Things to do:

A Grade II listed Historic Park, Sefton Park really is the green gem at the heart of the city’s enviable collection of open spaces – all 240 acres of it.

With its recent refurb, the necklace of lakes and rivers at Sefton’s heart is looking better than ever, surrounded by stately specimen trees seeded from species collected from Asia and the Americas in the 19th century.

The Palm House is a stunning example of Victorian glasshouse, built to extraordinary engineering precision, and crammed full of exotic specimens. The Park’s Field Of Hope sees a beautiful display of daffodils cover the southern edge of the park every Spring.

There’s tennis and bowls within, while Sefton Park Cricket Club is located at the park’s outskirts and offers refreshments, as does a cafe and Italian restaurant at the centre of the park. A small outlet by the boating lake also serves snacks.

Look out also for Sefton Park’s grottos, burrowing into the sandstone on which the city is built, and its grand bandstand: said to be the inspiration for a certain Sergeant Pepper.

During the Summer Sefton Park is a hive of activity: live music events such as Africa Oye and the Liverpool Music Festival are based on the grassy areas of the park, while the Liverpool Food Festival also takes place there in September. Halloween’s Lantern Parade is one of the most spectacular sights in the city – an imaginative, dazzling and macabre parade through the city streets culminating in a spectacular fiery climax.

Be braced for plenty of runners, half marathons and fun-runs too. Sefton Park is like a magnet for sports and recreation of all shapes and sizes.

Visiting Sefton Park

The number 80 bus is probably the best way to get to Sefton Park on pubic transport – it leaves the city centre and passes close by at Ullet Road. The park is about five minute’s walk.