Beatles Attractions Liverpool

Liverpool, birthplace of The Beatles, has a number of attractions for those interested in the fab four. Take a trip to the Casbah Coffee Club where the group first performed, wander around the childhood homes of John Lennon and Sir Paul McCartney or visit the legendary Mathew Street. Enjoy all this and more when you visit The Beatles attractions in Liverpool.

Britannia Pavilion
Albert Dock, Liverpool, L3 4AD
Tel: 0151 709 1963
The Beatles Story
White Feather Exhibition

The Beatles Story is the original Beatles-themed visitor attraction in Liverpool. It can be found within the historic Albert Dock on the city’s famous waterfront. The attraction may not be open ‘eight days a week’ but it is uniquely designed to take visitors on an ‘enlightening and atmospheric journey into the life, times, culture and music of The Beatles’.

Visitors to The Beatles Story are guided through the attraction with personal headphones and audio recorded by John Lennon’s sister Julia. The many different sets, which together tell the story of the four most famous people to come out of Liverpool, include the White Room where visitors can enjoy a poignant version of Imagine.

Winner in The Mersey Partnership Annual Tourism Awards 2010, The Beatles Story and its second home in the Pier Head are well worth a visit even if you’re not a die hard music fan.

Georges Parade
Liverpool L3 1DP
(Within the new Mersey Ferries terminal building)
Tel: 0151 709 1963
The Beatles Story

Buoyed by increasing popularity and a steady increase in the number of visitors, The Beatles Story expanded into a second site in Liverpool’s attractive waterfront area. Many new attractions are housed here, not least the spectacular 4D journey charting the group’s journey to international stardom. The Beatles Fab4D showcased to the public in July 2009 and uses the latest 3D technology and 4D special effects to immerse visitors in a fantastic virtual world.

The Beatles Story Pier Head also played host to the world premiere of White Feather: The Spirit of Lennon, an exclusive exhibition giving a rare insight into the extraordinary life of John Lennon. The exhibition included interviews with Julia and Cynthia Lennon, a fascinating collection of family photos and items from John Lennon’s previously unseen collection of memorabilia.

A dedicated shuttle bus runs between the two exhibition sites or visitors can enjoy a ten minute walk taking in the sights of the Liverpool’s historic waterfront.

10 Mathew St
Liverpool, L2 6RE
Tel: 0151 236 1965
The Cavern Club

Located in Mathew Street, The Cavern Club has played host to a succession of inspirational musicians. First opening its doors as a jazz club in January 1957, the club was slowly overtaken by blues bands and beat groups playing that inimitable style of rock and roll which later became known as Mersey Beat. The Beatles made almost 300 appearances at the club between 1961 and 1963.

The club closed in 1973 and a myth perpetuated that a car park had been built in its place. The truth is that The Cavern was only ever a basement club and only the warehouses on top of the club were demolished. A remodelled club reopened in 1984, occupying some 75% of the original site and retaining the same address ’10 Mathew Street’. Live music resumed in 1990s.

In 1999, Paul McCartney performed his last gig of the century at The Cavern and declared the club ‘the most famous club in the world’. Eight years later, in 2007, Liverpool hosted a celebration of ’50 years of The Cavern Club’. It remains one of Liverpool’s finest destinations for live music with a back to basics and grass roots mentality that continues to showcase some of Liverpool’s most talented musicians.

8 Haymans Green
Liverpool, L12 7JG
Casbah Coffee Club

The Cavern Club is often most closely associated with The Beatles, with many people not realising that the true launch pad of the group is considered to be The Casbah Coffee Club. This venue was closed for many years but is now open for one hour tours for visitors wanting to see where the group’s very early first live performances were held. It's a unique basement club crammed with instruments, hand-drawn posters, microphones and amps. Look upwards to see the silver stars on the ceiling of the bar area which were painted by the lads themselves and admire where John carved his name into the wall.

Tours to The Casbah Coffee Club fill up extremely fast so it’s best to book well in advance; information regarding tour availability and booking details are available on the website.

