International fleet of Tall Ships return to Liverpool this weekend

News and Info from Deeside, Flintshire, North Wales

This article is old - Published: Thursday, May 24th, 2018

The international fleet of Tall Ships makes a triumphant return to the Mersey over the late May Bank Holiday weekend.

The Three Festivals Tall Ships Regatta will link Liverpool, Dublin and Bordeaux through four days of maritime magic from Friday 25 – Monday 28 May 2018.

It’s the fifth time Liverpool has hosted these historic vessels in the past three decades, and during Capital of Culture year an estimated one million people packed the banks of the river to catch a glimpse of the parade of sail.

The Tall Ships, berthed on the Cruise Liner Terminal and in the Canning and the Albert Docks, will be open for visits from 12pm on Friday 25 May. Click here to find out more.

As well as the Tall Ships Regatta, the Liverpool Bordeaux Wine Festival and a homecoming parade for Liverpool FC on Sunday 27 May should they win the UEFA Champions League are all expected to attract thousands of people to the waterfront and city centre.

Merseytravel, bus and rail operators and say they have put plans in place “using all available resources to support people as they travel.”

Merseytravel spokesperson said:

“People are strongly advised to plan their journeys as transport services will be much busier than normal, both before and after these events, due to an increase in demand and queues are expected.

A summary of key travel information and advice is below but travellers should check with transport operators for more detailed and up to the minute information both in the run up to and on their day of travel.”

Andy Heath, Managing Director at Merseyrail, said:

“Merseyrail will be strengthening as many services as possible over the upcoming bank holiday weekend to support the high number of people that are expected to enjoy the great events in the city.

We have taken steps to ensure that we can keep passengers moving as easily as possible, which has resulted in some changes to the usual service.

We look forward to helping passengers to enjoy the events this weekend and encourage everyone to plan their journey in advance”.

Key advice and information:

Plan ahead and allow extra time for your journeys – services will be busier, expect queues.
Check timetables – be prepared for some changes to services, particularly for buses as there will be diversions due to road closures.
Be prepared and be patient as it will be extremely busy. Leave plenty of time to get where you want to go.
Consider picking your journey times carefully and staggering your day to avoid busy times.
The Mersey Ferries are a good cross river option with hourly services during the weekend.

Sunday 27 May – if the Liverpool FC homecoming parade takes place:

Large numbers of people are expected to come in and out of the city, there will be significant demands on public transport, with queuing expected.
Travellers need to plan and allow extra time for journeys – services will be busier.
Check timetables in the run up to and on the day of travel – be prepared for some changes to services, particularly for buses as there will be diversions due to road closures.
Be prepared and be patient as it will be extremely busy. Leave plenty of time to get where you want to go.
Consider picking your journey times carefully and staggering your day to avoid busy times.
There are engineering works on mainline routes into Liverpool which will reduce the number and frequency of services.
Lime Street mainline station will be very busy, queuing systems will be in place
James Street and Lime Street lower level stations will be closed to help manage the expected crowds.
Remember that bus and rail services will be running Sunday services.
Bring water, hats and sun cream in the event of hot weather.
Consider staying local and utilise the full length of the route. Decide which part of the route you want to wait at and arrive in plenty of time.