Is it better to live in the north of England, or the south?

We live in the south of England in one of the sunniest places in the UK, but when it comes to shopping if you ask me it’s better to live in the north.

We seem to have a distinct lack of decent shopping centres in my neck of the woods, but head up the M1 motorway and you’re spoilt for choice.

Liverpool One in Liverpool city centre is a prime example, an open-air shopping complex where you’ll find everything from high street to high end shops, restaurants, bars and – coming this summer – even a floating assault course all in one place.

Here’s why you should visit.

10 reasons to visit Liverpool One shopping centre

1. There are more than 170 shops, bars and restaurants. “I live about 20 minutes’ walk away and despite going to Liverpool One most weekends, I still haven’t managed to sample every single eatery they have on offer,” says Nicola who blogs at Mummy To Dex. “The majority of places are child friendly too making it easy to take my toddler for a quick bite while getting in some retail therapy!”

2. You can reserve a parking space. There’s no need to drive round and round with fractious kids in the back of the car searching for a parking space: simply go online, select the date and time of day you want to visit and bingo – you can drive right in!

3. There’s a free child safe wristband system. So if your little one wanders off you can be safe in the knowledge you’ll be reunited quickly and easily.

4. The centre is open until 8pm on weekdays. So if you’ve had a bad day with the kids you can swop curling up on the sofa with a glass of wine for a spot of retail therapy and well-earned me-time instead.

5. There’s a sand pit in the summer. “You can spend all day and night there,” says Natalie who blogs at Meme and Harri. “There’s shops, restaurants, bars and a cinema! They have a big sand pit in the summer and a fair at Christmas. We love it.”

6. You can take the whole family to the cinema for just £2.50 each. Liverpool One’s Odeon cinema runs a kids’ club every Saturday and Sunday (and every day in the school holidays) where tickets for kids and adults are just £2.50 each.

7. There’s a floating 92-metre assault course. So if the kids are going stir crazy at home they can get it out of their system with free-fall slides, trampolines, rafts and barriers on Adventure Dock, which opens in May.

8. There are deckchairs for grown-ups. “We love it in the summer when they have events on for the children,” says Laura at Five Little Doves. “There’s a lovely grassy area at the back where they often have outdoor games for the kids and deck chairs for the grown-ups!”

9. There’s a nature trail. Open from April 3 the nature trail offers kids aged four to 11 the chance to learn all about Liverpool One’s Chavasse Park, an island paradise in the heart of the city.

10. There’s a breastfeeding area for mums. As well as state-of-the-art baby changing facilities there’s a designated breastfeeding area away from the hubbub of the shops where you can relax and feed your baby in peace and quiet.

Have you been to Liverpool One shopping centre before? What’s your favourite thing about it?

This post was written in collaboration with Liverpool One.

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