Liverpool city centre

The Baltic Triangle was originally defined as the area as being bounded by Liver Street, Park Lane, Parliament Street and Chaloner Street / Wapping but has since been expanded by the council to cover include the Dock Road, Sefton Street and Brunswick Station.[7] It is believed to have got its name from the number of timber warehouses and yards used for storing timber from the Baltic countries in the 1800s.[8]

The area is home to a growing number of creative and digital businesses, which sit alongside a range of independent food and drink traders and has seen extensive development over the last 10 years and has been the subject of a Spatial Regeneration Framework (SRF) to guide the future development.[9]

Canning is an alternative name for the elegant and mainly Georgian collection of terraced streets at the edge of the city centre, often referred to as the "Georgian Quarter".

Including the Mathew Street area.

Centred on Church Street and Lord Street, this area contains many shops and restaurants.

The Chinatown in Liverpool city centre is home to the oldest Chinese community in Europe,[10] dating back to the 19th century. Chinese are now the largest visible ethnic minority group in the city numbering up to 30,000.[11] Numerous Chinese-owned supermarkets, restaurants and community groups are spread across Liverpool's Chinatown. The Liverpool Chinese Gospel Church and the Liverpool Chinese Christian Disciples Church are also located within the area. The arch located at the gateway to Chinatown, Liverpool is also the largest of its kind outside of China.[12]

The Commercial District at night

West Tower

Liverpool's "commercial district" is a term given by business to distinguish Liverpool's business and commercial centre from the rest of the city centre.

It is centred on Old Hall Street and is the financial heart of Liverpool. Many businesses and companies have a strong presence in the area. Since the mid-2000s many new building and redevelopment projects have taken place in the commercial district, which is now home to some of the tallest buildings in North West England. Some notable properties within the commercial district include the headquarters of the Post & Echo and offices of Unisys, HM Passport Office, BT and Maersk Line. With 36,000 m² (390,000 sq ft) of floor space, New Hall Place is the largest office building in Liverpool, The Plaza is another large office building in the commercial district which is occupied by a number of different companies. The table below shows the tallest buildings within the commercial district (excluding buildings in neighbouring Prince's Dock or Pier Head – a more detailed list of the tallest buildings and structures in the remainder of Liverpool city centre can be seen here).

• William Brown Street

William Brown Street is adjacent to St George's Hall and St John's Garden, close to Lime Street Station. It is a short pedestrianised street featuring several significant buildings constructed in the latter half of the 19th century. The Library and Museum was designed by John Weightman (1857–60), to its east the Walker Art Gallery and Picton Reading Room built in the 1870s, the County Sessions House built in the 1890s. In front of them stands the Nelson Column, erected 1861-1863.

Hope Street and its immediate vicinity is notable for a number of reasons. The street connects Liverpool's two cathedrals; Liverpool Cathedral and Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral as well as being home to a large part of the University of Liverpool's main campus. Other sites of interest on or near Hope Street include the Everyman Theatre, Unity Theatre and Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.

A district on the eastern edge of Liverpool City Centre including the streets bounded by New Islington, London Road, Pembroke Place and Moss Street. A 15-year masterplan has been created for the area with plans to transform up to 1.5m square metres of land with hotels, offices, high-quality student accommodation and new homes for ‘key workers' such as nurses and doctors.[13][14]

• "Knowledge Quarter"

• Liverpool One

Opened in 2008, composed of retail units, this is the new shopping area near to Church Street and Lord Street.

• RopeWalks

Independent shops, clubs, restaurants and bars.

Home to the Liverpool Gay Quarter around Stanley Street.

The buildings of Pier Head from the Albert Dock

• Kings Dock

Kings Dock has been vastly redeveloped over recent years, and the former dock has now been filled in. The 11,000 capacity Echo Arena is now sited on what was King's Dock as well as a number of new apartment buildings and hotels.