Liverpool, L18

Penny Lane in South Liverpool was immortalised by The Beatles song of the same name. Released as a double A-side with Strawberry Fields Forever in 1967, the song was rated as #449 out of 500 greatest songs chosen by The Rolling Stones in 2004. It is often said that this duo of songs was the group’s best ever production.

The actual Penny Lane, named after an18^th century slave trader, is now a favourite landmark in Liverpool and a must stop point on any tour of The Beatles. Official street signs have been a constant target for theft by over-zealous fans; the council stopped replacing them for a while, opting instead to paint the street name on the sides of buildings, until a more robust version of the street sign was introduced in 2007. The sign, although undoubtedly more secure than the previous version, is still stolen at the rate of almost one a month.

Penny Lane is largely residential and you will find the infamous Penny Lane Wine Bar at the Allerton Road end. It's an understated venue with some great choices in food and drink and chilled out regulars. In the song Penny Lane, the ‘shelter in the middle of the roundabout’ is referred to; this shelter is actually a building on Allerton Road, not quite Penny Lane but just opposite. It was originally a public toilet block but later became Sgt Peppers Bistro. Incidentally the hairdressers where John Lennon used to get his hair cut is just over the road.

251 Menlove Ave, Liverpool, L25 7SA
20 Forthlin Rd, Liverpool, L18 9TN

National Trust: 0870 900 0256‎
National Trust Beatles Attractions

Two of the most popular attractions for Beatles fans visiting Liverpool are the childhood homes of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Both sites are now owned by the National Trust and have been preserved to represent an authentic version of how the houses would have looked in the 1950s and 60s.

Mendips is the childhood home of John Lennon and is situated in Woolton in South Liverpool. This house has the honour of being the location where some of the very early hits by The Beatles were written. On visiting the house fans can listen to an audio recording of an actual lodger reminisce about life with the young Lennon. There are fascinating photographs, documents and other memorabilia to satisfy the most inquisitive of fans.

20 Forthlin Road in Allerton, South Liverpool is the childhood home of Sir Paul McCartney. He lived in the terraced house with his brother Michael. As with Mendips the house is authentically furnished as it would have been during the 1950s and 60s. The house also played host to The Beatles as they wrote and rehearsed some of their earliest hits. One of the main attractions here are the numerous family photographs which are on prominent display.

No trip to Liverpool would be complete without a visit to each of these homes. Both enable fans of The Beatles to experience a unique insight into the life and times of John Lennon and Paul McCartney and the very origins of possibly the greatest group there ever was.

Grave: St. Peters Church, Woolton
Statue: Stanley Street, Liverpool

Primarily written by Sir Paul McCartney, the song ‘Eleanor Rigby’ is considered one of the most outstanding ever written by The Beatles. Originally released on the 1966 album Revolver, it remains one of the group’s most recognisable songs with its haunting lyrics about death and loneliness.

Opinion varies as to where the idea for the song title came from; some say that Paul recalled the name having seen it on a grave at St. Peters church in Woolton, Liverpool whilst others believe that he got the inspiration from the name of his co-star, Eleanor Bron, in the movie Help. The name ‘Rigby’ may also have come from a shop store front in Bristol, although it seems more likely to have been the grave because Paul McCartney and John Lennon actually met at a church function at St. Peters.

Wherever the inspiration for the song came from, people still flock to see both the grave and the statue of Eleanor Rigby in the City Centre; dedicated to ‘all the lonely people’, this haunting statue was created in 1982.

Woolton, Liverpool

A Salvation Army Children’s Home in South Liverpool, Strawberry Fields was made famous by The Beatles hit ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’, a double A-side with Penny Lane released in 1967.

The building was a favourite childhood haunt of the young John Lennon and had previously been saved from closure when his widow Yoko Ono made a cash donation to save the building in 1984. Despite this injection of capital, it was announced in January 2005 that the home would close forever in May 2007 following a change in the approach to childcare, it being preferred that children in the care system be looked after within foster homes rather than large institutions.

The site was saved from complete abandonment at the eleventh hour by the opening of a 24-7 Prayer Room. Operated in association with the Salvation Army, this was good news for the City of Liverpool since the site is still a Mecca for fans of The Beatles from all over the globe.

