Beatles Trip for teen this summer

If you are going to Cardiff from Ireland, you may like to fly. You will find flights from Dublin and Cork to Cardiff here:>http://www.skyscanner.net (Best to click 'Monthly View').

Alternatively, you could take the ferry from Dublin to Holyhead in NW Wales. Conway (Conwy) might be good place to spend about 4 nights in north Wales. Then you could head for Liverpool stopping off for a look at Chester on the way (or staying in Chester & day tripping to Liverpool).

www.visitwales.co.uk

From north Wales, direct trains run to Cardiff. Alternatively, you may wish to head north to Scotland. Probably too much to do Scotland & Cardiff. However, going to Cardiff puts you nearer to London for your flight home.

www.vistengland.com
www.vistscotland.com
www.nationalrail.co.uk

Please read my earlier response about Dr.Who & Cardiff. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/day-trip-to-cardiff-bay

If you are in to Harry Potter, there is also the Harry Potter Studio Tour in Watford (just outside London): http://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/
There are posts about it on this Forum.
Note that school holidays start in the UK mid-July. After that, attractions get busier.

How about:
- Fly into London
- Train to Cardiff
- Train to Liverpool
- Ferry to Dublin pick up hire car
- Fly back from Dublin

I had never heard of Quinceañera, I had to look it up in Wikipedia.

Chris F mentions above getting a hire car, and maybe you were already planning on renting cars in Ireland/England/Wales, but transportation may affect how far you want to go and how long it will take to get there, and they drive on the other side of the road than we do in the Americas. If you won't be driving yourselves, will you be looking at trains, buses (coaches), private hired tours, flying, ferries?

For lodging, Bed and Breakfasts (B&B's) are the way to go. You get a comfortable bed, usually located in a convenient place, a great breakfast included, and generally an owner who can provide lots of sightseeing and transport advice.

Quince, Cyn,

I would avoid coaches (long distance buses) in the UK. They are a lot slower than trains (2 or 3 times longer), a lot less departures (1 or 2 per day versus hourly on most main train routes) and a lot less comfortable. The stereotype is that they are only used by those with unlimited time and little money.
If, by "private hired tours" you mean a car with a driver, that would be expensive.

I had assumed hire car in Ireland as the train service is not as extensive as GB. I suggested ferry from Liverpool to Dublin as it was something different, not just another boring flight. You can also do train to Holyhead (pretty route along coast), and then ferry.

Thanks everyone for your replies! I have definitely decided to fly into one city and depart from another. We are definitely going in June and overlap into July. Since I have now learned that UK kids get out in mid-July, it is now our plan to be out of the country by then.

The main purpose of this trip is to go to Liverpool, which geographically is sort of in the middle of other exciting places to visit! The secondary purpose is the Doctor Who places in Cardiff and some Harry Potter. We aren't big fans of the movies, so studio tours will be done on an "what-the-heck-we-have-some-time-to-kill" basis.

James, thanks for the suggested itinerary. It helps to have a sense of how much time to spend and where.

I also like Chris's suggestions.

I think it was Emma who suggested a B&B? Whoever it was, I'm glad to see that as a recommendation as I wasn't sure.

I guess my final decision will be whether to spend more time in Ireland or England, considering the costs. However, we want to DO more in England. Ireland is an attraction because I have ancestors from Tipperary and have always felt an affinity with that country. I guess Scotland is out this time round.

Thanks again everyone! If anyone else has more suggestions, I am very open!

The British Library in London (right next to King's Cross Station if you want to combine it with a Harry Potter location as well) has a great case of Beatles manuscripts...lyrics scrawled on odd scraps of paper, letters between the boys, and other really interesting pieces. If you have time it's worth a stop!

Anita, you have no idea how happy you have made my daughter! I showed her your post and we immediately went to the British Library's website. She screamed and yelled and smiled and laughed. Thank you! Thank you!

when you are in london don't forget the abbey road zebra crossing. London walks does several walks devoted exclusively to the beatles. Check out their website.

On the subject of Abbey Road, make sure you go to the right one. See this article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2273926/Confused-tourists-flock-docklands-light-railway-station-called-Abbey-Road-hunt-famous-Beatles-zebra-crossing.html

According to this BBC article there are 10 Abbey Road's in London.

While in Liverpool don't hesitate to take the Magic Mystery Tour. We are not even Beatles fans but thoroughly enjoyed this tour .

http://www.cavernclub.org/

In the UK and Ireland, "bed and breakfast" often refers to small hotels which include breakfast in the room cost. They may be run by a family but are certainly more hotel than spare bedroom. That breakfast is the dietary enemy of the "continental" breakfast. It may include eggs, meat, beans, and certainly should offer toast (often on a silver rack to make sure the slices will be cold.... but elegant.)
To commute between Ireland and Liverpool, you can look at www.skyscanner.com for budget airlines.

