Liverpool ranked as the number 1 city to visit by the Telegraph for 2026. Photo by (Richard Storey ) 📸 1. Liverpool Visitor appeal: 9/10 The iconic Royal Liver Building provides panoramic views of our number 1 city Credit: Bardhok Ndoji/iStockphoto In certain lights – which can be a summer evening, a clear dawn, a wintry afternoon – the waterfront of Liverpool is magical. It’s partly the contrast with the shopping area, which is often hectic, but it’s also the sheer, irrefutable glory of the Three Graces and the handsome red dock architecture combined with sea breezes and a big sky. Liverpool has had major ups and downs, swinging from the “managed decline” imposed on it by Geoffrey Howe after the Toxteth riots to the pomp and pageantry of 2007-8 when the city was the UK’s last ever European Capital of Culture (hosting, among other things, the glamorous MTV Europe awards) and celebrated its 800th birthday. The Walker, Open Eye Gallery and Museum of Liverpool are always hosting exciting shows; the Tate, being refurbished till 2027, and the International Slavery and Maritime museums, closed till 2027, are sorely missed by Albert Dock visitors. The Liverpool ONE al-fresco mall-type development is not to everyone’s taste, but the big-name chains attract good numbers of shoppers. Boasting stellar Victorian heritage architecture and the UK’s two finest modern-era cathedrals, a still buzzing pub scene, improving gastronomy and a small but strong arts scene, Liverpool is a one-off. Its people are storytellers and, more importantly, stars in their own private novels. Via (Life in Liverpool)