Liverpool, England

Liverpool is a waterfront city in the north-west of England. It is most famous for being the hometown of the Beatles. When we visited it in July 2005, we were staggered by the extraordinary mix of architecture and splendid buildings combined with an amazing amount of construction and regeneration work. For decades Liverpool has been left to slide into physical decline, with many pockets of ruin and depravation. However, it looks like the city's fortunes are on the turn, now that it has been named European City of Culture for 2008.