My youngest stepdaughter Clara is a massive Beatles fan. I mean, she is 12 and knows their entire history, and all the words to pretty much every song. George is her fave and she’s also dug deep into his solo career. When I told her that we would be spending a day in Liverpool during our trip to London in July of 2024, she was ecstatic!

Getting to Liverpool from London is easy. I booked advance tickets on the Avanti West Coast Rail, and the train departs from Euston Station in London, which is very well connected via the Tube. The journey is just over 2 hours, putting you in Liverpool at around 10am if you take the 7:45 train out of London. The return trip is just as simple, and there are several options for times to get you back from Liverpool the same day. Lime Street station in Liverpool is centrally located, and easy to navigate.

Based on a recommendation from a friend, I booked a three hour journey, “The Rickenbacker Tour,” through Beatles early history by Mad Day Out Tours. Ian, the owner and tour operator, is native to Liverpool, extremely knowledgable, funny, and very excited to tell you everything he knows about the Beatles. He will show you all around the prime spots and provide tons of detail along the way. Communication prior to the tour date was always prompt, and emails were returned super quickly, answering any questions we had.

Ian picks you up straight from Lime Street Station, and you are on your way through history and through the greater Liverpool area. You travel in a Black Cab-type taxi, which has a large back seat area that comfortably fit the four of us. Ian has decked out the cab in bright colors, and it’s easy to spot.

Throughout the tour, Beatles music plays in the background while you are driven around to major Beatles sites around Liverpool. We stopped at each of the band members’ childhood homes and got a lot of background and history about their early lives, as well as the neighborhoods where they all lived. Note that we didn’t go into any of the homes, because they were either privately owned, or recreated with furniture and decor not original to the home. It was sad to see how countless fans have vandalized some of the homes.

In the middle of the tour, we stopped at major landmarks such as Penny Lane and Strawberry Field, as well as Eleanor Rigby’s grave. Ian scoffed at the other tour guides, who reportedly provide some false information at these sites. Ian is the real thing, and based on some of his anecdotes, I was really happy with my choice of tour operator! He also was willing to take photos of us all over the place, which was helpful!

Strawberry Field now holds a community center with a gift shop and a cafeteria, where you can stop for a refreshment mid-tour. I would recommend checking out the merch here, as much of it is very unique to Strawberry Field specifically, and a lot of John Lennon-specific merch is here too.

We were eventually dropped off by the Beatles statue right on the waterfront in Liverpool. I paid Ian the very inexpensive 130 pounds for the tour (he could easily charge double for the extraordinary level of service he provides – not to mention the fact that it’s a private tour), and he was on his way after providing us with a few additional recommendations of where to go and what to see that was Beatles related in the city center area of Liverpool.

I, and more importantly Clara, would give Mad Day Out tours our absolute highest recommendation. The planning and communication was seamless, the price low, our tour guide extremely knowledgable and a very good driver, and we got to see all of the important sites relating to early Beatles history, with plenty of amusing editorializing. I would highly recommend booking your tour very far in advance, as we were told that he was booked through mid-October. Don’t let the distance between London and Liverpool deter you – it’s a super easy day tripper!