Great experience, despite some heavy doors
4
4
Date of visit: November 2025
Overall Rating
Good
Walker Art Gallery is a large gallery that has lots of incredible items to look at spanning from the 13th century! There was also a lovely café in the centre of the building which was set in a part of the building that really highlighted the tremendous, ornate structure. I really enjoyed looking through some of the galleries and saw some iconic portraits. Because it was so close to the station, it was a perfect stop when I had some spare time before my train home. I got talking to a member of staff as I was waiting for the lift to arrive and he spent time asking me about my visit and what I liked and showed me to the galleries that he felt I would enjoy the most. He made such an impact on my visit! I did struggle with the heavy glass doors that separated each gallery. I wouldn’t visit again on my own, as the doors were just too heavy to open on my own as a wheelchair user. But I would happily go back if I was going with someone else.
Disabled Access In and Around
Good
When you approach the front of the building, there are large steps up to the main entrance. However, there is a ramp on the right-hand side that provides a step-free route. There are grab rails on both sides of the ramp. As you approach the main entrance, there are automatic sliding doors that open as you approach. Once you enter the building, there is an information desk straight ahead, with a small shop behind it and then the café behind that. There are galleries to the right, as you enter, and there are toilets and a lift to the left. Upstairs is where there are lots of interlinking galleries. Between each one was a set of large, heavy glass doors. These weren’t automated in any way and I really struggled to manage the doors on my own. There were stacks of fold-out stools around the gallery so you could take one at any point you might need one. There were some seating options throughout the galleries, some of them didn't have any back support or arm rests. In some of the galleries I noticed there were buttons that could read things aloud for those that needed it or preferred it. There were also some items that were tactile and there were signs encouraging people to touch them. There were often large print booklets for the descriptions as well.
Accessible facilities: Lift to all areas, Step-free entrance, Seating at regular intervals, Step-free access to most areas
Parking & Transport
Good
I travelled to this place by walk or wheel
The gallery is roughly 250 metres away from Liverpool Lime Street station. A number of train operators offer services from here, including East Midlands Railway, TransPennine Express, London Northwestern Railway, Northern, Avanti West Coast, and Transport for Wales. The station is also connected to the Metro system. 270 metres away is a bus stop which is located on Lime Street, just outside of the railway station. The bus stop is called Lord Nelson Street and you can get the buses 10A, 14A, 14C and 17 from here. There are some public parking spaces, including accessible parking spaces, on William Brown Street, which is just outside the gallery. When I visited, the Christmas market had closed some of the roads around the art gallery so I didn’t see these spaces.
Accessible facilities: Public or on street parking
Accessible Toilets
Average
There was an accessible toilet located near the lift. It had a regular door handle and opened outwards. The door wasn’t too heavy and had a horizontal grab rail on the inside to assist with closing it. Above the grab rail there were two coat hooks at different heights. The lock was below the door handle on the right-hand side and was a twist mechanism. The room was quite small and I found it quite a squeeze with my manual wheelchair and power attachment. The toilet was located on the left-hand side but there wasn’t much transfer space. The space was actually so small that there wasn’t even a height-adjustable grab rail by the toilet. There was just a horizontal grab rail underneath the toilet paper dispenser. The toilet had a lid and the cistern was exposed and provided some back support. The flush was located on the left-hand side as you looked at the toilet and was a push lever. The sink was opposite the door and was a small sink with a single tap on the right-hand side. The tap was manually operated and had a small handle which seemed like it could be operated with a fist or elbow. The tap twisted to control the temperature of the water and lifted to control the flow. Above the sink was a manual soap dispenser. To the left of the sink was a vertical grab rail. Directly the right of the sink was a wall and an automatic hand dryer was placed on the wall here. The red emergency cord was hanging freely to the floor
Facilities: Accessible toilet
Staff
Excellent
As I waited for the lift to travel upstairs, a member of staff also came and was waiting for the lift. As we waited he started asking me about my visit: whether it was my first time, what I was most interested in seeing. He was absolutely lovely and because I didn’t really know where to start he actually spent some time asking me about things I liked and personally showed me to the galleries that he thought I would like the most. He was absolutely wonderful and it was such a great first impression. As I waited for the lift to travel upstairs, a member of staff also came and was waiting for the lift. As we waited he started asking me about my visit: whether it was my first time, what I was most interested in seeing. He was absolutely lovely and because I didn’t really know where to start he actually spent some time asking me about things I liked and personally showed me to the galleries that he thought I would like the most. He was absolutely wonderful and it was such a great first impression.
