Wirral - metropolitan borough of Merseyside, in North West England

Wirral is in Merseyside and Cheshire in England, and partly in Flintshire in North Wales. The northern part of the peninsula contains the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, which is wholly within Merseyside. Most of the southern part of the peninsula lies in Cheshire, and the whole peninsula lies within The Historic County Boundaries of Cheshire. To the southwest, a slice of the peninsula is in North Wales at Deeside, east of the River Dee.

Wirral provides a more laid-back and recreational atmosphere than nearby Liverpool and has a rich heritage and landscape, in its own right. The northern coast of the peninsula provides a continuous stretch of sandy beach. There is an excellent view across to North Wales from the western side of the peninsula and, on the other side of the peninsula, the unique view of Liverpool's waterfront. Wirral also provides a useful central location, for a holiday to the wider Liverpool and Chester area.

Towns, villages and rural areas

• Birkenhead 📍
• Bromborough 📍 and Eastham
• Central North Wirral 📍, covering Greasby, Frankby, Irby, Upton, Woodchurch, Moreton and Leasowe
• Deeside 📍 at Garden City and Sealand
• Ellesmere Port 📍 and Hooton
• Heswall 📍
• Neston 📍
• Port Sunlight 📍 and Bebington
• Wallasey 📍 and New Brighton
• West Kirby 📍, Caldy, Hoylake and Meols Rural areas:
• Central South Wirral 📍, covering Two Mills, Burton, Puddington, Shotwick, Dunkirk, Capenhurst and Ledsham
• Central Wirral 📍, covering Barnston, Brimstage, Thornton Hough, Raby and Willaston

Understand

The Wirral peninsula is situated across the River Mersey from Liverpool. It is accessed via one of two Mersey tunnels connecting Liverpool with Wallasey and Birkenhead. Wirral is a short drive away from Chester and North Wales to the south and is within one and a half hour's drive from the Lake District to the north. It forms one of the metropolitan boroughs of Merseyside.

Get in

• By road use the M53 motorway (via the M56 and the M6). Birkenhead (Queensway) and Wallasey (Kingsway) toll tunnels also connect the Wirral to Liverpool. You can also go on a guided tour through the Mersey foot tunnel on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 5PM and Saturday at 10AM.

• By train go to Hamilton Square Station (in Birkenhead) on the Wirral Line, via Chester Station or Liverpool Lime Street Station. Lime Street has a great service connecting you to the likes of London & Leeds.

• By coach (National Express) to Birkenhead.

• By boat from Twelve Quays

• By Plane from Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Liverpool

Get around

• Merseyrail (part of Merseytravel) provide the main train services in the Wirral with a dedicated Wirral Line, trains running every 15 minutes until midnight most days. There is also the much less used Borderlands Line, where trains run only hourly, via stations Bidston, Upton, Heswall, Neston to North Wales terminating at Wrexham.
• Merseytravel operate buses across the Wirral. Birkenhead bus station has an information counter.
• Car rental, Hertz, 119 New Chester Rd, Birkenhead, (20 minutes walk from Green Lane Station) CH41 9BN.
• Bicycle rental, Liverpool Bicycle Co-operative Limited, Wirral Country Park (Book in advance!).

Do

• Wirral Country Park, south of West Kirby
• The Wirral Way. The Wirral Way, a path on the track of an old railway, 12 miles long and goes from West Kirby to Hooton in mid-Wirral. It is situated within Wirral Country Park.
• Climb Thurstaston Hill, Thor's Stone, Sandstone outcrop, Thurstaston Common.
• Sustrans National Cycle Network road/track Route 56 runs through the Wirral and is signposted.
• Seacombe Ferry all the way to Wallasey Golf Course has a segregated cycle lane.
• A cycle map of Wirral from any Local Council office. Shows the many Wirral Council cycling routes around the Wirral.
  • North West Wirral route starts and finishes at Wirral Country Park, Thurstaston, (northwards) via Ashton Park, West Kirby, North Parade and Meols Parade.
  • North East Wirral route starts and finishes at Seacombe Ferry Terminal, via Seacombe Promenade, Wallasey Town Hall and New Brighton Fort Perch Rock.
  • South West Wirral route starts and finishes at Wirral Country Park, Thurstaston via Heswall Golf Course and Parkgate.
  • South East Wirral route starts and finishes at Eastham Country Park, via Port Sunlight Village.
• Windsurfing at Marine Lake, West Kirby.

Events

• Wirral International Guitar Festival (dead link: January 2023), November at various venues.

Go next

• Liverpool One Shopping Centre, 44 St John Street, Liverpool, Liverpool, (10 minutes walk from Lime Street Station or Central Station) L1 8BJ.
• Met Quarter Designer Shopping Centre, 35 Whitechapel, Liverpool, Merseyside, (5 minutes walk from Lime Street Station) L1 6DA.
• Albert Dock (including the Beatles Story and the Maritime Museum), Liverpool, (10 minutes walk from James Street station) L70.
• Chester
• Belfast, via the ro-ro Stena Lines MS Norbay ferry terminal in Twelve Quays, Birkenhead.
• Dublin, via Isle of Man Steam Packet, MS Ben-my-Chree during winter.

Related Wikipedia article: Metropolitan Borough of Wirral