The rebuilt Cavern Club
An arched, damp-looking cellar that puts the band back on their first stage under Mathew Street, the most convincing moment in the show.
Lipinski — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lwowskafala — CC BY 4.0 · Jeff Buck — CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Beatles Experience, Liverpool 14.jpg: Ank Kumar derivative work: User:Clusternote — CC BY-SA 4.0
Beneath the Albert Dock, in vaults that once held cargo when the port still mattered, you walk a tunnel through time from 1950s Liverpool to the solo years: the Casbah Coffee Club where the four played before anyone knew them, then the Cavern Club with its arched brick and manufactured damp, then Abbey Road Studios with its consoles, and finally a Yellow Submarine you can stroll through. This is the largest permanent Beatles exhibition anywhere, open since 1990, and it is happier being a show than a museum. Genuine objects are here but scattered: the orange-tinted glasses John Lennon wore while writing Imagine, the first guitar George Harrison owned, some contracts and stage clothes; the rest is skilful reconstruction serving a story told into your ear. That story comes from a handheld multimedia guide included in the ticket, offered in twelve languages, none of them Arabic, so anyone not comfortable in English or French will be looking rather than listening. Adults pay £20, children aged 5 to 15 pay £11, under-fives go free, and the door takes cards only. The museum asks you to book a dated time slot online, and in the July-August holidays midday slots can fill, so aim for the first hour or after four. A typical visit takes an hour and a half, stretching to two if you play every stop. Hours: from March to early October daily 09:00-18:30 with last entry at 17:00; from 5 October to March it closes at 17:30 Sunday to Friday (last entry 16:15) and stays open to 18:30 on Saturdays and school holidays. Closed only on 25 and 26 December. An important warning for families: the entrance lift has been out of order for some time and the only way down to the basement exhibition is by stairs, which means pushchairs and wheelchairs cannot get in until further notice; check the lift-status page on the website before relying on it. Small children have a Discovery Zone with workshops, but only at weekends and in school holidays, and anyone under ten will probably love the submarine and drift through the rest. A plain verdict: if you love the band, this is two well-crafted, enjoyable hours built for you; if the Beatles are just a name, the dock itself, with its red-brick warehouses, water and free museums next door, is the better part of the address. For original artefacts rather than replicas, the Liverpool Beatles Museum on Mathew Street, about ten minutes' walk away, has more of the real thing and less polish. Getting here is easy: James Street station is about a ten-minute walk, and there is parking at Albert Dock opposite the entrance or at Liverpool ONE.
An arched, damp-looking cellar that puts the band back on their first stage under Mathew Street, the most convincing moment in the show.
The truest things here: a handful of original objects that stop you longer than all the replicas around them.
A walk-through hull that wins over the children and supplies the photo you will send home.
Britannia Vaults, Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool L3 4AD
Wheel of LiverpoolSixty metres of transportable steel have stood on Keel Wharf since March 2010, b1 minute walk4.6
Royal Albert DockIn 1846 these warehouses went up without a single piece of timber: cast iron, br2 minutes walk4.8
Museum of LiverpoolThe best photograph of Liverpool's famous waterfront trio, the Three Graces, is 6 minutes walk4.7
Pier HeadTwo copper birds, each five and a half metres tall, have stood on the towers of 9 minutes walk4.6
British Music ExperienceKnow one thing before you pay: this is not a Beatles museum. The Beatles are her9 minutes walk4.6For an ordinary visitor with family, The Beatles Story: a sequenced show with an audio guide and a submarine for the kids. For a devoted fan chasing originals, the Mathew Street museum has far more genuine objects at much the same price, though it has no polish and climbs three floors of stairs with no lift.
Not right now: the entrance lift is out of order and the exhibition is reached only by stairs, so the pushchair stays upstairs. If your child can walk it is fine, and the Discovery Zone opens only at weekends and in school holidays.