On 7th April 2017 we woke up early and left for our 5 hour drive down to Liverpool ready for the grand national on Saturday.
We booked an Airbnb down Cecil Street in Liverpool. It was about 20 minutes away from the city centre (£7ish in an uber) and 25/30 minutes away from Aintree race course which was perfect. The house was clean and tidy, with 4 double bedroom and one bathroom. We found the beds very comfortable and the covers were so soft. We were impressed to find a new bottle of lemonade, fresh milk and orange squash in the fridge for us, tea bags, coffee and sugar in the cupboard and a body shop wash set, hairspray and toothpaste in the bathroom! Perfect if you had forgotten anything! There was even a shisha in the living room for us to use and a BBQ area in the garden.
Once we had arrived at the house and got changed, we headed down to the city centre to buy some last minute supplies for the races Saturday and then went onto the Pumphouse bar for some drinks and dinner. As this is a Greene King pub the prices are very reasonable in here.
We then went on a hunt to find a secret cocktail bar - ex directory for our 9pm booking. The entrance to the bar is through a telephone box where you must call down and authorise yourself before they will let you in. This was a little bit gimmicky as we had seen some people walk through just before we got there so we knew what to expect but was quirky nonetheless. When we got into the bar the design and decoration was very nice with comfy seats all around. The cocktails were quite pricey so we only stayed for one (although me and Lana shared a bathtub cocktail which was pretty good).
As we had a long day on Saturday we went back to the house after cocktails to get a good nights sleep (and reduce the risk of a hangover for the races).
Saturday morning we got up (after all fighting for the shower) got ready, had some toast for breakfast and got an uber down to the racecourse (We did all try to take hipflasks/bottles of alcohol in with us but the search on the way in was very thorough and they made us throw away all alcohol - sad times). Once inside the grounds there was so many different food stalls, drink stalls, bars and mobile tobacco and beer sellers. We had a little walk around, got a roll from the hog roast stand and went and walked onto the racecourse to have a look before the races started. If you have never been to the races I would definitely recommend it - it's such a fun day out! We had a few drinks and put a few bets on and got really excited to watch the horses race. We even won a few races which was a major bonus! It was nice to be able to get dressed up all nice too (although I did choose to wear sandals over heels in order to stay friends with my feet). All I would say is no matter what the weather seems like, take suncream as you are standing outside for a long time and we all became rather red towards the end of the day - (with no stalls selling suncream)!
When the main Grand National Race started the stands became so packed it was crazy how many people were there! They even took a 360 degree photo of the crowd and we managed to find ourselves amongst the people. (spot my fascinator)
I would definitely recommend going to Liverpool and to the Grand National races. The night life in the city centre also looked very good and if we had been there longer we definitely would have ventured out. The main strip reminded me of Ibiza with promoters on the street giving you offers and deals to get you to come into the bars/clubs and the whole area was buzzing.