If you're also a Beatles fan, here are the 10 must-see places during your visit to Liverpool!

Start your city discovery by following our free itinerary, which will take you, among other things, to the first 5 essential Beatles points of interest. You'll also have explanatory audio guides! Continue by going to Penny Lane and the former Strawberry Field orphanage, located outside the city. End your day with a pub tour, where live music and atmosphere will propel you directly into the musical universe so unique to England!

And if you prefer organized tours, hop on the Magical Mystery Bus, straight out of a Beatles song!

#1 The Beatles statue

Just steps away from Albert Dock's, the most visited site in the city, stand the nonchalant silhouettes of the 4 boys in the wind! These 4 famous bronze statues, created by sculptor Andy Edwards and inaugurated in 2015, are a must-see in the city and a souvenir photo not to be missed!

Address: Pier Head, Liverpool

#2 The Beatles Story Museum

Come visit this award-winning museum offering total immersion in the life and work of the Beatles. An essential visit to understand the scope of their history and legacy. It's the world's largest permanent exhibition dedicated to the Beatles.

Address: Britannia Vaults, Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool

More info: https://www.beatlesstory.com/

# 3 The Cavern Club and Mathew Street area

A true institution in Liverpool, and self-proclaimed "Most famous club in the World", the Cavern is The place to be to feel the Beatles vibe in Liverpool. Indeed, it's here that the group made their debut and played 292 times! They quickly made this venue famous, subsequently attracting many legendary groups. The club was destroyed in the 1970s and rebuilt identically in 1982. Don't miss seeing a concert there!

The rest of the neighborhood is also worth visiting! Inside "The Grapes" pub, for example, where the Beatles loved to go for a beer, you can see their favorite table (right next to the ladies' toilets, naturally!). Also take a tour of the Jacaranda bar, created by Alan Williams, the group's first manager. This club played a key role in launching their career and it was in its basement that they rehearsed. Today it's a record label, a bar, a record shop and a concert venue.

In the neighborhood, you'll also find the Beatle shop, perfect for bringing back a small souvenir.

Cavern Club address: 10 Mathew Street, Liverpool.

More info: www.cavern-liverpool.co.uk

#4 The Eleanor Rigby statue

This melancholy statue, inspired by the fictional character from the song All the Lonely People, sits quietly on a bench on Stanley street. Several iconic objects have been hidden inside the statue!

This work by Tommy Steele is dedicated to all people who feel lonely.

Address: Stanley St, between Victoria St and Whitechapel st

#5 Penny Lane

"Penny Lane, is in my ears and in my head"

There's a good chance you have the song stuck in your head just thinking about Penny Lane.

This song, with such a recognizable tune, was written by Paul McCartney in 1966. The Beatles had just finished a world tour and decided to stop giving concerts.

No longer having to play their songs on stage, they could afford to create a new genre. It was in this spirit that the Beatles' 8th album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was released. The two songs, Penny Lane and Strawberry Field, would not appear on this album however, but as a double A-side to create an event.

At that time, the singer-songwriters no longer lived in Liverpool and two songs: Penny Lane and Strawberry fields, brought a note of childhood and nostalgia to the album.

Things to see on Penny Lane:

• St Barnabas Church: where Paul McCartney sang as a choirboy.
• The Penny Lane road sign at the beginning of the street.
• The plaque signed by Paul McCartney
• The "Penny Lane" mural at the corner on Elm Hall Drive
• The Imagine statue of John Lennon
• Photos of the barber shop, as in the song

#6 Strawberry Fields

The other nostalgic childhood song is therefore Strawberry Field. John Lennon wrote it while he was in Andalusia filming "How I won the war", an anti-militarist film whose vision the artist shared.

Concerts becoming increasingly difficult to perform, particularly due to audience screams and the new technicality they wanted to implement in their music, the Beatles decided to put an end to them and focus on recording. This was the Beatles' Studio period.

The song Strawberry Fields talks about a Salvation Army orphanage around which John played as a child and teenager. He brings his abstract vision of the world, in a dreamlike atmosphere reminiscent of LSD effects. These were the beginnings of psychedelic Rock. (see our article on San Francisco).

