What do you think of when you think of Liverpool? I think of three things: The Beatles, Liverpool Football Club, and to a much lesser extent Gerry & The Pacemakers. I first visited Liverpool in 2001. As a massive Beatles fan, I did all the usual tourist stuff around them. I also remembered it being a dumpy, depressing, industrial city like Cleveland (sorry Cleveland). Clearly, times have changed in 16 years, I loved Liverpool. Here’s how I spent 3 days in Liverpool.

I took the quick train down after my 24 hours in Manchester. I stayed at the Bridge Hotel in the new Liverpool One development. It was basically apartments but the location was excellent. The accommodation was very basic but good enough. The staff was very friendly and helpful.

Liverpool One is a massive development that has really reshaped the face of Liverpool. It’s part of a massive transformation of their impressive waterfront across the street. Liverpool One is essentially a big outdoor mall with every store imaginable and tons of good chain restaurants. It’s a very clean, comfortable, American style place to be.

My first order of business was to go to The Beatles Story. It’s located in the waterfront at Albert Dock. They really did a great job. If you’re a Beatles fan, it’ll tug on your heartstrings a bit. The Beatles Story does just that, it tells the story of the Fab 4 and how they came to be and be no more.

I did it with an audio guide. I usually hate those things but for The Beatles Story I recommend it. The museum is set up in time periods and many things are close together. The audio guide allows you to go at your own pace and not get distracted by looking ahead. The information is excellent and adds to what’s written and pictured on display.

The Beatles Story recreates the famous Cavern Club and John Lennon’s White Room. It also goes back to their childhood days and details things like The Mersey Beat newspaper, their manager and how they got rid of Pete Best for Ringo Starr. It’s well worth a visit-trust me on that!

Next up I took a ferry cross the Mersey. Liverpool is often referred to as Merseyside because of the famous Mersey River. I couldn’t help singing Gerry & The Pacemakers famous song “Ferry Cross the Mersey” as I took a scenic ride to get some photos and a panoramic view of Liverpool proper.

After relaxing for a bit preparing for the arrival of my buddy Jake, I headed out to dinner at 60 Hope Street. It came highly recommended and it was excellent. I loved the restaurant scene in Liverpool. Everywhere I ate at was excellent. 60 Hope Street is a fine dining style restaurant but very reasonably priced. Everything I had was good but the scallops starter was off the charts!

After a much needed good nights sleep, I was off to get my football on! First up, I had a private tour of Goodison Park, the home of Everton Football Club. Everton is the ugly stepsister of Liverpool FC, which happens to play in a stadium 10 minutes walk away!

Poor Everton, they’ve had a pretty good run in the last 15 years or so but nothing to really show for it. They actually had Wayne Rooney and sold him to Manchester United. They’ve also had several prominent American players including Landon Donovan and Tim Howard. Their history goes back to 1892 but they haven’t achieved nearly what Liverpool FC has; but few teams have.

Their stadium is very old and quite charming. I was basically given total access to the stadium, locker rooms, pressroom and the pitch itself. I was like a kid in a candy store.

Everton FC is looking into a new stadium. This is much needed. While their stadium is cool because it’s old, there is nowhere to expand nor have any outside activities. It’s right on an active street as many old stadiums are in England. There’s talk of moving them toward the docks but people are complaining because then they wouldn’t actually be in Everton. In sports, sometimes progress needs to happen to make survival assured. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.

I took a 10-minute stroll across Stanley Park over to the most hallowed ground in English football, Anfield. Anfield has been around for more than 100 years and it is simply awesome! Liverpool along with Manchester United is the most decorated English side. They also have more money than just about everyone. Their recent improvements to the main stand are an example. It’s phenomenal and reminds me of a nice new stadium in the US.

I got to take a guided tour through the annals of Anfield. But best of all I got to learn firsthand the great history of Liverpool FC. I also heard a detailed tale of how the Kop became the Kop. The Kop of course is the most famous stand in football where only the rowdiest of fans dare to sit. These days, since they put stands in after the Hillsborough disaster, it’s calmer but still a great atmosphere. The next time I go to Anfield I will sit in the Kop for sure!

Liverpool FC also has an excellent museum detailing its history and great players. Currently they have a Steven Gerrard collection on display. They also have their European Championship trophies they won in the 1970’s plus the Champions League in 2005 in that epic final in Istanbul. That’s one I’ll never forget when they came back from 0-3 down at halftime.

As it went, I learned that the dedicated Liverpool fans at Ataturk Stadium started singing the Liverpool anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, another Gerry & The Pacemakers classic. The players could hear it in the locker room at halftime and they came out inspired in perhaps the greatest comeback in European championship history. For a football fan, going to Anfield gives you goose bumps.

Later that night, we headed to dinner at Crust on Bold Street. It’s a quirky little pizzeria and beer haven. I have to say the pizzas were really good and that’s coming from a New Yorker who loves pizza! Then we headed out on Matthew Street.

Matthew Street is the home of the most famous club in the world, the Cavern Club. It was of course made famous by The Beatles and remains today a place where all Beatles fans go to pay homage and see a live show. It’s pretty cool to be there and worth a visit for sure. There are plenty of other bars and pubs around too if you want to hop around a bit. It’s a good time!

My third day in Liverpool centered around one thing and one thing only; match day at Anfield. I hadn’t been this excited to see a game live in a while. Liverpool FC took on Swansea in an English premier League clash. Liverpool actually lost to Swansea in a shock result that may well cost them a shot at the title this season dropping ground to Chelsea.

But to me the result wasn’t important; it was all about the atmosphere and the experience. Thomas Cook Sport hooked us up with a VIP experience at the Beat Lounge. This is a new VIP pre and post game experience. It was awesome and a great place to get warm at halftime and after the game as well-it gets cold during January in Liverpool!

I’ll never forget when the crowd sung You’ll Never Walk Alone as they do before every game. It seriously makes you emotional. These people care so much. That’s why I love sports, especially global sports. You see such passion from the fans; which generally inspires the passion on the pitch. Anfield was right atop my list of stadiums to visit that I hadn’t yet seen a game. I highly recommend it!

So that’s my take on how to spend 3 days in Liverpool. Of course if you’re not a football fan, there are plenty of museums and shopping opportunities in Liverpool. But make no mistake this town ticks on The Beatles and football! And that’s how I spent 3 days in Liverpool!

Disclaimer: My trip to Liverpool was done in partnership with Visit Britain and their partners in Liverpool and the English Premier League. The article was written by myself, based on my experiences and opinions and hasn’t been influenced in any way.

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