The Beatles Story

It is one of the more established of Liverpool’s Beatles-themed attractions and a visit is a must for any Beatles fan.

What to see at The Beatles Story

The Beatles Story is organised chronologically and is set up to display the story of the Beatles and their rise to fame. The displays depict the history of The Beatles from their Hamburg years, their rise to fame in Liverpool, Beatlemania and their later years.

It includes a series of displays that are set up to recreate various key locations in the band’s career. Exhibits include a replica of the Cavern Club, Abbey Road studio, the Casbah Coffee Club, John Lennon’s White Room and a replica Yellow Submarine.

Although many of the displays are not genuine, The Beatles Story does include several authentic artefacts including George Harrison’s first guitar, one of Paul McCartney’s early guitars, Ringo’s drum kit, John Lennon’s glasses as well as original handwritten song lyrics.

The Beatles Story’s Discovery Zone is an area that is geared towards the attraction’s younger visitors and it introduces children to the music of The Beatles. It is primarily set up for primary school groups visiting the attraction and it includes a giant piano that children can play and there are activities where children can create art inspired by The Beatles.

Visiting The Beatles Story

The Beatles Story is located at Albert Dock, which is around a 10-minute walk from the city centre and a 15-minute walk from Mathew Street and the Cavern Club.

There are several points of interest in the surrounding area with the Merseyside Maritime Museum, the Slavery Museum, Tate Liverpool and the Wheel of Liverpool all within a five-minute walk. The Magical Mystery Tour (a must for all Beatles fans) departs just a one-minute walk from here.

It costs £19 to visit which seems a little pricey but many people say that it is better value than the Liverpool Beatles Museum. Even though it is a bit expensive, it is worth the money if you are a Beatles fan.

Opening hours vary quite a bit according to seasonal demand but it is generally open between 9am and 7pm April to October and 10am to 6pm, November to March with the last entry an hour before closing time.

A visit to the museum is guided by an audio tour on a multimedia device. The device is probably a little too complex than it needs to be and a lot of visitors to the attraction tend to look at the screen rather than the exhibits and a simpler audio tour would probably be a better option. However, once you get the hang of the device it seems to work well and it is nice to have an audio soundtrack to the different stories as you progress through the exhibition.

The multimedia guide is available in 12 languages: Cantonese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

The exhibition is wheelchair accessible although the lift may not be able to accommodate some larger wheelchairs.

There is an on-site cafe (the Fab4 Cafe) near the exit where you can have something to eat and drink along with background music from The Beatles. At the Fab4 Cafe, you also have the opportunity to play on a limited edition Beatles pinball machine.

Free Wi-Fi wireless internet access is available in the cafe.

The attraction also has a gift shop that is a great spot to buy gifts for Beatles fans back home. Maybe money can’t buy you love but it can buy you a coffee mug, a Beatles t-shirt and if you have £12,000 to spare you can even buy the Beatles pinball machine from the cafe.

If you’re a Beatles fan then you’ll enjoy a visit to The Beatles Story but don’t stop there as Liverpool is full of other Beatles-themed attractions. If you enjoyed your visit to The Beatles Story, then you’ll also get a kick from the Magical Mystery Tour, the Cavern Club, the Liverpool Beatles Museum and the Museum of Liverpool, which also has a few Beatles-themed exhibits.

There is quite a bit to see and the way that the audio tour is structured means that you can easily spend at least two hours here. If you skip parts of the tour you can be through it in just an hour but a full-on Beatles fan can spend well over three hours here.