London to Liverpool (and back)

Just to be clear, is your plan to go to Liverpool the same day you land in London, or do you plan at least one overnight in London before heading to Liverpool? The latter plan will make things much easier.

Second, which London airport are you landing in? Technically, London has six airports; most flights from the US go to Heathrow, but we do need to know which one you are arriving at before we can give useful directions.

Third, London has multiple train stations too, and there isn't even a "main one" the way there is in many other cities. Direct trains go from London Euston Station to Liverpool Lime Street Station, and take about 2.25-2.5 hours. Note that it is VERY important to use full station names, and even this can be confusing; if you don't use the full names, people really won't know what you mean.

London Liverpool Street station is in London. Liverpool Lime Street station is in Liverpool. Liverpool also has a Central Station, but this is actually not the main station; Liverpool Lime Street is Liverpool's main station. See what I mean?

To find train routes and prices, use National Rail: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/. You will find several different kinds of tickets; the cheapest tickets have the most restrictions, and unrestricted tickets can be much more expensive. You can then follow the links to book the tickets you want online. Some can be printed at home; some can be loaded onto an app on your phone; and some will have to be picked up at the station. If you have to pick up tickets, don't forget to allow a bit of time for this.

If you go to Liverpool the day after you fly into London, you can take advantage of Advance fares. These tickets (with a capital A, not just any ticket bought in Advance) are only good for the EXACT train they are booked on. Thus, they are difficult to use on the day of a flight arrival, since you don't know how long it will take you get through immigration, customs, and transport from the airport to the train station. However, if you plan on taking a train the day after flight arrival, you can book an Advance ticket and be much more sure of making it.

Advance tickets go on sale about 11 weeks before travel. If it's too early, keep checking for them (if you want them). If it's too late, they can be sold out; ask here, giving your exact dates of travel (as well as the other details I asked for above), and people who know about other offers and restrictions can help you.

To learn more about UK trains, you can't beat rail guru The Main In Seat 61: https://www.seat61.com/UK-train-travel.htm

Thanks Harold! We will be arriving at Heathrow at 10:45 in the morning, We probably won't go to Liverpool til the next day. I'll check out the info. Didn't realize that there was so much to preplan!
Dan

Do you have Rick Steves England or Rick Steves Great Britain? Each has the same, excellent Liverpool chapter, which will help you plan your time there.

Do be sure to pre-book your National Trust Tour of John's and Paul's Childhood Homes. Other tours pass by the outsides, but this is the only way to get inside. You not only learn about how they grew up, but learn a lot about how people lived in that time and place. There are only a few tours a day and only about 10 people per tour, so book now to avoid being shut out: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/beatles-childhood-homes

If you want to read more about my Liverpool visit of a few years ago, it's in this trip report (you can skip the Glasgow and Manchester sections, unless of course you're also going to these places): https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/uk-trip-report-glasgow-manchester-liverpool-in-september-2016