The site hit the headlines in 2000 when the famous wrought iron gates were stolen by thieves and later sold on to a scrap metal site owner. The purchaser, said to have become suspicious upon hearing of the theft on the local news and having purchased the gates in good faith, called the police to return them. Strawberry Fields has been immortalised by Lennon’s song and has since lent its name to many businesses and sporting events. There is also a memorial called Strawberry Fields inside Central Park in New York. This particular site is a personal tribute to Lennon following his untimely death at the hands of a disturbed fan in 1980.

Liverpool 2 (City Centre)
Mathew Street
Mathew Street Festival

Any self-respecting fan of The Beatles will include a trip to Mathew Street as part of their Liverpool itinerary. Home to The Cavern Club and the starting point for The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour, don’t forget to look skywards or you’ll miss the iconic statues of The Beatles placed high above your heads. Don’t miss the bronze statue ‘Four lads who shook the world’ – Mother Liverpool holds three babies (John, George and Ringo) whilst the fourth depicting Paul has grown wings and flown away. An obvious nod to the band Wings that McCartney formed after The Beatles.

The street comes alive every August for The Mathew Street Festival when 300,000 guests descend on the area for a great offering of local bands and music. Take a look at the official Mathew Street website for a selection of four webcams that give you a great view of the area, a venue directory and gallery featuring some great pictures of the area.

Liverpool John Lennon Airport
Liverpool, L24 1YD
Tel: 0870 129 8484
Liverpool John Lennon Airport

The Yellow Submarine monument started life as a 1984 exhibit for the International Garden Festival. A representation of the film of the same name, some 51ft long and painted in vivid yellow; this particular monument is hard to miss. Following the closure of the festival site, the submarine was moved to Chavasse Park where it acted as a welcome beacon to visitors entering the city of Liverpool. A deteriorating condition and the planned opening of the city’s flagship shopping centre Liverpool One meant the submarine was removed for renovation until 2005 when it found its current home at the Liverpool John Lennon Airport. The first airport in the UK to be named after an individual pays homage to the group in a number of small ways. The airport logo features the famous self-portrait drawn by Lennon, the strapline ‘above us only sky’ is taken from the song Imagine and a seven foot statue of John Lennon by local sculptor Tom Murphy was unveiled by Yoko Ono in 2002.

10 Mathew Street
Liverpool, L2 6RE
Tel: 0151 236 1965
Magical Mystery Tour

Organised by the infamous Cavern Club, the magical mystery tour is a must for fans of the Beatles. This entertaining two hour tour offers a perfect introduction to The Beatles attractions in Liverpool; taking a look at the early lives of The Beatles with stops at Mendips and 20 Forthlin Road, and with inspirational sightseeing opportunities at Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields the tour culminates at the infamous Cavern Club where you can exchange your ticket for an exclusive souvenir of your trip.

Liverpool is packed with fantastic pubs holding some incredible links to The Beatles. Take a trip down memory lane and see where the group drank and played in the days before mobs of women followed their every move.

The Philharmonic
36 Hope Street, Liverpool

Ye Cracke
13 Rice Street, Liverpool

Jacaranda
21 - 23 Slater Street, Liverpool

Welkin
Whitechapel, Liverpool

The White Star
2 Rainford Gardens, Liverpool

Flanagan's Apple
18 Mathew Street, Liverpool

The Grapes
25 Mathew Street, Liverpool

Rubber Soul
Mathew Street, Liverpool

The Cavern
8 - 10 Mathew Street, Liverpool

The Boothill Saloon
Argyle Street, Birkenhead

North John Street
Liverpool, L2 6RR
Tel: 0151 236 1964

A newcomer to the list of Beatles attractions in Liverpool, The Hard Day’s Night Hotel opened its doors in 2008. A luxurious 4 star hotel in a classic, Grade II listed city centre building, located in the ‘Beatles Quarter’ of the city close to the Cavern Club and a must for every Beatles Fan. Deluxe rooms start at around £105 per night or the total opulence of the Lennon or MacCartney Suites can be enjoyed for around £650 per night.

So there you have it; a pretty much exhaustive guide to The Beatles Attractions in Liverpool. Brought to you by a true Scouser and a blue one at that.

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