march-2012

142 | DESTINATION GUIDES More free monthly guides available at traveller.easyJet.com
Liverpool
UK
DIALLING CODE +44
CURRENCY £
FLY FROM
Alicante,
Amsterdam,
Barcelona, Belfast
(BFS), Berlin, Bodrum,
Bordeaux, Brussels,
Faro, Fuerteventura,
Geneva, Gibraltar,
Grenoble, Ibiza,
Innsbruck, Isle of
Man, Jersey, Krakow,
Lanzarote, Lisbon,
Lyon, Madrid, Majorca,
Málaga, Malta,
Menorca, Naples, Nice,
Paris (CDG), Rhodes,
Salzburg, Tallinn
FROM THE
AIRPORT
TAXI
Pre-book your taxi
at easyJet.com.
A local taxi costs £15.
The 500 departs
every 30
minutes for the city
centre. Tickets: £2.80.
Visit the Europcar
desk for special
easyJet rates.
BON APPETIT
UP TO €15 Bistro
Franc (Hanover Street,
tel: 0151 708 9993)
The decor is rustic
French with classic
Gallic dishes, like boeuf
bourguignon, to match.
The three-course
lunch rapide provides
astonishing value at £9.
UP TO €30 Il Forno
(132 Duke Street, tel:
0151 709 4002) It
may be the size of a
small aircraft hangar,
but there is a warmth
about Il Forno that
makes it a pleasant
place. Pizzas prepared
in the oven made in the
form of a Romanesque,
fi re-breathing mask,
are recommended.
UP TO €50
Chaophraya
(Liverpool One, tel:
0151 707 6323)
Handy for the shops
and the Albert Dock,
Chaophraya is a
superior-looking Thai
restaurant with a
superior-tasting menu.
An extensive range of
dishes includes a good
vegetarian selection.
EXCLUSIVE
Fraiche (11 Rose
Mount, Oxton, Wirral,
tel: 0151 652 2914)
The region’s only
Michelin-starred
restaurant is easily
reached and worth the
eff ort for innovative
and painstakingly
prepared food like
slow-cooked pork
belly with raisins.
AFTER DARK
LOW KEY The
Brink (15–21 Parr
Street, tel: 0151 703
0582) The Brink is
the city’s fi rst “dry”
bar but drab it’s not.
Originally intended as
a stimulating venue
away from temptation
for recovering addicts
– with a delightful
range of non-alcoholic
cocktails – the
welcoming ambience
and excellent food
is attracting patrons
from all walks of life.
LIVE MUSIC The
Cavern Club (10
Mathew Street, tel:
0151 236 1965) Up at
the top of the checklist
for Beatles fans,
the Cavern is where
the Fab Four fi rst
attracted a following.
Nowadays, you can
catch everything from
tribute acts to up-andcoming
bands every
afternoon and evening.
LATE & LIVELY
Aloha Bar (22 Colquitt
Street, tel: 0151 706
0070) A little bit of
escapism amid the
economic gloom,
Liverpool’s only Tiki
bar recreates exotic
Hawaiian havens. Relax
among hula girls, palm
trees and pina coladas
served in pineapples.
THIS MONTH
SHOP Located
among other quirky,
small-scale retailers,
Hatzb4uassk has
CROWNE PLAZA
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Housed in a stunning
art deco former
airport terminal,
next to John Lennon
airport, there’s a real
sense of history here.
From €83, book at
hotels.easyJet.com.
the best selection
of headwear on
Merseyside, with hats
for any occasion from
berets to bowlers,
trappers to trilbies
(Grand Central Hall,
Renshaw Street).
SEE The theatre
adaptation of Arthur
Ransome’s classic
1930 novel Swallows
and Amazons is
winning rave reviews.
The family musical
adventure comes
to the city’s Playhouse
Theatre on 27–31
March (tel: 0151
709 4776).
GO Bold Street is
a mecca for lovers
of interesting,
independent traders.
A stroll up the street
takes you past cafés
like the award-winning
Bold Street Coff ee
and retailers such as
alternative bookshop
News From Nowhere.
ESCAPE Artists and
musicians are among
those to breathe new
life into the former mill
town Hebden Bridge,
now well known for its
myriad independent
shops, galleries and
cafés. Surrounded by
good walking country,
it is reached in under
90 minutes.
NO WAY!
Celebrations to mark
the world’s fi rst
passenger railway,
from Liverpool to
Manchester, were
marred when city MP
William Huskisson
became the world’s
fi rst railway fatality.
Gerry Corner
Ljubljana
Slovenia
DIALLING CODE +386
CURRENCY €
FLY FROM
London (STN),
Paris (CDG)
FROM THE
AIRPORT
TAXI
Pre-book your taxi
at easyJet.com.
A local taxi costs €45.
Buses leave
every hour till
8pm. Tickets: €4.10.
Visit the Europcar
desk for special
easyJet rates.
BON APPETIT
UP TO €30
Tramvaj Ekspres
Pizzeria (10
Mladinskih Delovnih
Brigad, tel: 01 916
407) Surely the
most unusual place
in Ljubljana for pizza.
Hop aboard and join
the local student
brigade on this
old tram in the
university district.
The pizzas all have
a super thin base and
a complex list
of toppings
EXCLUSIVE JB
(17 Miklošiceva Cesta,
tel: 01 433 1358)
Serious destinationdining
worth melting
your credit card for
in the city centre.
Superb seafood
from the country’s
bijou coastline is the
star – the sea bass
with Istrian truffl e is
sublime – and the
Slovenian wines
are spot on.
AFTER DARK
LOW KEY Dvorni
Bar (Dvorni Trg,
tel: 01 251 1256) A
favourite with locals,
and no wonder – this
gem by the river
is equally adept at
brewing great coff ee
for breakfast as it
is serving a perfect
glass of white wine
from the Vipava
Valley later on.
LATE & LIVELY As
Lounge (6 Nazorjeva,
tel: 01 425 8822) This
party zone is hidden
beneath the city
centre streets. Head
here with the local
cool crowd for some
live DJ action and
a lot of unpretentious
partying.
THIS MONTH
GO Now that the
fi rst fl ickers of spring
are showing, head
to the bracing banks
of the city’s river,
Ljubljanica, where
the pavement cafés
and restaurants are
already gearing up
for summer.
NO WAY!
Legend has it that the
quartet of dragons
on Ljubljana’s
eponymous bridge
wag their tails
whenever a virgin
strolls across.
robinmckelvie.com