Liverpool: River Cruise & Sightseeing Bus Tour
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Liverpool, England
- 2 hours (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
See Liverpool by land and water on this enjoyable combo tour. Take a River Explorer cruise along Liverpool’s waterfront, seeing the sights as the onboard commentary recounts their history. Couple your cruise with a hop-on hop-off City Explorer open-top, double-decker bus tour. With your 24-hour pass, travel around must-sees such as St. George's Hall and Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King Liverpool, listening to the live commentary and hopping off at stops of interest.
- View all Liverpool’s iconic waterfront and city sights in one day
- Hear about Liverpool’s history from the onboard boat and bus commentary
- Unobstructed views of Liverpool attractions by open-top bus
- Hop on and off as you wish at the designated stops with your 24-hour pass
What's Included
- Hop-on hop-off open top bus tour
- River Cruise
- Digital commentary on the River Cruise available in most languages. Please bring your headphones
- Alcoholic drinks (available to purchase
- Food and drinks
- Transportation to/from attractions
- Headphones are not included please bring your own
Meeting and Pickup
Operating hours
- 04/01/2024 - 05/13/2027
Monday - Thursday : 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Friday - Saturday : 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sunday : 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Departure Point
- You may start this tour at any of the stops listed.
Itinerary
River Explorer Cruise :
Make your own way to Pier Head on the River Mersey, arriving at least 15 minutes prior to your chosen departure: the ferry departs regularly during the day.
Step aboard for your cruise, and sail along Liverpool’s waterfront, passing sights such as the Royal Liver Building and historical Albert Dock.
As you admire the sights, explore the boat’s information zones and listen to the illuminating commentary. Hear about Liverpool’s maritime and musical history, from tales of smuggling to stories of how The Beatles performed on the Mersey ferries ‘Riverboat Shuffles’ of the 1960s.
Break your journey at any of the three stops: Seacombe, Woodside and Wirral.
City Explorer Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour:
At Pier Head, board the City Explorer open-top, double-decker bus with your 24-hour pass. Buses run regularly and travel around sights such as the Walker Art Gallery and bombed-out St Luke’s Church, damaged in 1941. Hop off at any stops that interest you or stay aboard for a comprehensive overview of the city complemented by the onboard commentary. See the Itinerary for a list of stops.
Make your own way to Pier Head on the River Mersey, arriving at least 15 minutes prior to your chosen departure: the ferry departs regularly during the day.
Step aboard for your cruise, and sail along Liverpool’s waterfront, passing sights such as the Royal Liver Building and historical Albert Dock.
As you admire the sights, explore the boat’s information zones and listen to the illuminating commentary. Hear about Liverpool’s maritime and musical history, from tales of smuggling to stories of how The Beatles performed on the Mersey ferries ‘Riverboat Shuffles’ of the 1960s.
Break your journey at any of the three stops: Seacombe, Woodside and Wirral.
City Explorer Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour:
At Pier Head, board the City Explorer open-top, double-decker bus with your 24-hour pass. Buses run regularly and travel around sights such as the Walker Art Gallery and bombed-out St Luke’s Church, damaged in 1941. Hop off at any stops that interest you or stay aboard for a comprehensive overview of the city complemented by the onboard commentary. See the Itinerary for a list of stops.
River Cruise & Sightseeing Bus Tour (11 stops)
9 Stops
9 Points of Interest
Duration: 2 hours
Operating Schedule: Please bring headphones for our digital commentary and arrive at least 20 minutes prior to sailing to redeem your ticket as the ferry departs on the hour. For digital commentary please scan the QR code at the ferry terminal and onboard the ferry. Check departure dates on the Mersey Ferries website. On board this 50-minute river cruise, visitors will discover the well-loved legacy of Liverpool and the river Mersey, with its musical and maritime history. From 'The Beatles' performing on the 'Riverboat Shuffle' cruises in the early 1960s to tales of smuggling, this ferry carries a cargo of memories. Just sit back and enjoy the fascinating commentary, wonder at the wildlife and absorb the heritage. Departing hourly the 50-minute river experience sails from Liverpool, Pier Head, calling at Seacombe, Wirral and then returning to Liverpool Pier Head. The cruise features fantastic digital commentary and is available in French, German, Spanish, Italian & Japanese. When you arrive back at Liverpool Pier Head, the City Explorer open top bus tour will be there at Pier Head to continue your journey - the last bus is at 3pm but is valid for 24hours. The City Explorer brings the best of Liverpool to you. Visit iconic places of interest and learn about the city’s culture and history with a live guide on every bus. The bus will be calling at: Albert Dock ,Liverpool Pier Head – Mathew Street – Home of the famous Cavern Club ,Walker Art Gallery & St Georges Hall, Metropolitan Cathedral, Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, St Luke's bombed out church, China Town – Chinese arch, Cains Brewery, Liverpool Marina & M&S Arena & Conference Halls. Your City Explorer bus tour can be used on the same day as your cruise and the following day giving you maximum sightseeing opportunity.
