Day 3: The Beatles

Speke Hall is the meeting point for the first stop of our day: a visit to the childhood homes of Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Because both houses are located in residential areas, the only way to visit them is via the minibus that departs from here.
Tours depart every day at 10:30am, 11:10am, 2:20pm and 3:00pm. For this road trip, you'll be aiming for the 11:10am tour, so get to Speke Hall at least 15 minutes before departure and ask at reception where the tour minibus departs from.
Check out the full opening times, prices and booking info on the National Trust website.

The minibus will take you straight from Speke Hall to this humble terraced house, which is where Paul McCartney grew up and crafted some of his most famous and best-loved songs. It has been well-preserved over the years and reconfigured to replicate a traditional 1950s Edwardian home. It's like stepping back in time.

It's pretty incredible that two of the greatest songwriters of all time grew up a matter of minutes from each other - but here we are. This comfortable Edwardian home was where a certain John Lennon was brought up by his Aunt Mimi.

Get back to pick up the car.

Time for lunch! The Royal Albert Dock has undergone a transformation in recent years, now home to a series of lush eateries and hip museums in a quaint riverside setting.
Peaberry Coffee House & Kitchen offers a yummy mix of sweet treats and savoury delights with a great selection of teas, coffees and smoothies to boot.

On the banks of the River Mersey sits one of the most popular Beatles landmarks.
These bigger-than-life-sized statues are the perfect spot to grab a quick selfie with Messrs Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr.

Covering everything from their early days as a touring band in Hamburg to their final rooftop performance, The Beatles Story is a fitting tribute to the Fab Four.
Tickets are priced at £18 for adults and the museum is open seven days a week.

Does the Cavern Club need an introduction? No, but we'll do it anyway...
The Cavern hosted The Beatles' early gigs in Liverpool - hundreds of them - and served as a key staging point for their early development as a band. Some days The Beatles would play for hours at a time here, with both an afternoon and evening set for the adoring crowds.
It reopened in 1984 after briefly closing down in the 1970s, and now hosts local and tribute acts all day and all night. Just like those Beatles did all the way back when.

On the same episode of Carpool Karaoke we mentioned earlier, Paul McCartney made a surprise visit to a central Liverpool pub: the Philharmonic. He used to drink here when he was younger, and it's still a popular spot for the locals today.
Time to grab a bit of traditional British pub food in one of the grandest settings you're likely to come across on your travels.

Before we head back, time for a quick stop on the way back at one of Liverpool's most famous sights.
A joyous sight for Beatles fanatics, a total nightmare for the city council cleaners, who have to regularly wash off hundreds of messages from this famous road sign. Sir Paul McCartney himself even scribbled on the sign during an episode of Carpool Karaoke in 2018.
Penny Lane itself still features a barber showing photographs of every head he's had the pleasure to have known, and if you get here on the right day you might even see a banker with a motorcar, a fireman with an hourglass or a pretty nurse selling poppies from a tray.