6 Best Family Things to Do in Liverpool

Your kids might roll their eyes when you suggest visiting a museum – that is, until they see just how many hands-on displays and interactive exhibits there are here. Liverpool’s World Museum is city staple for school trips and family weekends out. Since 1853, this museum’s vast collection of spooky mummies, awesome dinosaur skeletons, and eerie armors have made kids go wide-eyed with wonder. And that’s before they see the aquarium, bug house, and planetarium – all of which have special learning areas to get children excited about the natural world.

Croxteth Hall is a stately manor house about a 20-minute drive from central Liverpool. It's situated on 500 acres of lush, tree-stippled grounds, now a nature reserve. After parents have strolled around the stunning 16th-century house and adjacent Victorian walled garden, kids can enjoy the Home Farm, where they can pet and feed lambs, piglets, chickens, and calves.

After a long day of exploring the city, everyone is sure to have worked up an appetite. Luckily, Liverpool has dozens of restaurants and cafes that can cater to the whole family. This quirky and innovative eatery is renowned for its delectable pancakes, and its house specials of chicken soup and salt beef sandwiches. But it really shines with its menu for the little ones, with retro lunches like banana on toast or eggs and soldiers. Kids can also go wild and design their own pancakes.

Don’t forget that Liverpool is on the coast, and benefits from a number of sandy beaches. On a warm sunny day, head to Crosby Beach. The wide sands aren’t only soft and unblemished – they host one of Liverpool’s most eye-catching art exhibits. 100 cast-iron statues speckle the beach, looking out into the sea – both kids and parents are sure to be intrigued by this surreal spectacle.

Many of Liverpool’s landmarks don’t just appeal to sightseeing tourists and history-buffs – they’re also bound to excite the kids as well. The Wheel of Liverpool – an enormous, futuristic Ferris wheel – isn’t some white-knuckle theme park ride. Rather, the 42 spacious viewing capsules gently rise, slowly gaining height to offer the best views of the city before returning to the ground. Nevertheless, your kids are bound to get a kick out of the epic views from the summit.

Laid out like a traditional Italian ristorante, with a huge, warmly lit interior and retro black and white movie star posters across the walls, Gusto is a great place to bring the kids for some authentic Italian cooking. Adults can enjoy succulent steaks while kids can come up with their own pizzas.