1
Pier Head
2
Mathew Street
3
Walker Art Gallery
4
Metropolitan Cathedral
5
Liverpool Cathedral
6
China Town - Liverpool
7
Cains Brewery Village
8
M&S Bank Arena
9
Royal Albert Dock Liverpool
Points of interest passed by on this route
Royal Albert Dock Liverpool
St. George's Hall
Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King Liverpool
Walker Art Gallery
China Town - Liverpool
Pier Head
St Luke’s Bombed Out Church
Mersey Ferries
Mathew Street
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Transportation is wheelchair accessible
- Wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- A coffee shop & restrooms can be found onboard the ferry
- The ferry is accessible on the main deck for wheelchairs
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- Arrive at least 25 minutes prior to redeem your voucher at Liverpool Pier Head Gerry Marsden terminal.
- Your ticket is valid for any cruise on the day of your ticket. The River Cruise departs every hour on the hour from Liverpool. Please check Mersey Ferries website for up to date departures and notices.
- The hop on hop off bus tour part of the ticket is valid for 48 hours from redemption.
- The last bus tour is at 3pm - however, you can use it the following day!
- Digital commentary on the River Cruise - From 26 February 2026, MERSEY FERRIES be offering a free digital audio guide as part of a one-month trial. Simply scan the QR code located at each ferry terminal or onboard the Mersey Ferry to access it. For the best experience, please bring your own headphones, ensure your phone is fully charged, and have mobile data enabled. During this trial period, the commentary will not play through the external speaker system. If you don’t have a smartphone, you can request a printed cruise route fact sheet from our team at the ferry terminal which is available in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Ukraine and Arabic.
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.5
based on 504 reviews
Michelle_O, Apr 2026
Bus and ferry tours great for giving the big picture. Then with the bus, you can hop off at venues of most interest and hop back on. Saved time, hassle, and expense of parking. Driver Jon M. got us where we needed to go. Wish I knew the guide's name because he had us belly laughing. Was the person working the morning of April 23.
Joyce_F, Apr 2026
Interesting, plenty of space on board, refreshments, lots to see. Very friendly staff. Easy to book.
Lorraine_C, Apr 2026
The ferry tour was great . The hop on hop off well worth doing we used it for 2 days so useful to get around and the commentary on board was great ( didn’t get his name) but very funny and very knowledgeable highly recommended this
Beverley_W, Apr 2026
The experience was great., although we weren't lucky with the weather. The only thing that could have been better was telling us what colour bus we needed as it wasn't clear at all on the booking or when we got on the bus.
Kathryn_B, Mar 2026
Fantastic!
So easy to get off the ferry and onto the bus outside the terminal. Every 30 mins
Chris was so informative and totally knew his stuff about Liverpool!
Very engaging
Well worth the money
Helen_L, Mar 2026
Fab way to see the city and hear about its history and interesting facts from the tour guide (a real person not a recording!) Boats go every hour, buses every half hour.
We loved the cathedrals, especially the anglican one. Had lunch in their cafe and also went up the bell tower for an amazing view of all if Liverpool..
Ron_M, Nov 2025
Did river tour on the Royal Iris, very interesting, learnt more than I already knew! Also did the liverpool city bus tour, again very informative from a guy who actually loved his job.
Response from Host, Nov 2025
Many thanks for your kind review, so glad you found the commentary informative.