London Walks also has a Harry Potter Tour- it is a cheaper/London city center option to doing the studio tour. But it mostly includes film locations. I am more into the books so I understand your dilemma. Both Ricks book and Lonely Planet list popular Harry Potter sites including more "inspiration sites" like pubs where JK Rowling wrote, etc. So you could craft your own tour.

Free photo op- go to Kings Cross. The Filming location for platform 9 3/4 is actually a working platform so I don't think you can get there without a train ticket. Someone please correct me if I am wrong. However, in the main part of the station, you can take your picture pushing a cart onto a "made for tourists" platform 9 3/4. And there was someone there to give you the Hogwarts scarf of your choice to wear in the picture. I chose Gryffindor, obviously. The picture made a great memento.

And I agree with the suggestion about researching lodging prices because London especially is quite expensive, particularly when you factor in currency conversion. The conversions today are $1.48= 1 pound, $1.06=1 Euro. So Ireland will feel less expensive because of a better conversion.

I also agree with Emma that a budget hotel can be just as good as a B&B and some of them serve breakfast. I have had good luck at Ibis in many countries. And I just booked at the Hampton Inn near Waterloo for my trip this summer and they had a great price.

Your daughter is very lucky! Have a great trip.

Thanks so much to everyone who has replied to my queries. You guys are a great bunch!

Now if I may ask a question about the flights. My plan this week is to purchase the tickets within the next 48 hours. I have been advised by many people to fly open jaw. When I looked into flights, I saw some decent fares for a Seattle-London-Dublin-Seattle fare. However, I am very tempted by a Seattle-London round trip ticket because it's so much cheaper. I have factored in the airfare from Dublin back to London and on some sites it's still cheaper to do that than to purchase a multi-city ticket. Since Dublin-London isn't a long flight, we would not be wasting an entire day on a flight. Although I can see the whole door-to-door thing taking up a few hours. I guess I've answered my own question...seems best to book multi-city....

It seems like you did answer your own question. You have to decide what is more important: saving money or having a logistically easier flight home. Everyone will give a different answer. I want to make sure you are booking your airfare using multi city rather than booking two one way tickets. I am just surprised the London round trip was cheaper.

It seems like you did answer your own question. You have to decide what is more important: saving money or having a logistically easier flight home. Everyone will give a different answer. I want to make sure you are booking your airfare using multi city rather than booking two one way tickets. I am just surprised the London round trip was cheaper.

EDIT:reread your question, looks like you are aware of the multicity. Sorry! :)

Thanks everyone! I bought the tickets. We will have 15 days on the ground. We arrive in London at 7:30 in the morning and I told my daughter that we will start our adventure right away. Now that part about the itinerary begins, reserving hotels, hostels, B&Bs, all of that. We are taking one backpack each, plus a small crossbody bag that can fit a digital camera, passport, ID, etc.

You have all been the best repliers (is that even a word?).

One more reply to the replyee (if that's a word, too), and your daughter may be aware of this: Ringo's joining his former bandmates in the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame, so all of the Fab Four are in the Hall both as members of the Beatles and as individual artists.

Hello dear Beatlemaniac and parent of a Beatlemaniac!

I will be going to Liverpool and London in two weeks.

I am a member of a website called "The Beatles Bible". We have a lot of teen members on our forum. Here are some threads where we discuss visiting Beatles locations in London and Liverpool. I hope you learn something from them.

http://www.beatlesbible.com/forum/yesterday-and-today/visiting-liverpool-beatles-places/ (Page 3 includes a really, really good book recommendation.)

The creator of the site took trips to Liverpool and Hamburg and told us about his experiences. http://www.beatlesbible.com/forum/yesterday-and-today/visits-to-liverpool-and-hamburg/

Here's a tribute thread to the Abbey Road Zebra crossing.
http://www.beatlesbible.com/forum/yesterday-and-today/a-great-tribute-to-the-most-famous-crosswalk-in-the-world/

We have a discussion thread on trips to Abbey Road Studios. I will link to page 4 where we had a bit of fun discussing Joe's visit inside the studio. http://www.beatlesbible.com/forum/yesterday-and-today/went-to-abbey-road-yesterday-studio-2-in-fact/page-4/

I will add some more information to this thread
http://www.beatlesbible.com/forum/yesterday-and-today/beatles-and-london/
about my visit to London upon my return. That will give you time to read the information before your trip.