The first thing you need is your ticket !
Advance to the ticket office at the Albert Dock ... do NOT pass "GO", do NOT collect £200

If you are in Liverpool for the day, ensure you get your ticket early, book a place for the afternoon ride on the Magical Mystery Tour. We did on the 13th August 1996, and I must say this is one of the best Beatle trips you can ever do.
It is interesting, amusing, and evocative, journeying down memory lane to the places where the Four lads who changed the world actually lived and played.

"The Magical Mystery Tour is waiting to take you away" ...
I remember that moment when one is waiting at the Albert Dock pump house bus stop and suddenly it comes into view ...
The gleaming yellow and blue livery with the unmistakeable sixties flower power writing ...
The Magical Mystery Tour Bus.

It certainly gives one a thrill.

Quickly you are ushered on Board by the jovial driver, a great guy, who laughs and chats his way around the tour being informative and having some stories of his own. And, of course, a courier.
Edwina, has all the stories of life in Liverpool for four lads growing up in the fifties and sixties.

Shut your eyes and you are there.

And suddenly you ARE.
The bus pulls up in front of the gates of the "Strawberry Fields" home. You've seen them so many times on L.P. covers, and in every book about The Moptops, but to actually see them in person, is quite eerie.
You know its probable that they were never ACTUALLY there at these gates, together. But this place inspired John to write the greatest pop song of all time ... the driver dutifully loads the cassette.
"Let me take you down ... cos I'm going to ...."

Wow.

Two more views of Strawberry Fields.
Nothing is real.

And finally as we prepare to leave Strawberry Fields, one last shot of the back of the Bus, which is a clue for us all ... DJH 731F.
"Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see"

Now to see some Beatle Homes. First we see Ringo's birthplace, where he was born at home in 1940 at (Number) 9, Madryn Street in the "Dingle". Right around the corner is "The Empress" pub, check out Ringo`s 1970 album cover and you`ll see that this pub was obviously part of Ringo`s "Sentimental Journey" back to The Dingle.
Aunt Mimi's pad, "Mendips" 251, Menlove Avenue. John moved here when he was about 5 years old and was raised by his Aunt Mimi. John lived here from 1945 to 1963, the Quarrymen even practised in the porch. In the upstairs bedroom John wrote Please Please Me. John's mother, Julia, was run over and killed crossing the road right outside this spot.

George was born at home on February 25th 1943 in a very small "Two-up Two-down". Arnold Grove is a very small terraced cul-de-sac in which George lived at No.12 (picture right). As the tourists (us !) stop here, there is a little old lady who has lived next door for centuries(!), who is only too pleased to come out and talk, and tell stories. I guess the Bus coming every day is the highlight of her day.

Here I am with my two children outside 20, Forthlin road ... the McCartney family home from 1955. Paul also suffered heartbreak here when his mother, Mary, passed away less than a year after moving in. Paul and John wrote over 100 songs in the front room. This house was purchased by the "National Trust" soon after our visit, and is now an official historic site.

That's me in "Penny Lane", the road signs were stolen so many times, that in the end the Liverpool council gave up, and just painted the road name on the walls of the street. The Bank and Barber shop can still be seen, and at one end is the roundabout. And finally at the end of the VERY Magical ... Mystery tour, we come to Matthew Street. The home of the Cavern(s). One that was demolished in 1973 and the newly rebuilt version ... on the other side of the road.

The Beatles first appeared at The Cavern in 1961 and last played there in August 1963 ... but it didn't end there ... on 14th December 1999 after a gap of 36 years, Paul returned to The Cavern in a concert screened around the world via the Internet.
At the end of the tour, you are invited into the cavern for a free drink or a Beatle trinket ... This tour is fantastic. There is nothing like it, we all loved EVERY minute.
"Satisfaction Guaranteed"

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