DEBORAH_K, Oct 2025
Absolutely brilliant ...saw all the sights and well explained with a joke or 2 along the way ...regular pickups...thanks for a great time
Response from Host, Oct 2025
Thank you for a great review - glad you enjoyed your birthday treat!
Sue_B, Oct 2025
Not very clear on where to get your tickets or show your online tickets. I booked 2 events with this company. The other tour was supposed to be Saturday night, but it got canceled due to poor weather. I did NOT cancel the tour. They sent me a message saying we canceled therefore I would not be receiving a refund.
Response from Host, Oct 2025
This review is for Viator and not Mersey Ferries - please contact their customer services email.
AJ_W, Sep 2025
This review is for Viator Do not use Viator to book any thing they are an absolute bunch of scammers. I booked ifc cable car in London. When we arrived at the cable car base to show our ticket and we were told it was shut down because of high winds. When I reported this to Viator they rejected my claim that this wasnt true and of course I can’t prove it I’m not in London any more. Also when I was in Belfast we booked a hopon bus for after the titanic Belfast museum but the tour and museum took so long the hop on bus was done for the day I reported it to Viator right away in live chat and again I was rejected so hex on you Viator terrible customer service never again will I book with to you after you stole $200 cad from me
Response from Host, Sep 2025
This feedback has appeared under a Mersey Ferry product so we cannot respond. We would suggest contacting Viator customer services and ask how to register your complaint formally.
MARGARET_B, Sep 2025
Good tour, excellent value. Did not have to pay until day ahead. Easy start from cruise ship. No headphones on either hourly ferry or every 15-minute hop on hop off bus. Both had good acoustics & humans giving info as we went along. Gave extra personalized info about stops.
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Thank you for the great review, we are pleased to hear that you enjoyed the experience with us.
Caroline_S, Sep 2025
Unable to use hop on hop off bus. Raining, all buses full, some sort of movie being made in town, should have had to wait 15 minutes but wait was over an hour. Waste of money.
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Thank you for your feedback, we are sorry that the weather was bad for you. The buses were operating despite the filming but please contact customer services with further details.
Yvonne_D, Aug 2025
Absolutely brilliant, informative and interesting tour. I am from Liverpool but knew that there would be much to learn from this. We were lucky with the weather so travelled on top of the bus which gave a wonderful view. Our guide, Donna, was friendly, helpful and extremely knowledgeable and our driver, Wayne was also lovely.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Thank you for the great review Yvonne, so good to hear that you enjoyed your experience.
Mark_W, Jul 2025
We loved this Hop on Hop off tour around Liverpool. It was great to have a real, life guide onboard, and Dave and Colin were fantastic - very informative and engaging, with a good sense of humour. I would definitely recommend this!
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Thank you so much for your 5 star review it's much appreciated!
Pip_F, Jul 2025
Ferry ride on the Mersey included an interesting commentary.
Hop on bus was great, our guide Donna and driver John made the day. So nice to have personalised commentary rather than recorded.
Bus ticket valid for a full 24hrs and not just the day you commenced travel. Would highly recommend.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Many thanks for your 5 star review it's much appreciated.
Ida_S, Jul 2025
Interesting trip, but rather cold. Dress for wind! Saw lots of interesting things and enjoyed the commentary. Had a little trouble finding the actual start, but was worth the time.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Thank you for your review, yes it can get rather windy on the water so yes bring extra layers.
Karen_C, Jun 2025
Informative, friendly staff, on time, options to sit inside or outside on both bus and boat and clear instructions to find.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Many thanks for your kind review.
Margherite_v, Jun 2025
The Mersey Ferry cruise was lovely and well worth it.
The City Explorer Hop on Hop off Bus was a disaster. We saw them at the cruise terminal, but there were no signs directing customers to the Albert Dock.
So we walk and by chance stumbled on Mathew Street. We saw a bus and tried to follow it.
We walked further to find stop 4 (with the help of the website map - which was so hard to see) at William Brown Street. The website shows a stop outside the Museum, showing 2 statues. The bus stop isn’t there, but outside the library.
Eventually the bus arrived - late and we just completed the route and the walk back to the ship was a fair way.
Can I recommend it - no.
