Creativecommons.org/ Eric The Fish
Liverpool, like the rest of England, loves its pubs, bars, and, more recently, its night clubs. While more and more glittering night clubs are popping up to fuel the city's rising nightlife scene, both the young and old of Liverpool still love a good old pub at the end of the day. Visitors to the city will find every drinking establishment packed after the sun goes down. Beautiful old buildings packed with rowdy workmen, hip cocktail bars with stylish suits and nightclubs filled to the breaking point with the young and the restless. This city filled with bars for every sort of visiting bar fly.
Ye Cracke - For Fans of The Beatles and Classic Pubs
Off Hope Street tucked along the little shops and houses is a rather famous old pub called Ye Cracke. On the outside, it's an unassuming public house, a beacon of white and black paint among a sea of red brick buildings. The inside remains the clean, yet cluttered, classic English pub decor that has been present since it opened. Tap handles line the side counter with rows of wine glasses dangling down from above. By all means, Ye Cracke would be an average pub in Liverpool except that it was the favourite drinking spot of The Beatle's lead singer John Lennon. Like with other Beatle's hotspots in Liverpool, fans flock to this little pub to try and catch a little history. However, inside visitors will find local bar flies having a drink after a hard day and some sparse musical memorabilia. Visiting bar flies may even be able to track down local patrons old enough to remember when The Beatles became too famous to have a pint at their favourite drinking haunts.
Ma Egerton's - The Liverpool Institution
Creativecommons.org/ Reading Tom
The long established pub of Ma Egerton's near Lime Street Station is a pub that can't be missed. Its prime location near the Empire Theatre and St George's Hall has helped make Ma's a Liverpool institution and a stop that bar flies simply must visit. A lot of famous people have passed through Ma's doors and they have no problem letting visitors know. The walls are lined with pictures of their old Hollywood patrons like Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland. Bar flies that happen to end up in Ma Egerton's for a beer or some good company at the same time as someone famous may get the pleasure of pushing past paparazzi waiting outside, as well as getting to spot a famous face among the crowds.
Alma de Cuba - Drinks with Spectacular Scenery
Alma de Cuba is one of the most spectacular looking bars in Liverpool, if not the country. The bar's interior and exterior give a whole new meaning to classical decor as it is set in the converted St Peter's Catholic Church, complete with 300-year-old stained glass windows, marble alters and lit with hundreds of candles. Chandeliers made from antlers hang from the ceiling and even with the religious air, local bar flies flock through the doors like it is the promised land. Cold beer, strong cocktails and rowdy patrons are the all on the menu at Alma de Cuba where rose petals occasionally rain down from the balcony and more than a few sequined carnival dancers make appearances on the bar tops.
Berry and Rye - For the New and Hip
The Berry and Rye is hard to find in Liverpool. It's non-descript building is nestled behind a shops and hosts no signage, just a battered black painted door that marks the entrance into one of Liverpool's newest and hottest bars. The lack of advertising aside from word of mouth keeps the tourist crowds down, but upon finding it, the visitor to Liverpool will likely be congratulated upon doing so. After all, they must have been cool enough for someone to tell them about it. Inside the Berry and Rye, it takes on the atmosphere something akin to a speakeasy, a place of hidden debauchery with bare red brick walls and dark leather sofas. A piano sits lonely in the corner by the bar and fireplace, just waiting for a patron drunk enough to give it a whirl. In terms of atmosphere, the Berry and Rye might very well be the best bar in the city, although, the drinks are hardly any disappointment either. Visitors can get a cold pint, but the cocktails are just ever so more popular there. The French 75 with gin and spumante and the Merchant with brandy, aged rum and port are the favourites.
Fly in the Loaf - For Beer!
Creativecommons.org/ Adam Bruderer
The Fly in the Loaf on Hardman Street boasts that warm atmosphere that visitors look for in a classic pub, after walking through old wooden doors, visitors are greeted by the warm wooden walls, stained glass and an all around bar space that looks a bit like it would be fit for a library. It's classy, but not pretentious, and always a favourite among drinkers of any age, gender or occupation. What really makes Fly in the Loaf perfect for the visiting bar fly is that it is stuffed to the gills with a wide selection of beer. They host six different casks of ales on hand at anytime and a refrigerator packed with diverse brews from all around the world. While the English beers are always popular, international beers like Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout and Orval are also favourites among the Fly in the Loaf's usual patrons.