where the tour starts. This is the first stop of 18! You will get a brief description of the whole tour and particularly at this stop, you will discover the history of the city of Liverpool. You will learn about Liverpool origins as a tidal pool next to the River Mersey before the town was founded in the 13th century and how it became the city it is today. You will also learn about St. George’s Hall, the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building; not only was its design based upon an ancient temple, but its position on its elevated podium was chosen to increase its dominance over its surroundings.

In this stop, you will learn about The William Brown Street Conservation Area, which has a high concentration of the city's major public buildings and now forms the principal cultural quarter of Liverpool. The street was named after William Brown, a powerful merchant who later became MP and philanthropist, donating these lands in 1860 for cultural purposes. The buildings and structures you will see here are: The former County Sessions Court, the Walker Art Gallery, the Central Library, the World Museum Liverpool, Alfred Waterhouse's former North Western Hotel, the neo-Grecian Empire Theatre, the Steble Fountain and the Wellington Memorial.

We will walk you through the several adjoining historic buildings on William Brown Street, putting special emphasis on The library and World Museum Liverpool. Both share the same building, which is a Grade II listed building built in a classical style. Besides hearing about the history of this place and its surroundings, you will get some tips on what to visit and which exhibit rooms to enter in the Library and Museum (entrance should be free for both but sometimes there are events that might charge a fee).

We will guide you through St John's Ornamental and Memorial Gardens, which stand in a former area of heathland known as The Great Heath, now the park next to St. George's Hall. In addition to flower beds, you will find statues and memorials erected in the gardens. We will tell you everything about these, plus the amazing story of the Hillsborough Disaster and why it is still important for the memory of the city, especially for football fans regardless of the team they support.

You will walk along Williamson Square in the city centre of Liverpool. This square is not only important because of its water fountain with playful colour lights in the middle, in this square stands a theatre that's very important to the city's heritage: the famous Liverpool Playhouse. It has seen many famous British actors and actresses shine through its many years of live performances, which we will tell you all about. Standing tall behind this beautiful theatre stands the Radio Tower, formerly known as St. John's Beacon, another building that you cannot miss (which we will tell you all about as well).

Through this experience, we will walk you around the neighbourhood that's a living example of the Beatles Heritage. Several blocks of the Cavern Quarter are a veritable warren of pubs, clubs and restaurants, most of them nightly venues for live music. Liverpool is still a city with a vibrant live music scene and this is its epicentre. The narrow, pedestrianized streets are teeming nightly with a good-spirited mix of tourists and locals until the early hours. Over it all though hangs the air of The Beatles. The place you cannot miss in this neighbourhood is the famous Cavern Club, the club that became a centre of the rock and roll scene in Liverpool in the early 1960s and was closely associated with Merseybeat and regularly played host to the Beatles. Don't worry, we will tell you all about it during the tour. (You have to pay for the entrance to the Cavern Club).

We will walk you through the beautiful Castle Street, which is at the heart of Liverpool’s World Heritage site. It is one of the original seven ancient streets of Liverpool, appearing on maps from the 13th century onwards. This street is recognised as mainly two Grade I listed buildings: the Town Hall and former Bank of England, but it has 17 other grade II listed buildings. After you finish strolling through Castle Street, we will guide you to Liverpool Exchange Flags Square: here you will learn about the city's past of commerce, war, slavery and the main characters involved. We will also teach you to interpret Nelsons’ bronze monument at this square and what are the controversies surrounding this monument.

You will stroll around the three magnificent buildings that line the city’s waterfront of the Pier Head, which are called Liverpool’s three graces. These buildings, looking from the waterfront from left to right are: the Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building. The three graces are part of Liverpool's formerly UNESCO-designated World Heritage Maritime Mercantile City. We will give you extensive information about these three buildings, the local legends surrounding the Liver Birds (Liverpools' emblem mascot) standing atop the Liver Building and the reasons why this bird was adopted in the Coat of Arms of the city. In addition, we will give you insights about The Pier Head Beatles monument and a couple of stories about the Fab Four that you might not know beforehand.

From maritime to the arts, the Mersey has always played a central role in the city’s cultural life, and the Dock’s vast size stamped its imprint on the city’s waterfront. We will guide you along Liverpool's waterfront and tell you all about its extensive past; how it was used before and after World War II; what the Titanic has to do with the city; why so many museums were built here (Museum of Liverpool, The Beatles Story, Merseyside Maritime Museum), and more. You will finish the tour with a list of recommendations of where to go, what to do and where to eat, so you get the most of your stay in Liverpool.

We will give you general information about the Museum and its surroundings. What to expect when visiting, where to go inside and what you will be seeing.

We will tell youthe story of one of the worst disasters that Football has ever seen: The Hillsborough disaster, a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield on 15 April 1989.

The museum was originally started as the Derby Museum as it comprised the 13th Earl of Derby's natural history collection. Discover the rich history of this building and its surroundings during our tour.

We will tell you the history behind St John’s Beacon, a radio and observation tower; once abandoned and hated by most scoucers but now revived and loved.

Discover the vivid story of one of the most famous theatres the north has ever seen; from when it was called the Star Concert Hall at its opening in 1866 until it became Liverpool Playhouse Theatre.

Sitting grandly at the top of Castle Street, the Town Hall is a Grade I Listed building and is described as “one of the finest surviving 18th Century Town Halls”. Discover this building and the dark story behind the famous monument that stands in its backyard.

The Royal Liver Building is one of the emblems of the city and was an early example of a building constructed using reinforced concrete. It is famous for the Liver birds that stand on top of the structure. We will tell you every story about these birds, the building and more.

This mix of Italian Renaissance and Greek Revival style building is the second of the famous three graces of Liverpool, and its development has been particularly influenced by Italian palace design. You'll discover its history during our tour.

The Port of Liverpool Building (formerly Mersey Docks and Harbour Board Offices, more commonly known as the Dock Office) was designed by Sir Arnold Thornely and F.B. Hobbs. It is the oldest of the Three Graces and the architectural features were designed to be reflective of Liverpool's importance to the maintenance of the British Empire.