• Pier Head and Mann Island

Pier Head is one of Liverpool's most famous locations, it is home to the 'Three Graces' which have dominated the city's skyline for over a century (they are the Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building). The Three Graces are not the only buildings located at Pier Head, the Memorial to the Engine Room Heroes of the Titanic is also sited here alongside the Pier Head Ferry Terminal and Queensway Tunnel Ventilation Shaft. Pier Head is bordered to the north by Prince's Dock and to the south by Mann Island. Mann Island is another section of the Liverpool waterfront which has seen significant regeneration over recent years, the Museum of Liverpool and the Mann Island Buildings are both under-construction as of September 2010.

• Prince's Dock

The Prince's Dock is located to the north of the Pier Head and the Three Graces which is now the home of the Liverpool Cruise Terminal where turnaround cruises arrive and depart. The land surrounding Prince's Dock is the subject of major redevelopment and could be part of the very ambitious Liverpool Waters Scheme.

Five stations on the Liverpool Overhead Railway were in Liverpool city centre (Pier Head connecting to Liverpool Tramways Company main hub, James St, Customs House/Canning and Wapping Dock) from 1893 until the line's closure in 1956. On what is now the Northern Line, Liverpool St James railway station was also open until 1917 and Crown Street railway station until 1972. Liverpool Exchange was replaced by Moorfields.

Liverpool Lime Street railway station is the mainline railway terminus in Liverpool city centre providing direct connections to many points in Great Britain. Liverpool is home to a hybrid commuter rail S-train network with all four city centre stations underground.

• Liverpool Central railway station
• Moorfields railway station
• Liverpool James Street railway station
• Liverpool Lime Street railway station

Liverpool Central station and Moorfields station have platforms that serve both the Merseyrail Northern and Wirral Lines, while Lime Street underground and James Street station are located on the Wirral Line. The Lime Street mainline station also provides local services on the Merseyrail City Line.

Over three and a quarter miles of disused rail tunnels lie under the city centre, Wapping Tunnel and Waterloo Tunnel/Victoria Tunnel.

Numerous A roads lead into Liverpool city centre including the A5036, A5047, A5052, A5053, A562, A565, A580 and the A59. The Kingsway Tunnel and Queensway Tunnel, which are both toll roads, run under the River Mersey connecting Liverpool city centre to Wallasey and Birkenhead respectively.

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  Canning Place bus station for South of the City
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  Queen Square bus station for North of the City and crossriver
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  Arriva Crossriver buses
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  City Sightseeing
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  City Explorer
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  Magical Mystery Tour
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  Citybike
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  Merseyrail

There are numerous bus stops and stations across Liverpool city centre, however the main interchanges are Queen Square bus station and Liverpool One bus station which are managed by Merseytravel, and are served primarily by Arriva North West and Stagecoach Merseyside. There are services to all corners of the city and as far afield as Chester and Preston. National Express coaches serve further.

City sights and City Explorer by Maghull Coaches offer open top tour of the city by double decker bus.

National Cycle Route 56 and National Cycle Route 810 passes through Liverpool city centre.[16]

The only major forms of transport not readily available in Liverpool city centre are via trams and air, although trains and buses link Liverpool city centre to Liverpool John Lennon Airport in Speke.

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  Mersey Ferry Royal Daffodil
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  Liverpool Cruise Terminal
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  Leeds and Liverpool Canal Liverpool Canal Link
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  Isle of Man Steam Packet Manannan
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  Isle of Man Steam Packet route map

Pier Head Ferry Terminal and Liverpool Canal Link, Leeds and Liverpool Canal

Isle of Man Steam Packet Company operate out of the Port of Liverpool which is within the city centre adjacent to the River Mersey running daily ferry services to the Isle of Man during summertime. No services to Ireland operate directly from Liverpool city centre since Dublin and Belfast routes stopped in 2010 except from nearby Bootle for P&O Ferries to Dublin and Birkenhead for Stena Line to Belfast.

The Mersey Ferry operates between the Pier Head and the Wirral.

Leeds and Liverpool Canal runs into Liverpool city centre via Liverpool Canal Link at Pier Head since 2009.

Liverpool Cruise Terminal in the city centre provides long distance passenger cruises, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines MS Black Watch and Cruise & Maritime Voyages MS Magellan using the terminal to depart to Iceland, France, Spain and Norway.