Ships, giant birds and a boat across the Mersey: a waterfront adventure for under 10s that costs almost nothing
Liverpool's waterfront is a mile of free things a child can hunt for, from the two birds on the Liver Building to the museum with a gallery just for under 6s, with the ferry as the finale. A step free mission from the Pier Head, with the prices and the toilets.
Every Liverpool child learns the same story. If the two birds on top of the Liver Building ever fly away, the city falls into the river. It is nonsense, obviously, which is why it works so well on a six year old.
That story is the start of the best free morning in the city. The waterfront from the Pier Head to the Albert Dock is flat, step free, a mile long and absolutely stuffed with things a small person can be sent to find. Then, at the end, there is a boat.
Your mission: waterfront detectives
Start at the Pier Head, under the Liver Building. The first job is to find both birds. Bella, the story goes, looks out to sea for the sailors coming home; Bertie looks over the city to see if the pubs are open. Which is which is a matter of some debate at the Pier Head, so let the kids decide.
Then count the three big buildings. The Liver Building, the Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building are the Three Graces, put up when the city ran a great deal of the world's shipping, and they are the reason the waterfront looks the way it does on the telly.
Now look at the river. There is nearly always something moving: a ferry, a tug, a container ship heading for the docks up at Seaforth, the odd cruise liner the size of a street. Spot one. Spot a gull. Spot the Wirral.
The museum with a room just for them
The Museum of Liverpool is the silver building at the end of the Pier Head, and it is free. Little Liverpool on the ground floor is a gallery built for under 6s and runs in timed sessions, so go to the desk the moment you arrive, get the next slot and plan round it. Upstairs is the city itself, with the football, the music and the people, and a child who has just done the Liver Birds will like the big window that looks straight back at them.
There are toilets and a cafe, which matters, because the Pier Head is a windy place with a tired four year old.
The finale: a boat across the Mersey
The Mersey Ferry River Explorer leaves the Pier Head on the hour, 10am to 4pm on weekdays and shorter hours at winter weekends, and takes 50 minutes there and back with a commentary. It is £9 for a child aged 5 to 15, £14 for an adult, under 5s free and £39 for a family of two adults and two children, and online tickets are open dated, so buy ahead and pick a dry day.
Stand at the front on the way out and at the back on the way home, and tell them the Liver Birds have not moved. Check Mersey Ferries' service page before you set off; sailings do get suspended in bad weather and for maintenance.
While the Maritime Museum is shut
The Merseyside Maritime Museum at the Albert Dock is closed for redevelopment and National Museums Liverpool says it will reopen in 2028, so do not promise anyone the Titanic. The dock itself is still worth the walk for the ships moored in it and the ice cream, and the Museum of Liverpool covers the port story for now.
The FamDays verdict
A free museum, a mile of things to spot and a boat, for £39 at most and nothing at all if the children are under 5 and you skip the ferry. It is the Liverpool day out every visiting cousin gets taken on, and it is just as good when you live here.
