Things To Do in Liverpool

If you'd like a Beatles-related bus tour, Cavern City Tours (tel. 01512/369091; www.cavernclub.org) presents a daily 2-hour Magical Mystery Tour. This bus tour covers the most famous attractions associated with the Beatles. Tickets cost £14 and are sold at the Tourist Information Centre at 8 Place, Whitechapel. Tours depart from the same center daily at 2:30pm, or from the Gower Street bus stop at Albert Dock at 2:10pm.

In the Britannia Pavilion at Albert Dock, you can visit the Beatles Story (tel. 01517/091963; www.beatlesstory.com), a museum housing memorabilia of the famous group, including a yellow submarine with live fish swimming past the portholes. It's open daily from 10am to 6pm. Admission is £12 for adults, £8.30 for students, £6.35 for children 5 to 16, and a family ticket is £21 to £26.

Everyone's curious about Penny Lane and Strawberry Field. Actually, the Beatles' song about Penny Lane didn't refer to the small lane itself but to the area at the top of the lane called Smithdown Place. Today, this is a bustling thoroughfare for taxis and buses -- hardly a place for nostalgic memories.

John Lennon lived nearby and attended school in the area. When he studied at Art College, he passed here almost every day. To reach Penny Lane and the area referred to, head north of Sefton Park. From the park, Green Bank Lane leads into Penny Lane itself, and at the junction of Allerton Road and Smithdown Road stands the Penny Lane Tramsheds. This is John Lennon country -- or what's left of it.

Only the most die-hard fans will want to make the journey to Strawberry Field along Beaconsfield Road, which is reached by taking Menlove Avenue east of the center. Today, you can stand at the iron gates and look in at a children's home run by the Salvation Army. As a child, John played on the grounds, and in 1970 he donated a large sum of money to the home.

Because these sights are hard to reach by public transport and lie outside the center, you may want to take one of the Cavern City Tours that feature both Strawberry Field and Penny Lane.

A fun thing to do is to take the famous Mersey Ferry that travels from the Pier Head to both Woodside and Seacombe. Service operates daily from early morning to early evening throughout the year. Special cruises run throughout the summer including trips along the Manchester Ship Canal. For more information, contact Mersey Ferries, Victoria Place, Seacombe, Wallasey (tel. 01516/390609; www.merseyferries.co.uk).

One of the World's Leading City History Museums -- The big cultural news emerging from northeast England in 2010 will be the opening of the Museum of Liverpool, housed in a fabulous new landmark building on the Mann Island site at Pier Head, at the core of the World Heritage Site on Liverpool's famous waterfront. More information about hours and details of the admission-free museum can be obtained at tel. 0151/207-0001 or www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk.

This museum of Mersey culture tells the story of Liverpudlians and their contribution to British life, a far greater panorama than evoked just by the Fab Four. You can do everything here, from listening to Liverpool bands on a jukebox to learning how Chinese sailors created the oldest Chinese community in Liverpool in the 18th century. The richness of the city's cultural diversity is on display, and the role of the River Mersey is celebrated. There's even an exhibition of swimwear from a bygone age. The new museum tackles social, historical, and contemporary issues. If it pertains to Liverpool, it's all here, though it may be more than you really want to know.

In the Footsteps of the Fab Four -- Wherever you turn in Liverpool today, somebody is hawking a Beatles tour. But if you'd like to see a few of the famous spots on your own, stop in at the Cavern Club, 8-10 Mathew St. (www.cavernclub.org), now touted as "The Most Famous Club in the World," and pick up a Cavern City Tour map to find famous Beatles locations in the city center. The Beatles played 292 gigs here between 1961 and 1963. Manager Brian Epstein first saw them here on November 9, 1961, and by December 10, he had signed a contract with the band. For tour information, call tel. 01512/361965.

Liverpool's nightlife is nothing if not diverse. The evening Liverpool Echo is a good source of daily information about larger and fine-arts events; the youth-oriented L: Scene magazine will provide you with a thorough calendar of club dates and gigs; and the free City X Blag, available in most clubs and pubs, will do the same. Available free in gay clubs and pubs, Pulse lists gay activities and events throughout the region.

