The McArthur Glen Designer Outlet Village at Cheshire Oaks is the largest in the McArthur Glen chain, offering great discounts of up to 50% on designer clothes. With over 120 shops to choose from and a wealth of eating options, this is a shopaholic's dream day out!
Available :
Daily
Sporting a 71-metre long underwater tunnel, the Blue Planet Aquarium in Ellesmere Port houses 3.5 million litres of water and one of the largest collections of sharks in Europe, including sand tigers (related to the great white sharks), nurse sharks and lemon sharks. The very brave can even arrange to take a swim with them.
Available :
Daily
The Liverpool Military Show returns to Walton Hall Park. This exciting family day out features displays from all three branches of the armed forces, including freefall parachute displays, battle demonstrations and motorcycle displays, as well as face painting and paintballing.
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May 2013 (annual)
Chester Zoo is situated just two miles north of the city centre. Spacious near-natural surroundings are home to 7000 animals, many of which are endangered. In fact, the zoo is part of a worldwide conservation programme.
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Daily
Chester celebrates its folk heritage with concerts, workshops and children's events, featuring many local and national folk performers. The fun takes place in the village of Kelsall, about eight miles from the city.
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Jun 2013 (annual)
Chester Cathedral boasts the most complete medieval monastic complex in the UK and records of a church on the current site date back to the early 10th century. Visitors can admire the medieval wood-carved choir stalls.
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Daily
Town criers tend to be seen as eccentric and extrovert characters these days. Grab your chance to see one at work at The Cross in Chester. Dressed in a colourful period costume, they maintain this ancient way of broadcasting the news.
Available :
May - Aug 2013; not Mon or Sun (annual)
The city-centre Grosvenor Museum is a living monument to Chester's past. View everyday objects from the Roman Fortress of Deva or visit the Roman cemetery, where every tombstone has a tale to tell. Hands-on exhibits include an aqueduct model.
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Daily
From hearty fare to garden wares, Chester's Food, Drink and Lifestyle Festival showcases all manner of top quality regional produce. It features over 150 stalls, including the ever-popular celebrity chef demonstrations and a new campervan event.
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Apr 2013 (annual)
Taking place towards the end of the season, the Autumn Festival at Chester Racecourse features plenty of exciting action throughout the afternoon. Race-goers get to experience the thrill of racing with all the charm of the country.
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Sep 2013 (annual)
Chester Racecourse offers a Family Fun Day, attracting thousands of people each year. Expect stilt walkers, face painters, bouncy castles, jazz bands and more, while a full card of six races is run throughout the afternoon.
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Aug 2013 (annual)
Opening the new season, the May meeting at Chester Racecourse is held over three days - Totesport Cup Day on Wednesday, Ladies Day on Thursday and City Day on Friday, with six races each day.
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May 2013 (annual)
The National Wildflower Centre spreads across Court Hey Park in Knowsley, Liverpool. It has a working garden nursery, a play area for kids and interactive wildflower exhibitions, while the modern building houses a rooftop walkway, café and conservatory.
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Mar - Aug 2013 (annual)
The Old Hall Country Club & Spa is set in peaceful Huntingdon, overlooking the Cheshire Plains. Treatments on offer range from facials to reflexology, hot stone massage, Indian head massage and lightwave therapy.
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Daily
The Liverpool Food and Drink Festival is held annually in the picturesque Sefton Park. Over 60 of the city's bars and restaurants showcase and sell their specialities, while there is also live music, cookery demonstrations and appearances by celebrity chefs.
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Sep 2013 (annual)
Fireworks explode to music during Liverpool's spectacular Bonfire Night events, which take place at Sefton Park, Walton Hall Park and Newsham Park. Up to 100,000 people come from all over the city and the surrounding area to enjoy the displays.
Available :
Nov 2008 (annual)
The sounds of Africa hit Liverpool's Sefton Park each summer during the Africa Oyé festival. This showcase of live African and Caribbean music presents world-class artists and is the UK's major African music event.
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Jun 2013 (annual)
The Lark Lane Farmers' Market comes to the Sefton Park area of Liverpool each month. Stalls line the street, selling a range of locally produced vegetables, organic meat and poultry. You'll also find pies, cakes, preserves and handmade crafts.
Available :
Sat only
Liverpool Cathedral is the biggest in the UK and has the highest Gothic arches in the world. Built by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in the early 20th century, the spectacular building is a living church and used for daily worship.
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Daily
60 Hope Street is a simply styled city centre restaurant located in an elegant Georgian building. In the main restaurant, the tables are dressed with fresh flowers and the menu includes dishes like roast Cumbrian venison and grilled fillet of sea bass. Save space for indulgent hot chocolate fondant or British and Irish cheeses.
