Get on the highway to Hull with the top 10 guide to what to do in the UK's capital of culture
And if you fancy a visit, check out our top 10 of things to do.
1 In at the Deep End
Entry £10.80 for adults and £9 for children
Inside, there’s some submarining to be done courtesy of the glass-walled lift that travels up through the main tank, through sharks, swordfish and mesmerically circling jacks.
The Deep’s strong educational message is mixed with plenty of lively entertainment, led by the penguins.
2 Home of a local hero
Free entry
No, not the house of Sunday Mirror’s columnist John Prescott, but the family home of William Wilberforce , the anti-slavery campaigner.
He was born in 1759 in a beautiful 17th century house, now a museum, which still stands on Hull’s High Street, a parade of handsome Georgian buildings which run along the River Hull where it hits the Humber.
Perhaps surprisingly, given that he became such a champion of liberty, Wilberforce had no personal encounters with slavery.
But that didn’t stop him making it his own campaign once he became Hull’s MP.
In fact, he was accused of caring more for enslaved Africans than his own working class constituents.
The Wilberforce House Museum tells his story and details cases of modern slavery, too, from massage parlours to cockle collectors.
3 On the waterfront
Out beyond the fruit market and the marina you’ll find the Humber estuary, the ‘‘Yorkshire Mississippi’’, still immensely wide despite being 20 miles inland.
Harbour porpoises are seen off the Old Pier in summer, at a place where migrants once arrived in their hundreds of thousands, en route from Europe to America.
It’s also where the river ferries used to dock until the massive Humber suspension bridge was opened upriver.
For 2017 it will become a giant musical instrument, thanks to sound installations and headsets issued to cross-bridge walkers.
Meanwhile the enormous structure that looks like an oil platform downriver is the new wind turbine manufacturing plant, a symbol of Hull’s welcome economic revival.
4 Hull’s Covent Garden
Extensive regeneration (mostly EU funded) has transformed the original port on the Humber into a busy modern marina, stuffed with prosperous-looking yachts, as well as the Spurn lightship, which you can explore, and a venerable schooner Pickle and sloop Spider.
The adjacent warehousing district is being reborn as the trendy Fruitmarket , with craft beers and chocolatiers, bars and restaurants (try Tapasya for lavish Indian fine dining). T
he latest opening is the Fruitmarket’s Humber Street Gallery, a place that will showcase contemporary cutting edge art in 2017.
During the cultural summer the Fruitmarket will become the place to eat, drink and socialise.
5 Warty Doris and chums
Not so long ago, the port of Hull was a seriously big player in freight, passengers and fish, which was why it was so heavily targeted by bombs in both World Wars.Today the best of its remaining architecture is threaded together by a fishy trail, inspired by Hull’s past. T
his A to Z of all Not so long ago, the port of Hull was a seriously big player in freight, passengers and fish, which was why it was so heavily targeted by bombs in both World Wars.
Today the best of its remaining architecture is threaded together by a fishy trail, inspired by Hull’s past.
This A to Z of all things aquatic is carved, sculpted and stencilled into pavements and walls, creating a treasure hunt that loops around the old town.
Warty Doris – aka Doris verrucosa – is a fossil of a limpet- like gastropod in a quayside rock.
6 Showpiece spaces
Free entry
Hull’s main art gallery, the Ferens, sits on the city’s showpiece Queen Victoria Square, which itself will be hosting several events in the cultural year.
The Ferens is a seductive Georgian building, flooded with light, and its core collection ranges from Dutch Masters through to pre-Raphaelites and more recent names such as Francis Bacon and Edward Burra.
Its big moment will come in the autumn when its modern extension will host the always controversial Turner Prize.
That extension is currently showing local artists curated by (among others) Maureen Lipman.
7 Trains, planes, automobiles
Free entry
Right next to the Wilberforce Museum is a slight misnomer of a brilliant museum: Streetlife is effectively a purpose-built transport museum full of 200 years of vintage trams, buses, planes, cars, steam locomotives and even a stagecoach simulator, all set against a backdrop of old shop fronts.
Meanwhile, marooned in the River Hull outside is the Arctic Corsair, the last of Hull’s deep-sea sidewinder trawlers.
8 The miracle of Hepworth’s Arcade
Somehow this Grade II listed glass-roofed Victorian arcade survived the wartime bombing raids.
It was here that Mr Marks and Mr Spencer opened one of their first penny bazaars.
Today’s retailers include Beasley’s hat shop and Dinsdale’s marvellous old joke emporium, because you can never have enough plastic dog poo.
The Arcade leads into Trinity Indoor Market, where Steve Mathie’s vinyl stall Spin It Records doubles as a gallery of Hull’s most famous names, from J Arthur Rank Somehow this Grade II listed glass-roofed Victorian arcade survived the wartime bombing raids.
It was here that Mr Marks and Mr Spencer opened one of their first penny bazaars. Today’s retailers include Beasley’s hat shop and Dinsdale’s marvellous old joke emporium, because you can never have enough plastic dog poo.
The Arcade leads into Trinity Indoor Market, where Steve Mathie’s vinyl stall Spin It Records doubles as a gallery of Hull’s most famous names, from J Arthur Rank to Philip Larkin.
Also Caffeinated, a café, serves some of the best coffee in town here.
9 Performance venues
The Hull Truck Theatre is known for its energy and inventiveness.
Its name reflects the fact it used to take to the road to reach audiences, but since 2009 it has had its own purpose-built theatre The Hull Truck Theatre is known for its energy and inventiveness.
Its name reflects the fact it used to take to the road to reach audiences, but since 2009 it has had its own purpose-built theatre where live performances alternate with quirky movies. For big name shows, the City Hall is the place.
For local music and poetry, there’s Kardomah 94. For comedy and music, plus much of the autumn’s Freedom Festival, the main venue is Fruit in the Fruitmarket.
All are listed under cultural events on hull2017.co.uk
10 Where to stay
Moderate: The Hull Royal Hotel at the railway station looks like a nostalgic period piece, redolent of Hull poet Philip Larkin, whose statue stands on the concourse outside.
The rooms have been modernised and the big foyer is a popular meeting place. Doubles from £64.
Boutique: The Hideout Hotel, which opens in May in the heart of the old town, will combine self-catering apartments with hotel-level service.
Décor will feature local artists and each apartment includes a living area, a workspace and a kitchen. Doubles from £70.
Top End: The Holiday Inn Hull Marina is a recently-built hotel in a brilliant spot on the quayside overlooking the marina.
It has a gym, a pool, and a thoroughly good breakfast with a waterside view. Doubles from £97.
For more information see visithullandeastyorkshire.com
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