The town became a city in 1897 with the Royal Charter of Queen Victoria, and nowadays the population is around 320,000. It has become a thriving industrial area, both the derelict docks and the old town over the last 20 years have been given fresh life and out of this we have some stunning new areas to show Kingston upon Hull at its best. It has excellent shopping areas, parks, an art gallery, museums, theatres and a marina.
 Hull has a long maritime history the evidence of which you can see at the waterfront and the old town. There are cobbled narrow lanes, historic architecture, old inns, preserved warehouses some formal gardens and wonderful views of the Humber waterway giving plenty of interest for visitors. Two of Hull's historic docks form the marina with plenty of yachts and other boats moored.

The Marina has been built in what used to be the Humber and the Railway docks and it has helped to bring life and good times to the Hull waterfront again. You can look at all the different types of sailing ships, the motorised yachts and the traditional sailing boats as you walk around or sit and have a drink.

One of the regular annual occurrences was the flooding of the town due to the high and spring tides and so a tidal surge barrier was built and completed in April 1980. The barrier is over 100 feet high and lowered across the width of the River Hull when dangerous tides threaten.
This picture was taken from Victoria Pier facing the mouth of the River Hull.
To the right of the barrier you can see the scaffolding of the new attraction The Deep which opened in March 2002 and is Europe's deepest aquarium, containing 2.5 million litres of water and 87 tonnes of salt. This is a combination of the World Ocean Discovery Centre, which will research and investigate all the oceans and seas on the planet, and with tourist facilities which includes riding in the worlds only underwater lift surrounded by Sharks, Moray Eels, Hog fish and many other sea creatures.

Victoria Pier is an attractive area on the waterfront with great all round views of the River Humber. It also has a small landing stage which was used for the Humber ferry to travel to New Holland on the south bank before the Humber Bridge was built. Picture taken at low tide looking out into the Humber.

This shows a view eastward of Queens Gardens which again has come about by making use of the old Queens Dock. It is now a great splash of colour in the centre of the city with it's trees, flower beds, duck ponds with fountains.
During the summer months often used for festivals and live band performances. In the distance you can see Hull College and in front of it the 100 foot (30 metre) high monument to William Wilberforce.

There are 6 museums in Kingston upon Hull plus an Art gallery and they are all within walking distance of each other within the city centre. They represent various aspects of the town such as the Maritime Museum, Transport Museum, and the Wilberforce House.

  Princes Quay Shopping Centre. It is built on stilts over what was formerly the old Princes Dock. It has numerous parking and 4 levels of shopping.
 Princes Quay offers three floors (known as decks) of quality shopping with top brand names, there are over 100 shop units.
The glass covered shopping area is seen to rise out of the water and hovers on stilts above the Princes Dock and is the area's largest shopping complex.
The top deck is a 10 screen Vue Cinema complex showing all the latest films.
The Upper deck is accessed via the main deck or if you have parked in the 1000 car capacity car park then maybe from the top deck.here are a few of the stores availableon the floor, JJB Sports, New Look, Vision Express, Miss Selfidge, Evans and many more.
The main deck at Princes Quay is the floor that contains the widest range of stores, these include Ernest Jones, Clinton Cards, Dorothy Perkins, T-Mobile, Beaverbrooks Jewellers and BB's Coffee and Muffins. The rest of the floors are connected by escalators and scenic lifts. The lower floor of Princes Quay is called the harbour deck. This is also the floor where you can get food. It is centred round a large dais where at various times live music is performed, and they have exhibitions.

Thomas R. Ferens

 One of Hull's greatest philanthropists and Privy Councillor was Thomas Robinson Ferens. Born in County Durham at New Shildon On his death he left a bequest which enabled The Ferens Art Gallery to be built. He was also Liberal M.P. for East Hull 1906 - 1918. Has one of the main thoroughfare in Hull named after him, Ferensway.

This a small street at the bottom of Whitefriargate in centre of Hull old town and the location of the George Hotel, where you can see Englands' smallest window, said to have been used by the gatekeeper to look out for stagecoaches and customers.