After being to London for several times I really wanted to explore more of England. I went to Northern England as I discovered that Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds are all quite close together so you can perfectly visit those 3 cities in one trip. I often heard that people went to one of them for a few days, but as all three really have a lot to offer I think it’s much better to visit several cities while you’re there.
There’s an easy train connection between Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds so it’s really easy to turn your city-trip into a three-cities-trip in Northern England.
On this page I’ll tell you all about my trip to Northern England and how I did Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds in 1 trip.
TransPennine Express
There’s a really easy railway connection between Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool. From Liverpool to Manchester takes less than an hour and from Manchester to Leeds is also about an hour. You can buy your tickets in advance easily at the TransPennine Express website.
You can also buy a North of England Rover ticket, with which you can travel between all 5 cities in Northern England. So not only Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool but also Hull and Newcastle. With this North England Rover ticket you pay one fixed price and you can travel unlimited between those cities on 4 days in a period of 8 days. Perfect to explore multiple cities in one trip.
Tickets cost £79 per person (or £99 if you want to include Newcastle).
Liverpool
I started my trip to Northern England in Liverpool. You might know Liverpool from its football team or as the hometown of the Beatles; but Liverpool has much more to offer. I was absolutely positively surprised and I’m already thinking about going back. I had a great time in Liverpool. There are many restaurants, much to see and the people are very friendly!
The Liverpool Cathedral pictured above is just one of the many sights in Liverpool.
Besides great things to see there are also great things to do in Liverpool. Obviously, it’s the city where the Beatles are from. There are many things in the city that remind you of Paul, John, Ringo and George. A great thing to do is visit The Beatles Story. It’s a museum that shows everything from the start to the end of the Beatles. It’s a great experience for every music lover.
Another great thing to do in Liverpool is to do a tour with Liverpool Cycle Tours, they do a great Beatles tour by bike and I joined their Walking and Drinking tour.
As I said there are many restaurants in Liverpool, many of them are independent which I absolutely love. One of my favorite food spots in the city was the new Duke Street Market. It’s an indoor food market with 6 different food stands, a bar and a stand for coffee and desserts. The 6 stands were all very different, so there’s something for everyone. You can just sit down with your friends at a table and everyone can order what they want at the stands and they’ll serve it to your table.
Click here for all my favorite food spots in Liverpool.
According to me, the best place to stay in Liverpool is the Hope Street Hotel. It’s a wonderful hotel with a great restaurant as well (my tip: go for the afternoon tea). I’ve heard that the Liverpool football players also stay in this hotel, and I’m not surprised; it must be the best hotel in Liverpool!
Click here to read more about Hope Street Hotel.
Manchester
When I thought of Manchester before I mostly thought of football and how it would be a great city for a men’s weekend (my boyfriend once had a bachelor party there with his group of friends). But it turns out that Manchester has so much more to offer, and is also a great city for women or couples to visit.
You can do a walking tour with Discover Manchester to see some of the highlights. They offer daily walking tours at 11am for only £10.00 per person. They start at the central library, so you can just show up there at 11am to join the tour.
Click here for all top sights and activities in Manchester.
Besides the touristic sights and activities, there are also many Instagrammable spots in Manchester. Check out this cute pink restaurant for example, it’ll look great on your Instagram feed!
Click here for all top Instagram spots in Manchester.
When I thought of Manchester before, I thought it might be difficult to get good vegetarian or vegan food. I thought it would be mainly pubs with a standard menu that includes a lot of meat. I was quite wrong. There are many independent restaurants in Manchester and many good options for vegetarians and vegans! I had this vegan seitan burger at Firebird Hope for example.
There’s no doubt about what my favorite hotel is in Manchester: King Street Townhouse! I mean, they have a swimming pool on the roof with great views of Manchester. That alone is already reason enough to spend the night whilst in Manchester, but above that they have very comfortable rooms and a delicious breakfast.
Click here to read more about King Street Townhouse Hotel.
Leeds
To be honest, I didn’t know anything about Leeds before I went there. I had no association with the city and I actually thought it was quite small. I turns out that Leeds is almost the size of Amsterdam and that there are many reasons to visit this city in Northern England.
One of the reasons is Kirkstall Abbey. It’s the ruin of a monastery just outside Leeds. It’s a beautiful place to visit and each last weekend of the month from April to November they host a market inside the former abbey.
Click here for all Instagrammable spots in Leeds.
Leeds has some wonderful food spots. One of my favorites is Fettle. Fettle serves locally grown and organic food. Many of the dishes are vegetarian or vegan and animal-based protein can be added if desired. You order 3 to 4 dishes for 2 people so you can choose several items from the menu. The seaweed butter is a must-try and the fried gnocchi with pesto was my personal favorite.
Click here for all my favorite vegetarian and vegan friendly food spots in Leeds.
I stayed at the Radisson Blu hotel in Leeds, a really wonderful hotel with a very central location. Look how beautiful my room was! And this picture doesn’t even show how spacious my hotelroom was.
Click here to read more about the Radisson Blu hotel in Leeds.
House of Britain
Do you live in the Netherlands and are you considering a trip to Northern England or any other part of Britain? House of Britain can help you with your trip. They offer all kinds of trips to all the countries in Great Britain and Ireland. There are set trips that you can book but they also help you plan your individual trip.
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