I went to Liverpool for the first time last weekend, and being a huge fan of the Beatles practically since I was born, I basically organised my whole weekend around Beatles stuff to do!

Liverpool is a super cool city: people are adorable, love the accent (even though I didn’t understand quite everything), there are loads of very affordable restaurants and pubs, and the weather is always nice (joke! It rained the whole weekend…).

We stayed really close to the docks, where all the shops and touristy stuff are, but you can basically go everywhere on foot.

It was a short weekend and the city abounds with Beatles stuff to see, so we couldn’t go everywhere, but I believe that we managed to get a pretty good overview of the Beatles’ Liverpool anyway. Here’s what we did:

The Fab Four Cab Tour

For £50 for 2 hours (actually lasted for close to 3 hours, and that was the short tour!) that you can share with up to 4 people, Danny, our amazing driver, took us around Liverpool to show us a few fundamental places where the Beatles grew up and found inspiration:

• Ringo’s birthplace: crazy area! Basically, the city realised that the old council houses of this neighborhood were much too close to the city centre and could bring a lot more money if replaced with more modern and expensive buildings… So they evacuated all the people who had been living there for years… However, a couple of students decided to revolt against that and squatted in this now empty neighbourhood for a few years. These kids got a lot of international attention, people were petitioning against the project, even Ringo got involved, and 10 years later, all the houses are still here… but still deserted! Not sure what’s gonna happen now, but apparently some scenes of Peaky Blinders were shot in these empty streets.

• Penny Lane: the barber showing photographs, the shelter in the middle of a roundabout and the fish and chips… we saw it all!

• Paul’s birthplace: where the young Beatles sneaked in after Paul’s father had gone to work, by climbing up the pipes, to play music, smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol!
• John’s home: well, his aunt’s home, who took him in after his parents split up and abandoned him. Much wealthier upper-middle-class area compared with where the others came from, even though John polished his image of working class hero! A lot of early Beatles tunes were written on this patio!
• Strawberry Fields: was actually an orphanage where John used to go and play with the kids.

(We unfortunately couldn’t visit George’s birthplace because of the heavy traffic… next time!)

More info on the Fab Four Cab Tour here!

Liverpool Cathedral

4th biggest cathedral in the world, the Cathedral of Liverpool is absolutely massive, beautiful and bloody impressive! It’s quite plain from the outside, but really magnificent from the inside, with loads of tiny nooks and crannies, and displaying pieces of art by contemporary artists – which I can’t say that I fully appreciated… personal opinion! Even if you are not religious, like myself, you can only admire the architectural beauty of this cathedral.

Little 11-year-old Paul dreamt of joining the choir but was turned down by the choirmaster who told him he would never make it in music… **biting your fingers now, huh?!**

A few years ago, Paul gave a concert in the Cathedral and called it his “revenge gig”!! Haha YES Paul!!!

The Cavern Club

Absolute must-see! Yes, it’s like 50℃ inside. Yes, there are approximately 5,000 people sweating on your back. Yes, it’s rather expensive (£20 on Saturday nights to see the “Beatles” – but the drinks are quite cheap though). And no, you won’t see the real Beatles (duuuh). But it’s literally so much fun!

Quick recap for those of you who don’t know what The Cavern is: Liverpool nightclub considered the birthplace of The Beatles. It’s quite massive, and today, there’s only tribute bands playing there, but really good ones playing classic 60’s rock music!

So, there’s a band called The Cavern Club Beatles who actually really look and sound like the Fab Four, and it’s literally like being back in the 60’s! (Well… I obviously wasn’t born then, but at least the idea I have of the 60’s!)

Here’s a small taste of it:

Happy travelling!