The Student Entertainment Office (tel. 01517/944143) at the University of Liverpool can tell you about the range of activities sponsored by the school, or you can stop by the student union on Mount Pleasant and check out the bulletin board. Another good place for finding out about the underground scene is Quiggins Centre, School Lane (tel. 01517/092462).

Open year-round, the Empire Theatre, Lime Street, hosts visiting stage productions ranging from dramas and comedies to ballets and tributes. Book through Ticketmaster at tel. 0151/708-3200 (www.liverpoolempire.org.uk).

Philharmonic Hall, Hope Street (tel. 01512/102895; www.liverpoolphil.com), is home to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the best orchestras outside of London, which usually performs twice weekly. When the orchestra is not on, there are often concerts by touring musicians, and films are sometimes shown as well.

At the Zanzibar Club, 43 Seel St. (tel. 01517/070633; www.zanzibarclub.com), DJs spin drum-and-bass and hip-hop Wednesday to Monday nights, with the occasional rock or pop booking thrown in for good measure.

Beatles fans flock to the Cavern Club, 8-10 Mathew St. (tel. 01512/369091; www.cavernclub.org), thinking that this is where the Fab Four appeared. Demolished years ago, the old Cavern Club has faded into history. However, locals still go to this new version to hear live bands on Thursday to Sunday nights (regrettably, not as good as the dear, departed ones). The cover ranges from £1 to £8. For a more nostalgic evening, head for the Cavern Pub, 5 Mathew St. (tel. 01512/364041), where many English bands got their start before going on to greater glory. The names of the groups who appeared here from 1957 to 1973 are recorded on a plaque.

Long after the mop tops have departed, the Liverpool music scene continues to thrive at various venues around town, particularly in the Ropewalks district. The best of the lot here is The Barfly, 90 Seel St. (tel. 0151/707-6171; www.barflyclub.com). The acts are constantly changing but are some of the best of the lot. Perhaps you'll hear the Beatles of tomorrow. Cover ranges from £3 to £15, depending on the shows, which; are presented Thursday to Saturday 10pm to 3am.

A cafe by day, Baa Bar, 43-45 Fleet St. (tel. 01517/088673; www.baabar.co.uk), serves an eclectic menu, and free dancing to a DJ brings in a lot of the evening's business. A pub with a Fab Four spin, Ye Cracke, 13 Rice St. (tel. 01517/094171), was a favorite watering hole of John Lennon in pre- and early Beatles days (but expect regulars to suggest you quit living in the past if you ask about it). Better just soak up the little-changed atmosphere over a pint of Oak Wobbly Bob, Cains, or Haywood Oak.

Gay Bars in Liverpool

You won't find as frenetic or as varied a nightlife scene in Liverpool as you will in, say, Manchester or Leeds. But something about the rough-and-tumble streets of this monument to the Industrial Revolution makes for hard-party times at some of the city's gay bars. At Masquerade, 10 Cumberland St. (tel. 01512/367786; www.masqueradebar.com), a gay version of a Victorian pub, the scene is the most consistently crowded and animated of the several gay bars in its neighborhood near the Moorfields Railway Station, off Dale Street. Come to the street-level bar to drink, talk, and watch the occasional cabaret artiste, whose acts are presented after 8pm every Friday and Saturday (5pm on Sun). Head for the basement-level dance floor for a bit of boogying with the 'Pudlians. At G-Bar, Eberle Street (tel. 01512/364416), the street level is a pseudo-Gothic piece of kitsch that only a rave party could fully appreciate. The cellar has a floor where crowds of gay and sexually neutral fans dance, dance, dance. There's even a "love lounge," where you may catch up on a bit of dialogue, or whatever, in circumstances that are highly relaxing. Cover is from £5 to £9, depending on the night of the week.

The Lisbon, 35 Victoria St. (tel. 01512/316831), is set close to Moorfield Railway Station. This is the quietest and calmest of the pubs listed in this section, luring a nicer blend of men than at some of the seedier gay dives nearby.