Liverpool City Region’s museums, galleries, theatres and cultural spaces contain far more than visitors can discover during an ordinary visit.
The best arts and culture venue tours in Liverpool and the city region reveal the hidden histories, remarkable collections and fascinating people behind some of the region’s best-known cultural spaces. Some occupy historic buildings with stories stretching back hundreds of years, while others offer a glimpse into the architecture, ideas and creative work behind contemporary culture.
From exploring the Grade I-listed Bluecoat to stepping inside Shakespeare North Playhouse’s timber-framed Cockpit Theatre, these guided tours allow you to experience Liverpool City Region’s cultural venues from a completely different perspective.
Bluecoat Heritage Tours
Bluecoat is a familiar part of Liverpool city centre, but even regular visitors may not know the full story of its remarkable building.
Originally built as a charity school in the early 18th century, Bluecoat is the oldest surviving building in central Liverpool. Its story stretches from its beginnings as the Blue Coat School to its reinvention as the UK’s first arts centre.
During Heritage Open Days, Bluecoat’s Director of Cultural Legacies, Bryan Biggs, leads special tours of the Grade I-listed building. Visitors can learn more about its architecture, the people who have passed through its doors and its place within Liverpool’s cultural history.
The 2026 tours take place on Sunday 13 September and Tuesday 15 September. They are free, but advance booking is required.
Find out more about Bluecoat’s Heritage Tours.
The Reader Heritage Tours
The Reader’s home in Calderstones Park brings together literature, nature and several thousand years of local history.
Its free Hidden Heritage guided walks explore some of the park’s most significant and surprising landmarks. Along the way, visitors can discover what makes the ancient Allerton Oak so special, hear the story of Jet of Iada and learn what the Mansion House reveals about the changing life of the park.
The walks take place on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month and last approximately one hour. They are free to attend, with donations welcome.
The Reader also offers a separate weekly tour of the Grade II-listed Mansion House. These tours explore how the rooms were used when the building was a private residence, their later role under council ownership and how the house has been transformed into The Reader’s public home.
Mansion House tours take place on Tuesdays from 2pm until 3pm and are free to attend.
Discover The Reader’s heritage tours.
Shakespeare North Playhouse Guided Tour
Shakespeare North Playhouse may be one of the Liverpool City Region’s newest cultural venues, but the history behind it reaches back more than 400 years.
Prescot was home to the only purpose-built indoor playhouse outside London during the Elizabethan period. Today’s venue celebrates that theatrical history through its architecture, performances and striking timber-framed Cockpit Theatre, inspired by a 17th-century theatre built to designs by the celebrated architect Inigo Jones.
Its guided tour takes visitors through the award-winning venue while exploring Prescot’s connections to Shakespeare and the history that led to the Playhouse being built.
The tour includes the Sir Ken Dodd Performance Garden, Cockpit Theatre, Learning Centre, Exhibition Gallery and community spaces. Lasting around one hour and 15 minutes, it also provides an opportunity to ask questions about the building and its work.
Find out more about guided tours at Shakespeare North Playhouse.
Liverpool’s Royal Court Heritage Tour
From its striking Art Deco design to the famous names who have appeared on its stage, Liverpool’s Royal Court has played an important role in the city’s entertainment history.
The current Grade II-listed theatre opened in 1938, replacing an earlier building that had been destroyed by fire. Over the decades, it has welcomed performers ranging from established theatre stars to major music acts, before becoming the home of distinctly Liverpool-focused theatre that audiences know today.
Its heritage tours take visitors around the building, including areas that are normally hidden from the public. Led by an experienced guide, the approximately two-hour experience explores the theatre’s architecture, history and stories from both onstage and behind the scenes.
Money raised through ticket sales supports the continued restoration of the building.
Find out more and book a Royal Court Heritage Tour.
Sudley House Highlights Tour
Tucked away in Mossley Hill, Sudley House offers the rare opportunity to experience a major art collection within the Victorian home created to display it.
The house belonged to Liverpool merchant, shipowner and philanthropist George Holt. Its rooms remain home to the collection assembled by Holt, including paintings by artists such as JMW Turner, Thomas Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds and members of the Pre-Raphaelite movement.
Highlights tours for groups explore the history of Sudley House, the Holt family and the artworks and furnishings found throughout the property. As well as introducing individual works, the tour helps visitors understand what life was like inside the house and how Liverpool’s mercantile wealth shaped its creation.
Unlike many of the tours in this guide, the Sudley House experience is intended for pre-booked adult groups.