Camping in Liverpool

Liverpool has no campsite inside its own boundaries, as you would expect of a city that ran out of open ground a century ago. Anyone wanting to camp uses the ring of sites beyond the built-up area, and the transport links make that practical rather than a compromise. Merseyrail runs from Ormskirk, Maghull and the Sefton coast into the centre in twenty to forty minutes, and the Wirral line comes under the river from the far bank, so a pitch ten or twelve miles out is a realistic base for a city break.

The terrain either side of Liverpool is gentle. North and east lie the flat market-garden fields of west Lancashire around Ormskirk, mostly reclaimed mossland, level and hedged but with little natural windbreak once you are away from the hedges. West, across the Mersey, the Wirral rises into low sandstone ridges and drops to the Dee estuary, where sites are more exposed but look out towards the Welsh hills. The Sefton coast has the dune systems at Formby and Ainsdale, though camping on the dunes themselves is not permitted.

Weather is maritime and changeable. Rainfall is lower than in the Lake District or the Pennines and the Irish Sea keeps frosts light, but the wind is constant and comes off the water with nothing in the way. Bring good pegs, guy everything properly and take a pitch with a hedge on the western side if one is offered. Showers arrive fast and clear fast.

Wild camping is not legal in England without the landowner's permission, and there is no equivalent of the Scottish right of access. On Merseyside and in west Lancashire this is not a grey area: the land is farmed, owned and mostly close to housing, and pitching without asking will get you moved on. Use a proper site. The season generally runs from late March to the end of October, with a few sites open year round. May, June and early September are the best weeks, balancing long daylight against the school-holiday rush. Book well ahead for Grand National weekend at Aintree in April, when everything within twenty miles fills.