Last August, I traveled to Liverpool during the International Beatle Week Festival. Other than buying a ticket to a Premier league match, the only other tickets you’ll find around the city are Beatles related (even if it’s just a plane ticket to the John Lennon Airport).
The first ticket was the £30 airplane ticket from Dublin to John Lennon airport. Can we talk about the price of airfare within Europe? Can I get a flight to Florida for that price please? I said “airplane” ticket for a reason, this was a small propeller airplane that had to be boarded on the tarmac with a staircase.
The second ticket, which was booked months in advance, was for the Magical Mystery Tour. We turned on, tuned in, and dropped out for a two and a half hour music-filled journey across Liverpool, seeing everything from childhood homes, to Strawberry Field, and my personal favorite, Penny Lane.
At the end of the tour, the ticket typically includes admission into the famous Cavern Club, but because we were there on Beatle Week we had to pay on our own. I’m glad for the experience because the Cavern Club is CASH ONLY (what, is it still 1961?). This was the only time I needed cash the entire three-city trip. I happily paid the extra fee at the ATM and got my hand stamped to walk down the stairs, and back in time.
It was magical entering the venue that I’ve seen in so many pictures and videos, and actually getting to hear the Beatles music playing throughout the club made it that much more surreal. The £10 cash ticket with a hand stamp actually did transport me back to 1961 and I got to see “The Beatles” cover bands play from all around the world.
I learned that the Beatles make up a vast majority of the tourism travel in Liverpool and the Cavern Club is running the show. They put on International Beatle Week, they run the Magical Mystery Tour, and they have a revolving door of performers in their multiple Cavern Club stages.
This week’s post was inspired by the Beatles song “Ticket to Ride”.
Lisa Perchinske 
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