Magical Mystery Tour for Beatles Fans

If you are a Beatles fan, you’ll probably enjoy the 2-hour Magical Mystery Tour in Liverpool, UK. The bus takes you to all the Beatles’ childhood homes and a few other Beatles-related places like where Paul and John met and places that inspired some of their songs.

The tour ends at the Cavern Club where they played literally hundreds of times and your tour ticket includes a general admission ticket for that evening at the club.

Currently, tickets are £16.95 per person.

The tour starts at the beautiful Albert Dock where the colorful bus and a guide awaits.

12 Arnold Grove, the home and birthplace of George Harrison

Harrison recalled the only heating was a single coal fire, and the house was so cold in winter that he and his brothers dreaded getting up in the morning because it was literally freezing cold and they had to use the outside toilet. The house had tiny rooms —only ten feet squared (about 100 square feet, about 9 m2) — and a small iron cooking stove in the back room, which was used as a kitchen. Describing the back garden, Harrison wrote it had “a one-foot wide flower bed, a toilet, a dustbin fitted to the back wall (and) a little hen house where we kept cockerels.” [source]

20 Forthlin Road, the home of Paul McCartney before he became famous

The National Trust markets the house as “the birthplace of the Beatles”, since this is the place where The Beatles composed and rehearsed their earliest songs.

251 Menlove Avenue, John Lennon’s childhood home

The house, named Mendips, belonged to Lennon’s Aunt Mimi and her husband George Smith. The couple took John in at the age of five, after his mother, who was living with her boyfriend, was persuaded that it would be better for Mimi and George to take care of him. He remained at Mendips until mid-1963, when he was 22 years old. [source]

The blue plaque reads: John Lennon 1940-1980 – Musician and Songwriter lived here 1945-1963

10 Admiral Grove, the childhood home of Ringo Starr

This was the house in which Ringo Starr lived for twenty years before he rose to fame with the Beatles.

Starr’s infant school, St Silas Primary School, on Pengwern Street, was yards away from his front door. He was a sickly child and due to his many absences from school, was taught to read and write at home. A severe bout of peritonitis led him to spend much of his seventh year at the Royal Children’s Hospital. [source]

Beatles Songs

St Peter’s Church Hall (where John and Paul met for the first time)

It is an active Anglican parish church and one of the largest parish churches in Liverpool. Its bell tower sits at the highest point of the city.

The Last Stop

The Cavern Club, at Matthew Street, was where the Beatles’ (formerly known as the Quarrymen) UK popularity started. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best were first seen by Brian Epstein at the club. Epstein eventually became their manager, going on to secure them a record contract. Best was replaced by Ringo Starr on 16 August 1962.

From 1961 to 1963 The Beatles made 292 appearances at the club, with their last occurring on 3 August 1963, a month after the band recorded “She Loves You” and just six months before the Beatles’ first trip to the U.S.

The Beatles’ pub of choice

The Grapes Pub at the Cavern Quarter on Matthew Street, is where The Beatles used to down a pint or two in between gigs at the Cavern. In those days the Cavern was an alcohol free venue and The Grapes was the only traditional pub on Matthew Street.

At the end of the tour, you can also visit the really cool souvenir store and take a peek at the Beatles themed Hard Days Night Boutique Hotel.

I did travel from London to Liverpool just to take the tour and it was certainly very enjoyable.