Alice Porter

It’s that time again. Every year, we ask thousands of city-dwellers to tell us the coolest spots in their cities. What are the places locals love and visitors flock to? Where are the exciting new openings across food, drink and culture? Where are people going out, hanging out and having fun? For the sixth year running, the results are in. Over 12,000 people had their say in this year’s shortlist, naming the neighbourhoods in their hometowns where everyone wants to be right now. Then, we narrowed down the selection with the insight and expertise of city editors and local experts who know their cities better than anyone else. To create and rank the final list, we considered factors including community and social ventures, access to open and green space, and thriving street life. In 2023, our neighbourhoods are more global than ever before. The rise and rise in post-pandemic digital nomadism has led to an explosion of brand-new community spaces, multi-purpose culture centres and more cafés than we can count on two hands. But while most of these neighbourhoods have experienced a transformation over recent years, they remain resolutely local at heart. Slick new developments and cool cafés might bring in new crowds, but neighbourhood stalwarts – from old pubs to family greengrocers – keep it real.  The world’s coolest neighbourhoods this year are, therefore, places with big personalities. Each area’s diversity is reflected in its food, culture and festivals. Community is key: local

Sure, quite a lot of famous things to see and do in Liverpool have something to do with The Beatles. It would be pretty remiss if that weren’t so – Liverpudlians are no where near fed up with Beatles tourism yet, after all. But there’s a shit ton of other great stuff worth checking out in this diverse, fun-loving city that has precisely nothing to do with the Fab Four. To start with, there’s the rich architectural heritage, from the city’s two magnificent cathedrals to the historically significant Albert Dock and the Tate art gallery. Then you've got amazing theatres, museums, galleries, and on top of that? Excellent nightlife and food scenes. Well, there. You've got yourself a winner. Here are the best things to do in Liverpool right now. RECOMMENDED:🍝 The best restaurants in Liverpool🍻 The best pubs in Liverpool🏛️ The best museums in Liverpool🪩 The best nightlife spots in Liverpool This guide was recently updated by Alice Porter, a writer based in Liverpool. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

Eurovision is beloved by many across the world, but its queer fanbase might just be the biggest, with hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ+ people marking the event in their calendar every year. The song contest has become known for celebrating and platforming queerness, in a way many TV shows still don’t. With a long list of iconic camp performances over the years, Eurovision is often referred to as the ‘gay olympics’, and it’s also become a safe space for people to express themselves and their identities, as well as promote LGBTQ+ activism. Some of the competition’s most memorable historic moments include a drag troupe performing alongside Norwegian singer Ketil Stokkan in 1986, two years before Section 28 was implemented in the UK, and Israel’s Dana International becoming Eurovision’s first transgender winner in 1998. This year, the competition is being hosted by Liverpool on behalf of Ukraine, which won the 2022 competition, and the city’s LGBTQ+ community is well and truly prepared for (at least) a week of Euro-fuelled celebrations. The official Eurovision committee is putting on a number of events as part of EuroFestival, including Queerovision, an online commission showing digital video reportage of Liverpool’s Queer Fringe, and a LGBTQ+ festival featuring drag, performance, choreography, vogue, music, carnival, circus and more.  But the city’s thriving queer scene is already more than equipped to host a Eurovision-size party. In fact, it’s difficult to think of anywhere bet

Since being named the European Capital of Culture 15 years ago, Liverpool has been totally transformed, with numerous regeneration projects taking place and local creatives pioneering exciting new launches. This is great news for foodies, as the city’s restaurant scene has completely exploded. Liverpool is a maritime city and local chefs have certainly drawn inspiration from that, whether it’s in the form of Indian street food or Middle Eastern small plates. Old favourites remain popular too – and if you’re wandering down Bold Street on a summer’s day, you’ll notice that most of the new kids on the block are seating customers back-to-back with people dining at restaurants that have been there since the ’70s, both with equal success. Feeling hungry? Whether you’re celebrating a special occasion with afternoon tea, looking for some culinary sustenance after a day of exploring or fancy hopping from small-plates bar to small-plates bar, here’s our ultimate guide to the best restaurants in Liverpool right now. RECOMMENDED: The best things to do in Liverpool

Growing up in Liverpool, I mainly heard The Beatles’ songs in two places: at people’s funerals and walking through touristy areas of the city, like Mathew Street and the Albert Dock. For most of my life, I’ve largely felt indifference towards the band and, at times, I’ve even been irritated by the fact that they would come up in conversation almost every time I told someone where I was from. I found it difficult to understand why millions of people would come here from all over the world to learn about The Beatles every year. This is especially true because despite living in this city for most of my life, I’ve never visited a single Beatles-related attraction in Liverpool – not the Cavern Club, or The Beatles Story, or even Strawberry Fields. In fact, if I was going to put an itinerary together for someone who wanted to spend a weekend in Liverpool, I doubt it would include any Beatles-themed stuff, given how much the city has to offer, from museums to restaurants and nightlife.  According to Holly Tessler, who acts as programme leader on the MA Beatles, Music Industry and Heritage course at the University of Liverpool (and has conducted extensive research into The Beatles’ legacy in Liverpool), tourists’ preoccupation with the band was something many locals previously disliked. ‘Before Liverpool became the European Capital of Culture in 2008, many people from the city didn’t want anything to do with The Beatles,’ she says. ‘There was this idea that they’d turned their backs

If you haven’t already heard, Eurovision is coming to the UK in 2023 after the country came second in this year’s competition behind winners Ukraine. Seven cities were shortlisted to host the event, and now just two – Liverpool and Glasgow – are in contention, with the winner due to be announced this week. And although both are obviously pretty good candidates, as a Liverpudlian, there are so many reasons why I believe we should host the competition. For a start, Liverpool considers itself to be a European city through and through. Not only was it awarded the title of European Capital of Culture in 2008, but it attracts tourists from all over the Continent. A whopping 67.3 million visitors came to the region in 2018. And over the decades, many of them have decided to stay, creating a rich, diverse European population across Liverpool and Merseyside. On top of that, there’s also an incredible LGBTQ+ community in Liverpool, which is important for an event like Eurovision, where queerness is actively celebrated and encouraged. The area around Stanley Street is the city’s officially recognised ‘Gay Quarter’ and bars including OMG, Heaven and Gbar will make the perfect afterparty locations post-Eurovision.  Photograph: iaminut / Shutterstock.com And if we’re talking about a party, you can be sure that Liverpool knows how to throw one. Walking through the city centre day or night, you can expect to hear music, whether it’s from young musicians busking on the street, all-day karao