iQ in the city: Liverpool

Our student accommodation in Liverpool, Great Newton House, is centrally located just a few minutes’ walk from Lime Street Station – giving it a whole heap of good things to explore nearby. It’s also handy for campus, with both the University of Liverpool and LJMU within 8 minutes and the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts, founded by local musician Paul McCartney, just 15 minutes’ walk away.

If you’re lucky enough to be studying in Liverpool, check out our guide to some of our favourite places around the city.

The iQ city guide to Liverpool

Entertainment

Baltic Triangle – 27 min walk

A bit of a hub for all things creative down towards the docks, the Baltic Triangle encompasses all sorts of event spaces, studios and start-ups. Cliché as it is, there really is always something going on at Baltic, and that makes it a popular hang-out for the city’s students. Previous events include festivals like Sound City, Positive Vibration and Threshold, and there are weekly club nights too. Even better, students can enjoy discounts at various shops and venues at Baltic, so keep that ID to hand.

LEAF – 14 min walk

If you like things a little calmer, the chilled surroundings of LEAF on Bold Street might be just your thing. With an emphasis on high-quality tea and music, LEAF started out in a Liverpool gallery in 2007 and is now situated in a wonderful art deco building which was also a tea room back in the 1920s. Open mic nights showcase local performers, while regular fixtures like Classic Album Thursdays, First Listen Mondays and DJ Fridays prompt yet more musical discoveries. You won’t go hungry either, because there’s a great range of food to go with the eclectic range of tea blends.

The Jacaranda – 13 min walk

Ten minutes across town from the more famous Cavern Club, The Jacaranda on Slater Street also played an important part in the story of The Beatles – the band rehearsed and played some of their earliest gigs here (paid in beans on toast and Coca-Cola, apparently). Today, it still encourages new acts with a performance space in the basement serving as a good place to catch a live show close-up. A bar with a jukebox, and an amazing record store with vintage recording and listening booths, keep the upper floors steeped in musical history.

Café Tabac – 13 min walk

A Liverpool institution since the 1970s, Café Tabac serves up European-style vibes and some great British comfort food, including legendary breakfasts 12 hours a day. Beloved of the city’s creative community, this atmospheric little place on Bold Street is a gem you’ll want to discover, and not just for the reasons above. Hidden away at the back, an intimate cinema room is available for hire – perfect for a quirky bring-your-own-movie night with your uni friends.

Food and drink

Cat Café – 11 min walk

A lovely place to de-stress, you can enjoy coffee and snacks with some cat company at this café with a difference on Bold Street. Just down the road from Liverpool Central Train Station, Cat Café’s residents create a calming atmosphere, enhanced further by the absence of young children. No guarantees the cats will want to play, be stroked etc – they’re cats, they’ll do what they like (e.g. sleep).

Free State Kitchen – 11 min walk

A great place for beers, burgers and other all-American fare, Free State Kitchen is appropriately located on Maryland Street. Creamy mac ‘n’ cheese, crab cakes, deli sandwiches and highly recommended onion rings give you a flavour of the treats you’ll find here – definitely the makings of an epic night out. There’s a lovely garden with bench seating too, as well as some special student deals, y’all.

Amalia – 15 min walk

There are plenty of places to find a pizza around the ‘pool, but they won’t all come from a multi-award-winner like Amalia. Started by a pair of university friends in 2008, this Italian restaurant on Campbell Square has become a firm favourite since, offering all your favourite pizzas along with a wide range of pasta dishes, sides and tempting desserts. It’s also the home of the ‘finish it and it’s free’ 5lb calzone challenge, if you’re up for it.

White Wolf Kitchen – 18 min walk

Attached to a yoga studio on Cook Street, White Wolf Kitchen is one place you can try for some healthy, vegan nibbles, including cakes and shakes infused with hemp seeds and CBD oil. Scandi styling adds to the air of calm, making this a very pleasant place to roll up with your mat for one of the daily yoga classes.

Shopping

News from Nowhere – 12 min walk

Billed as ‘Liverpool’s Radical and Community Bookshop’, News from Nowhere has been providing the city with thought-provoking literature since 1974. Located on Bold Street, you will find sections devoted to workers’ rights, feminism, anti-racism, LGBT, disability and much more besides. Another big difference between News from Nowhere and your average bookstore is that it’s a not-for-profit workers’ co-operative, owned and run collectively by those who work there.

Dig Vinyl – 12 min walk

A music-loving city like Liverpool needs a good second-hand record store, and Dig Vinyl is that store. Walk along Bold Street, look for a shop called Resurrection, then look up – Dig Vinyl stems from decades of record dealing, DJing, label running and band managing on the part of its founders, Anthony and Carl. Packed out with rarities and curiosities, this awesome shop draws visitors from far and wide with good reason. Staff are reassuringly knowledgeable, some of them even hosting shows on local radio stations.

Lost Art – 14 min walk

If skate culture is your thing, you’ve lucked out – Liverpool is home to one of Europe’s leading skate stores, Lost Art. Located on Slater Street, you’ll find it filled with boards, clothes and other skate paraphernalia and, of course, like-minded skate enthusiasts being ‘rad’ and ‘sick’ and the like. When you’re fully equipped, the local skatepark, New Bird, is only 15 minutes’ walk away. If you have trouble spotting Lost Art, it’s above the Slice Bar (there’s pizza).

Red Brick Vintage – 28 min walk

Like old stuff? Then you will love Red Brick Vintage, a huge repository of the pre-owned and pre-loved on Stanhope Street. Situated in an old brewery building near the Baltic Triangle, Red Brick Vintage can provide you with hours of rummaging fun, through clothes, jewellery, furnishings and general bric-a-brac – the perfect way to give your room that retro vibe.

Travel

iQ Great Newton House is around 8 minutes’ walk from Liverpool Lime Street and 11 minutes from Liverpool Central, both major train stations. There are two bus stations in the city, at Queen’s Square (12-minute walk) and Liverpool ONE (19-minute walk), a large shopping centre close to the Liverpool Docks. You can find more info about getting around Liverpool on the Merseytravel website.

Your iQ team will be happy to help you get to know Liverpool better, so please ask at Reception if you need any help. And if you find somewhere in town that you think everyone else should know about, let us know on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using hashtag #MyiQLife