The Beatles Story and Museum in Liverpool

In Brief.

Visitors to Liverpool can pay homage to The Beatles in a variety of ways. Sites associated with the band and their songs can be visited on tour busses, and photographs can be taken with their statue at the waterfront. The highest profile visitor attraction is The Beatles Story at The Albert Dock, which includes recreations of places associated with the band and its members, accompanied by an informative audio guide.  This is somewhat complemented by Liverpool Beatles Museum, near the Cavern Club, which contains more conventional displays and memorabilia, from clothes to cufflinks.

The Fab Four

What's Here?

More than 50 years after they split up, The Beatles still top polls as the Greatest Rock Band of All Time, and are thus deserving of ongoing recognition in their home town.  For a day trip, the journeys to and from Liverpool are also a good chance to revisit some Beatles albums (I went with Abbey Road and returned to Sgt. Pepper, but of course there is plenty choice).

The Beatles Story at The Albert Dock

The Beatles Story is located in a basement under The Albert Dock, which is discussed in another blog on The Liverpool Waterfront, and thus is handy for other visitor attractions. This is a compact but varied museum that connects together reconstructions of locations from the formative years of the band, such as The Cavern Club, with displays on their rise to fame such as their first US tour, and certain musical events including the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The displays provide a helpful setting for the information provided by the audio guide, and overall the The Beatles Story does what its name suggests, and provides an interesting narrative on the band and its members, including after the band split up. Perhaps there could have been more on the actual music.

The Liverpool Beatles Museum is probably more for the dedicated fans. In the street where The Cavern Club was once located, this is a more conventional museum, with three floors describing different periods from the band's career. There is a fair amount of stuff here, from Platinum Discs, to instruments played by the band, to things they left behind in Liverpool when they found fame and fortune. Perhaps an issue with these is that a pair of cufflinks once owned by Ringo Starr is pretty much like a pair of cufflinks that wasn't owned by Ringo Starr, so come here if your connection to the band is strong enough to make such memorabilia appeal.

Practicalities.

Distance from Manchester Town Hall: 35 miles

Drive Time: 55 minutes

Price: $$ - for each of The Beatles Story and The Beatles Museum

Parking: There are several paying carparks near Albert Dock; I parked in Kings Dock Carpark, L3 4BX.

Food and Drink: The Beatles Story has a cafe, and there are many eateries around.

Retail Therapy: The Beatles Story has a large souvenir shop, with more Beatles t-shirts than you knew existed. The Liverpool Beatles Museum follows a similar theme on a less grand scale.

Child Friendly: The Beatles Story would be fine for kids, the Museum a bit less so.

Toilets: Yes, in both.

Do it justice in: The Beatles Story 90 minutes, Liverpool Beatles Museum 60 minutes.

Inside-Outside: 100:0



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