Top free museums in Liverpool

Liverpool’s World Museum is a big draw for anyone interested in archaeology, anthropology and the natural world, with exhibits that will enthral kids and adults alike from Ancient Egyptian mummies to awesome dinosaur skeletons. The dramatic six-storey atrium provides access to an eclectic series of themed exhibits of broad appeal - from natural history to ethnography, insects to antiquities, and dinosaurs to space rockets. Excellent sections for children include the Bug House - where real specimens are displayed alongside spooky plus-sized models - and the Planetarium, where video technology brings to life the mysteries of the cosmos, including the tantalizing possibility of alien life. The planetarium and theatre have daily shows, with times posted at the information desk.

The country’s national collection of modern art for the north, Tate Liverpool holds popular retrospectives of artists such as Mondrian, Dalí, Magritte and Calder, along with an ever-changing display from its vast collection, and temporary exhibitions of artists of international standing. There’s also a full programme of events, talks and tours. The large ground floor exhibition room, its smooth flagstones and vast cylindrical pillars representing the gallery at its most warehouse-like, is one of the venues for staging international guest exhibits; the other is on the top floor. In between, artworks in the galleries are arranged according to ‘constellations’, with each star a different artist, related to their neighbour in terms of style or influence. This neat exhibition technique ensures a wide range of pieces can be displayed in a coherent order, while allowing visitors to discover new artists based on their existing preferences. Keep an eye out (you can hardly miss it) for the Liverpool Mountain, an eye-catching installation just outside the Tate by Ugo Rondinone. Created in 2018, it consists of rainbow-coloured blocks stacked on top of one another in a top-heavy way which seems to defy gravity. Seven similar mountains, also by Rondinone, can be found brightening up the Mojave Desert outside Las Vegas. The Tate Liverpool is definitely one of the best free spots in Liverpool.

The Merseyside Maritime Museum fills one wing of the Dock. There’s lots to see, even if some of the exhibits are looking a little tired. The basement houses Seized!, giving the lowdown on smuggling and revenue collection, along with Emigrants to a New World, an illuminating display detailing Liverpool’s pivotal role as a springboard for more than nine million emigrants. Other galleries tell the story of the Battle of the Atlantic and of the three ill-fated liners - the Titanic, Lusitania and Empress of Ireland. The unmissable International Slavery Museum, on the third floor of the Maritime Museum, manages to be both challenging and chilling, as it tells dehumanizing stories of slavery while examining contemporary issues of equality, freedom and racial injustice.

Huge and flashy, in a show-stopping Danish-designed building, the brilliant Museum of Liverpool opened in 2011. Spread over three floors, the galleries play on Liverpool’s historic status as the “second city of Empire”, exploring the complex political and life histories that have unfolded in a community whose wealth and social fabric were built on international trade. Children will enjoy Little Liverpool, a gallery where they can design and build their own city, while anyone with any interest in popular culture will have an absolute ball at Wondrous Place, a memorabilia-rich celebration of sports and music. Liverpool free museums don’t get much better than this!

The focal point of the University of Liverpool campus is the Victoria Building, a magnificent terracotta-hued structure said to be the original inspiration for the term ‘redbrick university’. The building houses the Victoria Gallery & Museum , which often goes under the radar of tourists, but deserves more attention. The first floor contains a genuinely superb art collection, with a gallery dedicated to the beautiful wildlife paintings of John James Audubon and assorted pieces by world-renowned artists including J.M.W. Turner and Lucien Freud. The museum contains an exhibit on the heritage of the Victoria Building and university campus, alongside plenty to divert those of a scientific (and non-squeamish) bent. The ‘Nightmares in a Bell Jar’ collection comprises, well, nightmarish things in jars, from slithering reptiles to creatures of the deep, while ‘Nasty Gnashers & Dreadful Dentures’ takes a peek into the world of Victorian dentistry - which, to put it mildly, was no bed of roses. Searching for Liverpool holidays? Of course you are! There’s plenty to explore in this exciting city.