Beatles, Liverpool

Hi all,

The Beatles Story in Albert Dock is not a Beatles museum so if you are looking for somewhere packed with genuine artifacts of the Fab Four then this isn't the place for you. It does give info on the history of the Beatles and there are some visual aids that have been put together to help the story along but that's about it.

If you are a Beatles enthusiast then there is plenty in Liverpool for you to feast on but the Beatles Story doesn't give good value for money.

Place of homage to hordes of Beatles fanatics, the Cavern Club is perhaps the most well-known club in the world.
It's a shame that most people only stop by for a photo opportunity outside the famous facade. The club is still a hotbed for Liverpool music talent and Beatles fans should try and coincide their visit with the Beatles tribute night which takes place on Saturdays.
The area known as the Cavern Quarter is worth exploring. There are numerous pubs and bars lining the narrow streets.

Magical Mystery Tour - a busy that tours around the beatles sites of liverpool - john lennon's old house where he stayed with his aunt mimi, paul mccartney's old home on forthlin road, penny lane (including the roundabout), strawberry fields, ringo's childhood home, george harrison's childhood home, where they all went to school, LIPA, Woolton...a Beatles fan true heaven!

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As my girlfriend is a huge Beatles fan we did all things related to the great band, this included popping into the Cavern Club for a drink, or two!!!! This is where the Beatles played many years ago, although it has been rebuilt the artistic wall behind the stage is the original wall.
It seemed to take forever getting into the bar as it must have been about 4 floors down but once in there it was buzzing, It had a very tight but wonderful feel to it and the best thing of all was the Beatles tribute band playing called the Blue Meanies. They were wonderful and it felt as though you were watching the Beatles all those years ago, We stayed there till the early hours and i recommend a trip to the Cavern Club

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IF YOU ARE APPRECIATIVE AND CURIOUS OF THE BEATLES.. ..THIS IS THE PLACE FOR YOU TO GO...VERY INFORMATIVE ABOUT THE LIVES...ESPECIALLY THE FAB FOUR...JOHN,PAUL,RINGO AND GEORGE. .THOUGH THE ORIGINAL QUARRYMEN,STU SUTCLIF ,PETE BEST ARE ALSO MENTIONED... ..ONE FIRST ENTERS INTO THE BEATLES STORE TO PURCHASE TICKETS...THEN YOU WALK THROUGH A NARROW ENTRANCE TO THE FIRST ROOM..AND ON THE TWO WALLS OF THE WALKWAY IS AN INDEPTH DESCRIPTION OF THE BEATLES.. NEXT I REMEMBER ENTERING WHAT THE STAR BAR WOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE IN HAMBURG..WITH THE SOUNDS OF THEIR PERFORMANCES AND THE ATMOSHERE OF THAT CLUB.....
THERE IS ABBEY ROAD RECORDING EQUIPMENT AND EARLIER INSTRUMENTS THAT THEY USED INCLUDING THE OLD BEATLES SUITS.....THERE IS ALSO A REPLICA OF THE CAVERN WHERE THEY PLAYED DURING LUNCHTIMES AND IN THE EVENINGS ...IN THERE ALSO WAS..A ROOM WITH A LIFE SIZE SGT PEPPERS ALBUM COVER , THEN THE NEXT ROOM I ENTERED I WAS INSDE A YELLOW SUBMARINE. ..I SOON MADE MY WAY TO A ROOM DEDICATED TO JOHN LENNON AND THEN A ROOM DEDICATED TO PAUL McCARTNEY......DELIGHTFUL.. .TO ANY BEATLES FAN...AND THEN I HAD FINISHED THE TOUR AND RETURNED TO THE STORE WHERE I HAD BEGUN AND THERE ONE COULD BUY PLENTY OF T-SHIRTS AND WHAT EVER ELSE THEY HAD FOR SALE!!!! UNFORTUNATELY,CAMERAS WERE NOT ALLOWED IN THE MUSEUM.. I WOULD HAVE TAKEN A LOT OF PICTURES...A LOT !!!!

Facing each other on Matthew street is the Cavern Club and the Cavern Pub.

They probaby interconnect somewhere, and they are owned by the same company - but many visitors (and sometime locals) seem to have become confused about where the Beatles actually played.

It is the Cavern Club that you want -and down several flights of stairs in a grungy cellar bar you can still see the crummy little stage where music was changed forever.

I'm glad to say that the management don't appear to mind hoardes of tourists coming into the bar for free, taking a picture and then fleeing again. It would however seem curlish not to at least by a drink.

The 'pub' has tons of stuff in it from the sixties and early seventies. After all, it was not only the Beatles that played the Cavern but other such greats as :

Chuck Berry, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Status Quo, Judas Priest, Joe Cocker, The Who, The Kinks, Gary Glitter, Rod Stewart, Queen, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin’ Wolf, Elton John, Edwin Starr, Gene Vincent, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix.

P.S how did this place ever get a fire safety certificate ? - it's a long way down those one set of stairs.

Step right this way...

Join other diehard or casual Beatles fans on this bus tour of the city, in one of the authentic MMT buses of the 1960's. The guide on our tour was young but well-versed in his Beatles trivia, and you pass all the major Fab Four landmarks...Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, the churchyard where John met Paul, the boyhood homes and birthplaces, etc.

It's a two-hour tour, and they let you get off at all the major landmarks for photo ops. Buy your tickets in advance by phone, or you probably won't fit on the bus!

20 Forthlin Road and Mendips, homes of Paul McCartney and John Lennon

Organized by the National Trust, a tour departs by minibus to both of these homes several times a week (advance booking a must). The custodians of each house, Eric and John, are Beatles fans themselves and lucky enough to actually live in the houses where Paul and John lived until 1963, and where many of their best-known songs were written.

For a true Beatles fan, stepping into these houses and looking at many of the original furnishings is mesmerizing! You can sit right where Paul and John spent hours upon hours writing most of their early hits in Paul's living room. It was fabulous!

Booking in advance is a must--the tour departs Wednesday-Sunday (four per day), and there are only about ten spots on each tour.

The actual Cavern Club, where the Beatles played hundreds of gigs in the early 1960's, was foolishly torn down several years ago. This recreation was erected in the adjoining lot on Mathew Street, next to the parking lot that overlaps the original site.

The recreation is very faithful to the original, which is amazingly small inside. It now hosts daily live music (free to enter, but very smoky, unfortunately!), and has a large selection of memorabilia mechandise.

The Magical Mystery Tour drops you off here at the end for a free souvenir postcard.

Like you cant go to Liverpool without seeing something related to the Beatles! :) There is so much memorabilia packed here, like the white piano used in the 'Imagine' video and also gives the background to the whole Mersey beat scene of the sixties.
They have recreated Mathew St, the Cavern nightclub, Epsteins office inside. You could easily spend up to 3 hours looking around everything. In The Cavern, you can get your photo taken with you onstage in Beatles outfits "on stage" :)