Magical Mystery Tour a Must for Beatles Fans

I must confess from the start that I have a soft spot for Liverpool. I spent three happy years there as a student and I love everything about the city, from the people to the pubs to the museums and the music scene.
Of course, it is impossible to mention music and Liverpool in the same breath without thinking about the city’s most famous sons, the Beatles. Liverpool is synonymous with the Fab Four and my number one recommendation for any visitor to the city is to take a take a trip on the Magical Mystery Tour as it gives a fascinating insight into the Beatles and a unique view of this fantastic city.

Tours start in the city centre at the Albert Dock and we were warmly greeted by our driver and guide – who was the younger brother of another one of Liverpool’s famous musical sons Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood fame – before heading out into the suburbs on our brightly coloured Magical Mystery Tour bus.

One of the many great things about the Magical Mystery Tour is that it allows you to reach the Liverpool most visitors to the city do not always take the time to see, we started off in Toxteth at the scene of Ringo Starr’s youth before heading further out of the city centre to take in the childhood haunts of the other three band members including Woolton and Allerton as well as some of the places that inspired the Beatles’ most famous songs. The bus makes stops along the way and there are numerous photo opportunities including Penny Lane and the world famous Strawberry Field gates, which was the site of a children’s home John Lennon visited as a kid…if only to spy on the girls that stayed there!

All of this is accompanied by a genuinely absorbing commentary, it is clear that both the guide and driver are very passionate about the Beatles and the famous Scouse humour was used to good effect! The commentary was interspersed with Beatles songs and our guide even had the whole bus singing as we pulled up into Liverpool at the end of our two hour trip.

The Magical Mystery Tour ticket also includes entry to the world famous Cavern Club on Matthew Street and this is another element of the experience that I would heartily recommend. We were there on a Saturday afternoon and the atmosphere was fantastic, with a singer performing an acoustic set live on stage which really helped give an idea of what the club would have been like in the Beatles’ heyday.

Tour tickets are £16.95 per person (including free entry into the Cavern Club and a free gift) and advance booking is recommended. Tickets can either be booked online, at the Cavern Pub on Matthew Street or from the Magical Mystery Tour ticket office which can be found in the Anchor Courtyard at the Albert Dock (this is also where you will meet your tour guide). All in all this tour is a great way to see not only the Liverpool of the Beatles but another side of this distinctive city and I cannot recommend it highly enough.