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See | Stay | Eat | Drink | Buy | Unwind
See
In his book 20th Century Architecture, former Guardian architecture correspondent Jonathan Glancey singled out Liverpool's Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King as one of the century's standout buildings. His view is probably shared with about 50% of the city: the strident, geometric "wigwam" of poured concrete and jaunty stained glass is as divisive now as it was when it held its first mass in the late 1960s.
But all is not what it seems at the top of the town, because this avant-garde house of god sits atop one of the city's lost architectural gems. Lutyens' Crypt is no ordinary ecclesiastical cellar; to the converted this is Liverpool's third cathedral, a secret spiritual bunker inciting shock and awe. Accessed by a white spiral staircase from one of the chapels, the crypt is a ghostly footprint of a gargantuan construction slated to rise above it: a Lutyens-designed cathedral on a St Peter's scale that faltered when funds slunk away after the second world war.
The deep purple brick and enormous granite pediments and coping stones were chosen to take the weight of the cathedral above, but now support nothing but a windy piazza. In glass display cabinets, newspaper cuttings and yellowing blueprints tell the story behind the stones, while scale models and artists' impressions of the intended cathedral depict a staggering domed behemoth, rising over the city. Elsewhere, recessed chapels with Indiana Jones-style rolling marble portcullises house the tombs of three former archbishops, and a treasury gleams with more bejewelled caskets and fancy headpieces than Abbey Clancy's dressing table.
• liverpoolmetrocathedral.org.uk, £3pp
Stay
In the past five years Liverpool's bed count has skyrocketed, and there are stylish city hotels aplenty for the boutique-minded. But the best city breaks aren't always compatible with an early rise for a hotel breakfast, especially if you've enjoyed Liverpool's nightlife. With a footsore weekend of exploring ahead, opt for the freedom (and space) of a self-catering apartment over a hotel. Close to the Liverpool One shopping centre and the RopeWalks for nightlife, but far enough away to ensure a sound night's sleep, Posh Pads at the Casartelli has generously proportioned suites.
The Casartellli building is a replica of an 18th-century Liverpool landmark – a bow-fronted building that once housed a business manufacturing scientific instruments and later became a wine warehouse before falling into disrepair. Inside it's all huge plasma TVs and fully stocked kitchens to help you continue the party at your place.
• Posh Pads at the Casartelli, Hanover Street, 0151-708 6666, posh-pads.co.uk. One-bedroom apartment from £65, two-bedroom from £120
Eat
Mexican street-food joint Lucha Libre (96 Wood St, 0151-329 0200, lucha-libre.co.uk) is a firm favourite of students, late-night shoppers and pre-clubbing groups, who gather around plates (£6-£10) of spicy slow-cooked pork marinated in orange juice, Mexican fishcakes with a spike of red chilli, and generously stuffed burritos – all great fuel for a night on the tiles. Downstairs, Maya is an enticing cocktail bar if you find yourself too full to hit the streets for a while.
For something more memorable, it's hard to beat Panoramic 34, one of the UK's highest restaurants. Yes, that means you can expect to add £20 or so to the bill, but the food just about stands up to the side order of stunning city views. Looking like a Pam-Am first-class sky bar circa 1975, the intimate teak and chrome space, with its wrap around windows and snug cocktail bar. works hard to offer seasonal menus using the best north-western produce. You might find Irish Sea scallops with celeriac purée, a pink slice of Cumbrian lamb, or fillet of Welsh black beef. Lunchtime menu £21 for two courses.
• West Tower, Brook St, 0151-236 5534, panoramic34.com
Drink
Taking its cue from the hush-hush speakeasies of New York, 81ltd is a cocktail bar you'll have to hunt down via a website that reveals nothing but a telephone number. Text the digits, wait for the entry code (and directions) and you'll be heading to one of Liverpool's most theatrical drinking holes. Actually, the bar sits above a riotous "steins and brines" (beer and hotdogs) bar – but don't say we told you that. Beyond the security keypads and CCTV cameras, you'll find a little slice of midtown Manhattan, with cosy booths, a gleaming back bar and judiciously mixed cocktails (its excellent old-fashioneds would put a smile on Don Draper's face).
Music wise, you'll find Men Without Hats mashing it up with DJ Shadow, Kool and the Gang with Kraftwerk. Too many Liverpool bars suffer from the style-over-substance curse of black resin chandeliers and Philippe Starck Ghost chairs, but 81ltd is crisp without being showy and as such attracts a sociable crowd who come to enjoy top- drawer cocktails and funky tunes until the early hours.
• 07803 361052, 81ltd.com
Buy
The Liverpool One development single-handedly catapulted the city back into the top five retail destinations when it opened in 2008. Still, for all its audacious open-air-mall styling, its breezy park overlooking the river and its procession of chain stores, it's not exactly overflowing with Liverpool-centric retail opportunities (save for the obligatory Liverpool and Everton football shops). For a souvenir of this artistic and industrious city head to Made Here, in the struggling Metquarter mall. Here, curator Kate Stewart has assembled an emporium of made-in-Liverpool gifts, art, textiles and trinkets. From the funky (flatpack make-your-own models of Liverpool's cathedrals) to the frivolous (earrings made from Liverpool's legendary Meccano brand) Made Here celebrates the best of the city's current crop of talented makers and designers.
Across the city, just behind John Lewis, Cow&Co (15 Cleveland Square, cowandco.co.uk/liverpool) brings the best of international design to the city. It's mainly a mail order business, but its small shop offers unusual homewares from Sweden, delicious preserves from Portugal, and a smattering of regionally made goodies too. As an antidote to the anycity experience of Liverpool One, it's a breath of fresh continental air.
• Made Here, Metquarter, Whitechapel, made-here.co.uk
Unwind
Liverpool's Anglican cathedral is Britain's biggest church, rising from a sandstone bluff overlooking the Mersey. Just north of it is the Liverpool Oratory: take the road that burrows its way downhill from here through dim tunnels and over faded tombstones, to St James Gardens – Liverpool's Père Lachaise.
The park is a deconsecrated cemetery which predates the cathedral, and is scattered with wobbly Victorian memorials and darkly inviting crypts. There's a secret spring too, bubbling up alongside the imposing Huskisson Memorial. Formerly a quarry, the site sits hunkered below the handsome terraces of Georgian Liverpool, but feels blissfully removed from the machinations of the city above. Take a book, grab a coffee from the cathedral refectory (it does great lunches, too) and get deep, deep down for a while.
• St James Gardens, Upper Parliament Street, liverpool.gov.uk