The Victorian-style building that housed the orphanage was destroyed in 1960 and a new, more suitable building was inaugurated in 1973 (the John Lennon Court). Upon his death, John Lennon bequeathed a sum of money to the orphanage, and later, his widow Yoko Ono did the same.

In 2005, the few children who stayed there were sent to foster families and the orphanage was permanently closed.

Today, the gate you see is a reconstruction, the original having had to be removed, too damaged by the constant passage of (very/too) numerous fans.

Address: 2 Beaconsfield Road

#7 John Lennon's childhood home

The childhood homes of John Lennon and Paul McCartney have become part of English heritage. Guided tours, in small groups (paid), are organized every day by the National Trust. (the equivalent of our historic monuments).

The institution wanted to represent the post-war universe through the renovation of these two houses. From wallpaper to furniture, you'll be immersed in the post-1945 universe.

The Mendips house, in the Woolton neighborhood, is where John lived from age 5 to 23. It meant so much to him that Yoko Ono recounts that he had to pass by it every time he returned to Liverpool.

He lived there with his aunt Mimi and uncle George. It was in his childhood bedroom that he composed the title "Please, please me" and where the group, then called the Quarrymen, rehearsed for the first time in 1957.

If the house can be visited today, it's thanks to Yoko Ono, who bought it and donated it to the National Trust. Photos inside are forbidden.

Address: 251 Menlove Avenue

More info: www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Reservations required

#8 Paul McCartney's childhood home

Paul McCartney's family lives a 20-minute walk from John's, in a typical red brick house in the working-class Allerton neighborhood.

He lived there from 1953 to 1963, with his parents and little brother Mike. In 1956, his mother died of breast cancer, which greatly devastated the family.

The McCartneys have music in their blood! The grandfather played tuba, the father plays trumpet in a band and a grand piano stands in the living room. Paul's brother, who renamed himself Mike McGear, also has a music group. Right next to the living room, you'll see a small dining room where the boys composed and which was quickly transformed into a rehearsal room.

Mike, Paul's brother, is also an excellent photographer, whose works you can admire throughout the house.

Address: 20 Forthlin Road

More info: www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Reservations required

#9 Saint-Peter Church

Where it all begins...

Many stories begin with a meeting. The Beatles' story is no exception and starts with the meeting between Paul McCartney and John Lennon.

The latter played with his group the "Quarrymen" during the Gardenfest, the big festival of the village of Woolton, on a stage set up behind the church.

The group performed, more or less successfully, North American rock'n'roll songs. Introduced by a mutual friend, the two boys met a few hours later, on the other side of the road, before the group's second concert.

Paul took the guitar and played Be-Bop-a-Lula by Gene Vincent and Twenty Flight Rock by Eddy Cochran. It was all it took for their common enthusiasm to ignite and Paul would join the group. This date of July 6, 1957 is sealed on the wall via a commemorative plaque.

"It was that day, the day I met Paul, that things started moving." John Lennon

In the church cemetery, you can also see Eleanor Rigby's grave, which inspired the song, although it has no connection to the invented character.

#10 The Magical Mystery Bus Tour

This 2-hour bus tour (guided in English) will take you to all the essential places of Beatlemania. You'll discover where the boys grew up, where they went to school, the places that inspired them to write their songs, etc. All in a psychedelic-colored bus, ending its tour at The Cavern pub. A standard entrance ticket is included, but you'll have to pay extra to see a concert or if there's a special event.

• Meeting point: Magical Mystery Tour Ticket Office, Anchor Courtyard – Albert Dock, Liverpool.
• Info and reservations: www.cavernclub.org/the-magical-mystery-tour
• 2023 prices: £19.95 per adult; £10 for under 16s, free for under 2s. Family ticket 2 adults and 2 children: £50.
• Departures: every day except 25/12, 26/12 and 01/01
• Winter hours: Monday to Thursday one departure at 11am and 2pm, Friday to Sunday one departure at 10am and one departure at 2pm.
• Summer hours: daily, one departure at 10am and one departure at 4pm.