My boyfriend is a big Liverpool football fan and I've booked tickets for a match at Anfield for his 30th birthday, but I need some help with somewhere nice to stay and a trendy bar or two to celebrate his big day? Sasha Jennings, Peterborough

Sunday Times travel expert, Susan D'Arcy, responds: For something truly Wagtastic, the Malmaison (0151 229 5000) down on the waterfront within nodding distance of the iconic Liver birds, struts its stuff like Fernando Torres on a post-goal celebration. Rooms are all dark woods, plum purples and white goods and cost from £145, excluding breakfast. Though booking The Kop suite (£395 a night), which has artworks depicting Liverpool sporting heros as well as its own games room complete with table football, should put you at top of the league for a good while.

The more discreet Mrs Benitez option is the Hope Street Hotel (0151 709 3000, doubles from £140, room only), at the Georgian end of town. Rooms are all creamy furnishings, light woods and bare brick walls. While the Premier Inn (0870 990 6432) in buzzy Albert Dock is a great budget option, with rooms from £63, room only.

For back-of-the-net bling, the Newz Brasserie (0151 236 2025) is where the younger Liverpool team members can often be found sipping supercharged cocktails, once Match of the Day has finished.

A "Livercool" crowd also hangs out at the Alma de Cuba (0151 702 7394), a former Catholic church divinely transformed into a drinking den by the team behind the mega-club Cream; the ultra-trendy Modo (0151 709 8832) also attracts the fashionable footie stars.

On Sunday, blow away the cobwebs on Crosby Beach and see Antony Gormley's mesmeric Another Place installation. It features 100 cast-iron, ghostly figures that dot the foreshore and stretch into the chilly Irish sea. It's so hauntingly beautiful even Mr Shankley would have been lost for words.

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