Christmas in Liverpool - travel review

Christmas spirit is alive and well, and it's sparkling throughout the city of Liverpool.

Whether you are travelling with a partner, children or friends, there's plenty to experience this festive season.

The only problem you will have is knowing where to start.

With three little ones in tow, my wife and I arrived in the city early on Saturday, parking just across the road from our hotel at Liverpool Waterfront – which is also right next door to the Echo Arena and BT Convention Centre.

It was clearly a busy Saturday – Disney on Ice was on throughout the day at the Echo Arena and it was only three weeks until Christmas after all – but we had no problem navigating our way through Liverpool or finding a parking space.

Although we drove, if you did want to leave the car behind then Virgin Trains are offering a series of family-friendly tickets that drop you at Liverpool Lime Street, right in the heart of the city.

The station is also just across the road from St George's Hall, which was our first destination of our busy weekend to see Shrek - a giant model of whom was adorning the roof of the hall - and friends at the Dreamworks Lights exhibition.

Although I would expect it to take up more of my time for the £10 adult entry price (£8 for children aged between 1 and 15, babies up to 12 months are free), the kids absolutely loved seeing all their movie heroes such as Shrek, Madagascar's Alex the Lion and Kung-Fu Panda modelled and lit up in scenes from the films they know and love.

Outside St George's Hall was the Christmas market with 40 stalls. It may not be the huge spectacle we are used to in Birmingham, but it had everything you would want – German sausages, German beer, eggnog, mulled wine and a host of gifts and decorations.

After that, we checked into the four-star Pullman Hotel, where we received a warm welcome to their quiet and cosy atmosphere before being helped up to our room on the top floor which boasted stunning views over the River Mersey.

Perfectly located next to Albert Dock and the Echo Arena, it was walking distance from everywhere we needed and wanted to be - as nice as it would have been to chill in the hotel for the whole weekend.

No Christmas visit is complete without a trip to see Santa, so we headed over to the Town Hall, where the crypt has been magically transformed into Santa's magical home from home.

After all that we needed a good feed, and certainly found it with a delicious steak and burger at Cau Restaurant, while the kids devoured their meals and puddings.

A beautiful walk back through Albert Dock to our hotel closed the night, where we got to see the main building turned into a canvas for an incredible 4D light display after dark.

Following a delicious – and endless – breakfast we checked out of our hotel and headed along the edge of the River Mersey past thousands of love padlocks to the ice festival where people were enjoying a Sunday morning ice skate before heading up into town.

The visit is the perfect time to get your Christmas shopping done – if you can tear yourself away from the carol singers, brass bands and street acts long enough to do some shopping. A Santa's train made up of half a million Lego bricks also forms one of the more stunning sights in Liverpool ONE shopping.

We diverted away from our shopping with lunch at Bill's – which is perfect for whatever sort of meal you are looking for, or just a cheeky lunchtime tipple to break up the shopping.

If your little ones are getting restless, then head up to the roof to Chavasse Park, where a range of rides can entertain them – including a Victorian carousel.

Then, with the shops open late, we grabbed as many Christmas presents as we could before finally calling time on our weekend and heading back down the M6 to crash on the sofa.

We didn't get a chance to do it but if, like us, you have never visited Liverpool before or are unfamiliar with the city then pick up a Snowflake Trail map and follow it to all the snowflake sculptures, which make sure you take in most of the landmarks along the way.

But you shouldn't just visit Liverpool at Christmas time, there's so much heritage and culture to explore, it makes the perfect weekend getaway at any point of the year.

Liverpool is a city so proud of its history – particularly its contribution to music.

You can check out The Beatles Story exhibition, have a drink in the Cavern Club and – opening in February – visit the British Music Experience, the UK's museum of British popular music.

Add to that the countless other museums and exhibitions open throughout the year – including the World Museum, which is running free Destination Space science demonstrations this Christmas – and you will find yourself dropping in and out of the city on a regular basis.

We're so enamoured with the city that we are already planning what we will be getting up to on our next visit.

It turns out visiting Liverpool is for life, not just for Christmas.

By Derek Bish