Liverpool, England has a proud 800 years of history behind it, with a rich and varied cultural scene, even if you — somehow! — ignore what happened there 60-ish years ago. Yes, this is where the biggest rock band of all time got their start, and the city where you’ll still find the actual Penny Lane and Strawberry Field. But before the lads and their contemporaries made the local “Merseybeat” sound world-famous, Liverpool was already home to Europe’s original communities of Black and Chinese folks, the UK’s longest-running symphony, World Heritage Site Royal Albert Dock… not to mention a pair of ancient cathedrals that includes the UK’s largest. Venture elsewhere in the Liverpool Bay region and you’ll find sights like the glacier-formed Windermere Lake (England's longest), the meticulously-preserved city of Chester with its ancient walls, plus the first King Edward’s Conwy Castle, straight out of the 1280s.