The Pink Gin Passport

Guides, itineraries and travel tips for female solo travellers.

cocktails, statue, artwork, docks

Liverpool, England

Guide to a weekend in Liverpool

Perfect for: friends, hen and stag dos, couples

Where to stay

We stayed at U-Stay Apartments (previously called Prestige Apartments) and booked through Booking.com. They offered discounted parking, reception desk open until 9pm to collect the entry codes/keys, and also offer to arrange champagne/wine, hair and make up services. Our apartment was really modern with plenty of space for our 4 friends. We were right next to Matthew Street which has lots of Irish pubs/ bars. This didn’t bother us in the slightest as we were going out for the nightlife anyway. Plus the live singers were so good we loved listening to them sing Taylor Swift and Fleetwood Mac into the early hours!

Where to have fun

My friends and I are all 25/26 and rather than heading straight to bars to shot sambucca we now prefer to go for dinner and drinks and have a dance… then end up down Matthew Street shooting sambuccas at 2am.

The Friday night we went to Neighbourhood. I recommend booking for 8.30pm and keeping your table for the rest of the night. After some yummy small plates (I had the halloumi and sushi roll) and amazing cocktails the bongo drummer and saxophonist had us all up on our feet. We each spent about £50 (your standard bottomless brunch price) didn’t skimp on cocktails and were there from 8.15 to after 1am so I’d definitely say value for money as well as glamorous and a great night out! On the way back we went to a few pubs down Matthew Street, banana sambuca and cherry Bakewell shots and singing Tell Me Ma was a great and unexpected end to the night.

Saturday night we went to Alma de Cuba. We had dinner at 7.45 (beef tacos and chicken with peppercorn sauce were amazing!) then moved down to the club downstairs. Again great cocktails and a fabulous atmosphere! Petal showers, carnival dancers, fire dancers it was the perfect party atmosphere.

Where to eat

Rough, Albert Dock. Rough is an understatement on how we were feeling after those banana sambucas saturday morning but this wholesome boutique bakery certainly helped! Fresh coffee (including Cortado- my face), peppermint tea, croissants, quiche, feta and spinach pastries all went down a treat! They also have pictures of their regular visitors’ dogs on the wall- amazing!

Almost Famous. Perfect for dirty, greasy burgers and wings. The cocktails, beers and ciders looked great too but I couldn’t quite stomach hair of the dog when I visited!

McCooleys. Does this place ever close? As well as being a staple bar down Matthew Street, they do a cracking breakfast in the morning. This set us up for a day travelling back home.

Where else to go

I know I’ve focused on more of the nightlife, but Liverpool has a whole lot of culture to soak up too.

On a nice walk you can visit:

Liverpool is a great city- great food, friendly people, lively nightlife, art and most of all the music. You hear amazing singers everywhere you go! I’d definitely recommend this city break- first city in the UK where I’ve genuinely felt like I’ve been on holiday.