City Stories Index · United Kingdom · 2026 edition
Bristol vs Liverpool
Not opinions, measured walking data. On what we can measure, Bristol leads 4–2. Character is a different question: Bristol is the merchant harbour; Liverpool is the city the beatles left.
Change the matchup
| What we measure | Bristol | Liverpool | Leads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Places with a storyspots where a route tells you what happened there | 42 | 34 | Bristol |
| How often you pass a storymetres from one story to the next; fewer is better | 347 | 292 | Liverpool |
| Historical figuresreal people you meet in its stories | 9 | 12 | Liverpool |
| Instagrammabilityscore /100, on the index’s fixed scale | 38 | 19 | Bristol |
| Group outingsof every 100 plays, how many bring a group of 3+ | 19 | 14 | Bristol |
| International visitors% of player reviews written in a foreign language | 2 | 1 | Bristol |
Differences under 5% count as ties. Sample sizes and definitions on the methodology page.
What their stories are about
How many places with a story each city has per theme: Bristol in orange, Liverpool in blue. All bars share one scale, so lengths are comparable everywhere on the chart.
BristolLiverpool
12 places
legends & myths16 places
9 places
arts & culture7 places
5 places
crime & dark history3 places
3 places
faith & churches5 places
5 places
guilds & trade4 places
4 places
industry & modern era4 places
Bristol scorecard →
The merchant harbour
Liverpool scorecard →
The city the Beatles left