Liverpool's unique history as an international port and a cultural melting pot has given it a character all its own. The city has produced music that conquered the world and is home to more historic buildings than any other British metropolis outside London. It features two magnificent cathedrals and many world famous museums. But beyond its renowned exterior is a labyrinth of places hidden and unknown. This deliciously offbeat guidebook will lead you to a different Liverpool: down tunnels, up skyscrapers, and into secret bars, speciality shops, and disused factories. You will see Balenciaga trainers and football trophies, rolling bridges and disappearing statues, Liver Birds and suitcases, extravagant cakes and cast-iron churches. Explore Britain's first mosque. Wander a roof garden of wild flowers, where different species bloom each month of the year. Marvel at the world's most expensive book or largest brick building (27 million bricks!). Relax in a hip tea bar with over 50 varieties of tea (loose leaf, naturally); or visit a place where you can drink Dandelion and Burdock with your fish and chips. Think you know Liverpool? Think again!Whether you're a first-time tourist, a repeat visitor, or a long-time local, prepare to be charmed and surprised by 111 eccentric and unusual places you'd never expect to find in the city best known for football and the Fab Four.

Manchester is far more than a grey provincial city preoccupied with the business of making money. The bales of cotton goods awaiting export have gone from the grand warehouses styled like palaces, and the cotton mills no longer hum with the sound of machinery. Yet the buildings remain in all their glory of tiles, terracotta and stained glass - converted to hotels, offices, chic apartments, hipster bars, fine eateries or gritty drinking dens. The textile trade may have disappeared, but you can find sustainable fashion in the old rag-trade district, and top quality coats and jackets are still being hand-sewn in the last remaining family-owned clothing factory. This book will also take you to alternative Manchester - Radical Manchester from Peterloo to the Pankhursts, Literary Manchester from Elizabeth Gaskell to Anthony Burgess, and of course to Madchester, the crazy music scene of Morrissey, Tony Wilson, the Hacienda and Factory Records.