Hello everyone! My family and I are planning on taking a day trip to Liverpool on December 19. My dad is a huge Beatle fan and this is his first trip to the UK. I thought of doing a guided tour from City Discovery but it's not available on a Sunday. I checked the train tickets from Northern Rail, Virgin and BritRail and they cost $160 upwards (each way). Are they for real? It can't be this expensive! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Jonny
Posted by
Dundas, Minnesota, USA
103 posts
if you can't make it all the way to Liverpool - here's another idea: http://www.walks.com/London_Walks_Home/Beatles_Walks/default.aspx
Posted by
Reston, Virginia
403 posts
Jonny: Something is wrong somewhere. I went to the National Rail Enquiries website (which handles booking for all trains in England), plugged in your date, and got a round trip fare of 66 pounds (about $100). Perhaps you were accidentally looking at First Class tickets? You will probably be traveling Virgin from London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street. My wife and I did this last year and had a truly wonderful time. Some advice regarding Beatle tourism in Liverpool. The Beatles Story at the Albert Docks is just ok...the best thing about it is the gift shop, which you can do without a ticket. The Magical Mystery Tour bus tour is worthwhile, but you only stop once, and you mostly just look at the bus goes through Penny Lane, etc. The National Trust tours of the Lennon-McCartney homes were absolutely fabulous. They are restricted to a few people per day, so advanced reservations are essential. You can buy tickets online, but whether or not they do Sunday tours I dont know. It would be worthwhile to stay overnight in Liverpool in order to take the NT tour. We stayed at the Holiday Inn near Lime Street Station, which was pleasant, but sort of wished we had stayed at the Hard Day's Night hotel, which is beatle themed. Have a wonderful time!
Posted by
Troy, Oh, USA
2776 posts
Jonny, go to Nationalrail.co.uk and you can book tickets, I would suggest doing it today..the closer to the date the more expensive it will be. You can get a ticket today for £66.20
Posted by
London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
Sounds to me as if you may have been looking at tickets to travel immediately. Make sure you put in the date that you'll be travelling as tickets for immediate travel are very expensive.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Both last-minute tickets and way-in-advance tickets on UK high speed trains indeed can be very expensive. However, discount fare tickets can be very cheap (as low as £11 each way for London Euston-Liverpool Lime Street). Those discount tickets usually become available around 60 days in advance. For example, as of a moment ago I could get an £11 fare up to and including 28 November, but not beyond that date. Wait a week or two and try again. Even though you'll be traveling on Virgin trains, book at www.eastcoast.co.uk. The site accepts US credit cards.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32824 posts
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-mendips/ ¶-=-=- is the website for the National Trust tour. Have a look and drool, but I'm afraid it closes for the year at the end of November and will be closed when you arrive. Sorry...
Posted by
OP
San Francisco, CA, USA
19 posts
Hello Everyone!! I appreciate all the suggestions. They were all very useful. I'll keep checking tickets and will look into National rail.