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Daily; not Sun
Opened as The Magnet in 1998, this city centre bar and club has a relaxed mood and low lighting, attracting Liverpool's music lovers and arty types. You can expect jazz, soul, funk and rare groove from DJs and live bands.
Available :
Daily
The Side Door is an ideal pre-theatre restaurant in Liverpool city centre, and is simply decorated in cream and red with wooden floors. The bistro's weekly changing menu places an emphasis on local produce, especially fresh fish straight from the boat. The chef is also renowned for English desserts like bread and butter pudding.
Available :
Daily; not Sun
The Everyman Theatre was opened in 1964 in a former 19th-century chapel in Liverpool city centre and became renowned for its pioneering theatre productions. Today, with the Playhouse, it presents plays by mostly local writers with several premières each year.
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Daily
One of the highlights of Liverpool's busy city centre bar scene, the contemporary Chameleon Bar is a place to let your hair down. Bar staff show off their cocktail-mixing skills and live music provides entertainment throughout the evening.
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Daily
Small, low-key and independent, Liverpool's Zanzibar Club has a reputation for promoting up-and-coming bands and staging a wide variety of eclectic club nights. Ever-changing wall murals and comfortable seating areas to sprawl in add to the underground feel.
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Daily
Liverpool's Foundation for Art & Creative Technology (FACT) is a major cultural project for the 21st century. It aims to promote new visual artists, particularly in the spheres of film, video and new media.
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Daily
Set in former St Peter's Catholic Church, Alma de Cuba is a fashionable Liverpool bar with a mezzanine restaurant and remaining elements of religious design. Sip a martini or mojito while enjoy Sunday Gospel Brunch or the weekend Brazilian dancers.
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Daily
The Egg Café is located in a Liverpool city centre gallery with panoramic views of the city. Bohemian types meet here for exhibitions and vegetarian food. The daily changing menu might include veggie burgers, vegetable dahl or vegan shepherd's pie. There's no drinks license, but you can bring your own for a small corkage fee.
Available :
Daily
Famous for its selection of £1 shots, Liverpool's Baa Bar is a popular bar-cum-club near nightlife hot spot Concert Square. Upstairs you can chill out, hit the main dance floor or take a breather in the open-air courtyard.
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Daily
Liverpool is home to one of the oldest Chinese communities in Europe. Chinese New Year is celebrated in the streets around the Chinese Arch on Nelson Street, and 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit.
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Jan 2014 (annual)
Liverpool's Krazyhouse combines three rooms of indie, rock and dance music with plenty of cheap drinks and so attracts a lively crowd with plenty of students. Throw your best moves on the dance floor from Thursday to Saturday.
Available :
Thu, Fri, and Sat only
The Magical Mystery Tour takes Beatles fans on a bus trip around Liverpool visiting places associated with the Fab Four. Starting from Gower Street, Albert Dock, the tour visits Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields and ends at the Cavern Club.
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Daily
This Liverpool gallery is located inside the Queen Anne-style Bluecoat buildings, which date back almost 300 years. The Bluecoat Display Centre opened in 1959 to showcase the best in design, and today it still promotes leading and emerging craftspeople.
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Daily
Modern Liverpool ONE shopping centre links the city centre with Albert Dock and is set over several levels, mostly outdoors. There's a good selection of high-street fashion stores, along with John Lewis department store, Tesco supermarket, restaurants and a cinema.
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Daily
A chic hotspot in Liverpool's Albert Dock, Babycream is a contemporary restaurant, bar and nightclub with views over the water and DJs playing lounge music. The styling combines brick, slate and wood with soft sofa seating and curtains of lights.
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Daily
Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery is home to a fine collection of paintings, drawings, sculpture and decorative art from the 14th to the 20th centuries. It is also one of the city's most important venues for temporary exhibitions.
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Daily
The Beatles Story, in Liverpool's Albert Dock, traces the incredible tale of the four musicians and others that helped shape their musical destiny. The exhibition recreates a Sixties atmosphere, and presents personal testimonies of people who knew the band first-hand.
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Daily
Located in the city centre, Mandarin Restaurant is an established Peking and Cantonese eatery, its walls adorned with Eastern images. Tuck in to mixed plates of seaweed, spare ribs and pancake rolls, followed by classic mains such as fried beef in yellow bean sauce, sweet and sour king prawns or Chinese chicken curry.
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Daily
Based in the Merseyside Maritime Museum at Liverpool's Albert Dock, the International Slavery Museum explores the historical and contemporary aspects of slavery. Exhibits address the slave trade's many legacies and relate stories of bravery and rebellion among the enslaved people.
Available :
Daily
Liverpool's legendary Cavern Club is most famously associated with the Beatles, who were discovered here by Brian Epstein. The club was rebuilt in the 1980s and prides itself on being a contemporary live music venue, showcasing up-and-coming bands.
Available :
Daily
08457 76 76 76
