TIRED of the spectacular wonders of the Grand Canyon? Bored with the ancient awesomness of the Siq in Jordan?
Then there's only one thing for it: a trip to Liverpool for a night on the lash.
Esteemed travel publisher Rough Guides has today named the city's nightlife as one of its top three essential global experiences that adventurers should tick off their bucket list while they still have time.
Its new edition of Make the Most of Your Time on Earth, lists “50 absolutely unforgettable things to do before you die.”
In second place, the rock-carved Nabataean city of PetraIt tells readers: “If you can't have a good time in Liverpool, you want to check for a pulse. This is Britain’s Good Times Central. Come for a bottle and stay all night. In fact, move to Liverpool – it’s that good.”
The city remains high on the go-to radar with the recommendation coming on the heels of another from rival travel guide Conde Nast who last month urged a trip to Liverpool's World Heritage site before it vanishes for good.
Editors, drawn from Rough Guide editions spanning the world, decided a crawl around Liverpool's bars and clubs was more important than walking The Great Wall of China (although you might fell like you are doing exactly that should you time that taxi call badly in the wee small hours).
Forget any preconceptions you may have about bar crawling in Liverpool. The reality is as far from fake tans, big hair and silly scally stereotypes as you can get
At the very top of its list, readers with a distant eye on the mortal coil are urged to enjoy the silence of the Arizona's biggest hole in the ground, before getting themselves along to the fabled site of Petra.
“These are experiences you’ll rush to tell your friends and family about, and will always remember yourself,” it says.
Visiting the Pyramids at Giza and hot air ballooning over the Kenyan savannah could only manage 23 and 24 on the list beaten by a trip to Blackpool Illuminations which came 20th. The poor old Taj Mahal came 7th.
The Mersey citation reads: "Forget any preconceptions you may have about bar crawling in Liverpool. The reality is as far from fake tans, big hair and silly scally stereotypes as you can get – this scene is creative, convivial and bursting with joie de vivre. Countless great drinking holes pepper the city, and you could happily spend a lifetime sampling them all.”
It urges visitors: “Make for Seel Street, in the Ropewalks quarter, and the über-arty Baltic Triangle, the apogee of this organic after-dark and the blossoming home of Liverpool’s creative and digital media scene. Intimate, bare-brick gin and whiskey joints, craft beer and killer cocktails await.”
Top spot: The Grand CanyonFormer Liverpool Confidential writer Neil McQuillian, now a full time globetrotter for Rough Guides, says: “Liverpool lives for its nightlife and can lay claim to some legendary venues, from Eric's and the Cavern to Cream and the Kazimier."
He goes on: "Then there's the thriving gay scene; the warehouse parties in the new hipster hub of the Baltic Triangle; the gin gardens and gig venues and speakeasies; the metal clubs, the poseur bars and the gorgeous Victorian pubs belting out ungorgeous karaoke. And all venues walking (or wobbling) distance from each other. If you can't have a good time in Liverpool, you want to check for a pulse.”
Catch them before gentrification does, one might add. In the meantime, see the full list here
