We are halfway through the school summer holidays and I was getting restless with my surroundings, so I decided to take the kids on a day trip to Liverpool. It is a city that is very close to my heart due to me spending every summer holiday there as a child.

I wanted to make this trip as affordable as possible and also as stress-free as possible as it was going to be my toddlers’ first time on a train. I wanted to do activities that would keep my 10-year-old happy as well as my toddler, so I decided to plan our day in and around St George’s Quarter. St George’s Quarter is a short walk from Liverpool Lime Street station, and is characterised by some of the finest Victorian architecture in Britain. It is truly stunning. The Liverpool Empire theatre is there, as well as St George’s Hall, the World Museum and Liverpool Central Library.

Planning our trip

Manchester Victoria station is my preferred departure due to the easy step-free access and the fact that we can get a tram from where we live straight to Victoria. I booked a fast train with Transpenne Express direct to Liverpool Lime Street, which is usually between 35-39 minutes, and made seat reservations close to the luggage area for easy storage of my stroller. I have the Chicco Goody Plus which collapses with one touch, so it’s the perfect travel stroller. I even managed to fit in under our train table on our return journey.

Keeping costs down

To save money, we took some picnic-style food with us and stored it in a cooler bag with ice blocks. We made cheese rolls for lunch and then easy to grab snacks such as mini muffins, fruit, crisps and dairylea lunchables.

I also made some pizza pin wheels. We were really lucky with the weather on the day that we went so we were able to eat outside the Walker art gallery.

Where to visit for free

Walker Art Gallery was our first stop. Entry is either by a set of stairs or a ramp to the right of the building, and there are lifts inside. It is a gorgeous gallery with so much to see and has been named as one of the best art galleries in Europe. There is also a dedicated kids’ area.

Liverpool Central Library was our next stop. My toddler loves libraries and this one didn’t disappoint. It is fully accessible and has a great kids’ library area with little tables and soft foam-style seating areas. There is also a café near the front entrance which looked really nice. Baby changing facilities are available too.

World Museum was our final stop in St George’s Quarter. This is an incredible place with so much to see and do and it has a fantastic museum store. My toddler started to get tired soon after arriving, so we didn’t get to see everything, but we are planning to visit again soon to get the full experience.

We then decided to have a walk through St John’s Market while the toddler napped, which is great for quirky little clothes shops and jewellery stalls. My daughter had some H&M gift cards so we had a walk around the town centre, grabbing ice-creams on route before spending a considerate amount of time in H&M. The home section there is lovely.

We would usually visit the Albert Dock but my toddler was very hot in the heat, so we decided to get an earlier train back to Manchester as we had an open return train ticket.

All in all, we spent just under 3.5 hours in Liverpool, which gave us plenty of time to explore.