Response from Host, Jun 2025
So sorry that you had issues with the bus side of the ticket. The pick up point is right in front of the ferry terminal. hope it didn't spoil your day.
SANDRA_B, Jun 2025
Cruise was ok not much to see though. Hop on bus was yellow route but only came every half hour. Think red route might be better!
Response from Host, Jun 2025
Thank you for your review Sandra. The cruise does tour the whole Liverpool and Wirral waterfronts during the 50 minutes. Perhaps you can try the red route buses on your next visit. They also now sell tickets which include a river cruise.
JONATHAN_D, Jun 2025
Don't use!! We bought tickets for a river cruise and bus tour in Liverpool. They didn't provide the tickets we needed with QR codes. If it wasn't for the kind personnel at the terminal who showed us mercy seeing that we had paid Viator, we would have lost our tour. Terminal personnel were awesome because they had to override their system to get us tickets. They probably didn't get paid for our excursion
Response from Host, Jun 2025
Thank you for your feedback. We at Ferries don't normally have any issues with the tickets Viator supply their customers but we are very pleased to hear how well our staff handled the situation and were able to help you with your visit. We will pass on your kind words.
Richard_F, May 2025
Wrap up warm, as the wind can be very chilly, even when sun is out, and very warm. Best to go early morning.
Response from Host, May 2025
Thank you for the 5 stars Richard - glad you enjoyed it. Good advice given too.
William_S, May 2025
This was a great way to see the city of Liverpool. It was easy to reach both the ferry and the hop-on hop-off from the cruise ship. The ferry not only dropped off passengers in Wales, but also provided a running commentary of all the sites you can see on shore. The hop-on hop-off was convenient, informative, and easy to use. The most reasonably priced tour in this area.
Response from Host, May 2025
Many thanks for your 5 star review it's much appreciated - so glad you enjoyed your stay in Liverpool.
WilliamD_B, May 2025
Hardest thing is walking to Mersey ferries which is just a short walk from cruise dock. Nothing to get excited about and all you have to do is ask someone and they will show you. After cruise walk out to where busses are and tent the yellow one and it is about 1 hour
Response from Host, May 2025
Thank you for your review
Graham_M, Apr 2025
Nine stops with a live guide who added to the experience. Lots of interesting stops and the ticket was valid for the next day as well. Unfortunately I didn't realise this when purchasing, had I known, I would have started the ticket 1 day earlier as we were only in Liverpool for 2 days and we bought the ticket for day 2. Also, on day 1 we sailed on the ferry on the mersey not realising that this was the river cruise we had added on to the 'hop on hop off' experience.. Had the river cruise been described as the ferry on the mersey, we could have saved ourselves some money!
Response from Host, May 2025
Many thanks for your review, so glad you found it enjoyable. Sorry for the confusion over ticketing.
ANDY_S, Apr 2025
April 04 Yesterday not many people about so boat not full so plenty of space lovely sunny warm day 5* for today
Response from Host, Apr 2025
Many thanks for your 5 star review it's much appreciated.
John_H, Oct 2024
Good family day out. Staff were great. The boat tour could of been a little longer but all in all it was Fantastic.
Response from Host, Oct 2024
So glad you had a good family day out! Thank you for your review it's much appreciated.
Adrian_B, Oct 2024
Difficult to hear the commentary on the boat but the guide on the bus was very informative and very funny.
Response from Host, Oct 2024
Thank you for your feedback. We do regularly check the speakers and have passed your comments to our operations department.
ADRIAN_E, Sep 2024
Basic trip fir 50 min need to do if you come to Liverpool good topic fir the tourist . You can get great information from the trip
Response from Host, Oct 2024
Thank you for your review
Rosalind_A, Sep 2024
Very knowledgeable tour guide, enjoyable cruise down the Mersey well worth the money…
Visited all main tourist spots including Liverpool Cathedral which is a much…
Response from Host, Sep 2024
Many thanks for your review it's much appreciated
Daniel_B, Sep 2024
Great dinner cruise and entertainment The atmosphere was great and the dinner was great I would highly recommend it
Response from Host, Sep 2024
Many thanks for taking time to do a review. I'm afraid that it isn't in relation to Mersey Ferries products as we don't have dinner cruises. However, it sounds like you had a nice time.
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