April 2013
Considered one of the great plays of modern British theatre, Peter Nichols' A Day in the Death of Joe Egg comes to Liverpool's Playhouse on 5-27 April (Williamson Square, tel 0151 709 4776).

January 2013
Oil Boom, Delta Burns - often graphic images by acclaimed Nigerian photographer George Osodi document the results of human rights abuses and ecological destruction in the Niger Delta, a region rich in natural resources and beauty, and ruthlessly exploited for oil. At the International Slavery Museum until 2 June (Albert Dock, tel: 0151 478 4499).

April 2013
One of Europe's biggest retail developments, Liverpool One boasts 160 stores, 20 restaurants and bars, and a 14-screen cinema complex (5 Wall St, tel: 0151 232 3100, liverpool-one.com).

March 2013
Treasured by Beatles fans as the place Lennon met McCartney, the village of Woolton is also a conservation area with handsome architecture and a working art deco cinema.

March 2013
Chester Zoo, the UK's top zoo, is home to over 8,000 animals including Sumatran tigers and a rare, recently born giraffe (Upton-by-Chester, chesterzoo.org).

February 2013
The breathtaking beauty of the Lake District has long inspired poets. The southern slopes, and England's largest natural lake, Windermere, is 90 minutes away (cumbria-the-lake-district.co.uk).