Easiest way to get from London to Southport for Open Championship July '26

This is easier than you may think.

Just go to https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

There is no need to break your head about which company you would need to book with. Just look up the trip and then follow the link to booking.

Buying tickets in advance does give you some savings, but do pay attention to the ticket conditions. If you can travel off-peak and need to get back to London afterwards and Off-Peak return is probably a good option.

If you flew into Manchester then you catch a frequent train from the Airport to Manchester Oxford Road, then another from Oxford Road to Southport. The beauty of that route is that you don't have to worry about buying Advance Tickets and which day or train is cheaper than any other. You just turn up at the airport and buy a ticket.
It's simply a commuter train. Always the same fare- £24.30 period return.

To Liverpool I think you'd need 3 flights from Detroit (on one ticket if you can)- a local one in the US, then a transatlantic probably to Dublin, then Dublin to Liverpool, so a touch messy.

Then at Liverpool, you take a very short bus ride to Liverpool South Parkway, then a train to Liverpool Central, change there for Southport, But those too are just commuter trains, always the same fare, turn up and buy. A through single fare from the airport (including the bus is £10.60. In reality you would buy a Merseytravel Saveaway there and then for £6.50 each way.

Royal Birkdale is just south of Southport but I imagine they will provide special buses from Southport.

The important thing to work out is where you are going to stay first, not how to get to the course - I assume you will be staying at least one night, probably longer.

I suspect that you are already too late to get accommodation at anything like a reasonable price in Birkdale or Southport but there are other options. I see there are houses to rent reasonably close to the course for around £8,000 for the week!

The most obvious, but also most likely to be already quite booked up would be Liverpool - major city with an established tourist industry and lots to do apart from The Open.

If options there are limited or too expensive then you might have to be more creative. Wigan is no one's ides of a tourist town but it is likely to be much cheaper to stay there are there are direct trains to Southport, changing there for Hillside for the course and to and from Manchester Airport and to Central London. My home town Preston is another candidate. Direct trains to MAN and again to Central London. Complicated to get to Hillside from there by train, but there is an express bus and you could drive. There may be shuttle buses form one or two of the hotels.

Chester would be a lovely spot to stay although it's further from the course but doable by train.

Chester to Southport is very easy by train. They are both on the Merseyrail network with a single change in Liverpool.

London to Chester is also easy. It is usually just over 2 hours on Avanti, either straight through or with one change at Crewe.

It is indeed easy to get from Chester to Hillside (where the course is). But it takes 90 minutes so twice that would greatly extend a day which is usually very long anyway.

Well I didn’t say it was particularly quick, just easy :-)

Unless you have the money to stay near the course there will always be travel time to consider.
Obviously if you can get a hotel in Liverpool that works book it, but if you are struggling Chester is an option.

Local tip for Chester, Bache station is the first out of Chester on Merseyrail. Premier Inn Chester Central North is right at the station so would be convenient. It is 5-10 min from Chester town centre on the bus and if there is a disaster on the trains a stop for buses to Liverpool is also right by the hotel.

I’m not saying it is the best option but it’s a good back up.

Thank you all for the responses! Fortunately, I have already booked accommodations right in Southport -- I did so right after I found out I won tickets in the ticket ballot. It'll just be a matter of tackling logistics for the one train journey upon arrival into the U.K. into Southport and then Southport back to London where my brother and I will spend a couple of days.

I didn't think to connect via Chester. I visited Chester a few years ago and really enjoyed it. Perhaps my brother and I will day trip there on one of the days we don't have tickets to the golf.

Congratulations Joseph on organising your accommodation in good time. You will be staying much closer than the majority of those who attend. Enjoy Southport, the town where I was born.

To get to Southport then, as mentioned above, the easiest way is to fly into Manchester. There will be a number of one stop options, probably via Paris, Amsterdam or Frankfurt. Then there are regular direct trains from the airport to Southport - just turn up and buy tickets on the spot.

If you already have tickets into London then it’s perfectly doable if more expensive and more complicated. Assuming you fly into Heathrow you need to get to Euston station in central London. The best two ways to do this are the Elizabeth line to Tottenham Court Road and then Northern line tube to Euston. Note there are some steps to get out at Euston. Alternatively take the Piccadilly line direct to King’s Cross/St Pancras and then walk 10 minutes to Euston or a taxi if you have mobility issues or a lot of baggage. The first option is quicker and a bit more comfortable, the second cheaper and no step issues.

From Euston the easiest route to Southport is an Avanti West Coast train to Wigan North Western and then a Northern line train from Wigan Wallgate to Southport. You can buy tickets for the whole journey. Train pricing is complex in the UK and you can save money by buying tickets ahead of time as long as you can commit to a specific departure time. That’s easy if you have a night or more in London but more risky if you’re planning to go straight up north.

You do need to change stations in Wigan but it’s very straightforward- the two stations are small and right across the road from each other. Going through Wigan is simpler than changing in central Liverpool and also quicker at about 3 hours.

John, as stated above from Manchester airport to Southport it is always a change at Manchester Oxford Road. I too thought they were through trains but I checked again when writing my reply, and they aren't now even if they were at one stage.
I have also checked the new timetable just now, from 14 December, and that is still the case.

Stuart - I’m sure that there used to be direct trains but clearly not any more. Looking at National Rail it seems the connection is more often recommended at Bolton although sometimes it’s Oxford Road. Whichever one it is it will be a very simple change, usually same platform.