A Fan's London: Abbey Road, Savile Row and Beyond

How to Plan a Beatles Day in London

Abbey Road Studios at 3 Abbey Road in St John's Wood is a working studio and is not open for public tours, but the zebra crossing outside, the graffiti wall and the official Abbey Road Shop next door are free to visit, and the studio runs a live webcam of the crossing. The Beatles' old Apple headquarters at 3 Savile Row, scene of the rooftop concert on 30 January 1969, is due to open as an official fan experience, The Beatles at 3 Savile Row, in 2027.

Most of Beatles London sits in a tight band from St John's Wood through Marylebone and Mayfair to Soho. On foot, you can cover the key sites in one long day or two half-days. The Jubilee line links St John's Wood to Baker Street, Bond Street and Green Park, and Baker Street and Marylebone stations sit in the middle of the route, so you can take the Tube for any stretch.

A word on manners before the list. Several of these addresses are private homes. Paul McCartney has owned his house in Cavendish Avenue, St John's Wood, since the mid-1960s, and it is a private residence. Look from the street if you must, but do not ring bells, wait outside or photograph residents. The same goes for every flat and house in this guide.

St John's Wood: Abbey Road and the Crossing

Start at St John's Wood Tube station on the Jubilee line and walk about five minutes down Grove End Road to the crossing. The photo for the Abbey Road cover was taken by Iain Macmillan late on the morning of 8 August 1969, from a stepladder in the middle of the road; he took six frames, and the fifth became the cover. The crossing was given Grade II listed status in 2010 for its cultural importance. Recreating the walk is a rite of passage, but this is a live road with buses and taxis, and drivers here are used to fans rather than endlessly patient with them.

The best time for a photo is early morning or midweek, when traffic is lighter and there are fewer groups waiting. Check the Abbey Road Studios webcam before you set out to see how busy it is. If you are travelling with friends, one person takes the photo from the pavement near the traffic island while the others walk. Never stand in the road to take the picture.

The Abbey Road Shop next to the studio sells merchandise you cannot buy elsewhere, and the white wall along the front of the studio is covered in fans' messages. Writing on it is tolerated and the wall is repainted regularly. The studio itself is closed to visitors, though it has run occasional public events and talks, which are announced on its own website. If you want to know what was going on inside while the photo was being taken, our Abbey Road anniversary edition review covers the sessions and the outtakes.

Marylebone: Wimpole Street, Montagu Square and Baker Street

From St John's Wood, walk south towards Marylebone. Marylebone Station is where the opening chase of A Hard Day's Night was filmed in 1964, and it is still recognisable. A short walk away, 57 Wimpole Street was the family home of Jane Asher, and Paul lived there with the Ashers from late 1963 to 1966. John and Paul wrote "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in the basement music room, and Paul woke up in his attic room there with the melody of "Yesterday" in his head. It is a private house.

At 34 Montagu Square, Ringo leased a flat in the 1960s that was later lived in by Jimi Hendrix and then by John and Yoko, who were photographed there for the Two Virgins cover. An English Heritage blue plaque for John Lennon is on the building. At 94 Baker Street stood the Apple boutique, which opened in December 1967 and closed in July 1968, when the Beatles gave the remaining stock away. The building is now occupied by other businesses.

Two more Marylebone addresses matter to collectors. EMI's head office stood at 20 Manchester Square, and it was from its stairwell that Angus McBean photographed the band looking down for the Please Please Me cover in 1963, a shot restaged in 1969 for the planned Get Back album and later used on the Red and Blue compilations. The original building has since been redeveloped. Apple's first proper office was at 95 Wigmore Street in 1968, before the move to Savile Row. Further along Baker Street, the London Beatles Store at 231 to 233 Baker Street, a few doors from the Sherlock Holmes Museum, sells memorabilia, records and gifts. It is not an official Apple outlet, but it is a handy souvenir stop away from the Abbey Road crowds.

Mayfair: 3 Savile Row and the Rooftop

Apple Corps moved into 3 Savile Row in the summer of 1968. The basement studio was where the Get Back sessions moved after Twickenham in late January 1969, and on 30 January 1969 the Beatles played their last public performance on the roof, the concert seen in full in Peter Jackson's 2021 series Get Back. From the pavement opposite you can look up at the same parapet the band played behind, while the office workers who gathered on Savile Row that lunchtime watched from below.

In May 2026, Apple Corps announced that the building will open in 2027 as The Beatles at 3 Savile Row, the first official Beatles fan experience. The announcement described seven floors of archive material that has never been shown publicly, rotating exhibitions, a fan store, a recreation of the basement studio where Let It Be was recorded, and access to the rooftop, where Apple says even the railings are the same as in 1969. No exact opening date or ticket prices had been announced as of 19 September 2026. We will update this page when they are.

If you want to prepare for the visit, watch Get Back again. Our roundup of the best Beatles documentaries explains the different versions available, and our review of the Get Back book covers the photo book published alongside the series.

Soho and Other Stops

In Soho, Trident Studios in St Anne's Court is where the Beatles recorded "Hey Jude" at the end of July 1968, attracted by its eight-track machine at a time when Abbey Road was still using four-track. They went back for White Album tracks including "Dear Prudence", "Honey Pie", "Savoy Truffle" and "Martha My Dear". The building is still there down a narrow alley between Wardour Street and Dean Street. Nearby, the London Palladium on Argyll Street is where the Beatles topped the bill on Sunday Night at the London Palladium on 13 October 1963, the television appearance that set off Beatlemania in the British press.

West of the centre, Chiswick House and its gardens were used for the promotional films for "Paperback Writer" and "Rain" on 20 May 1966. It is a longer trip, about 30 minutes by Tube and bus, and the gardens are free to enter. The house has its own admission.

If you have time for one more, Twickenham Film Studios in south-west London is where the Let It Be sessions began in January 1969 before the move to Savile Row. It is a working studio and not open to the public, so this is one to see from the outside only.

A practical note on timing: many of these sites are on busy shopping streets, and Savile Row and Soho are quietest early on weekend mornings. If you would rather finish at the Abbey Road crossing, bear in mind that the crossing is least crowded early in the day, so most fans start at St John's Wood and walk south.

Guided Walks Worth Booking

London Walks runs two Beatles walks. The Beatles In My Life walk with Richard Porter, author of Guide to the Beatles' London, starts at Marylebone station, covers the Marylebone homes and film locations and finishes with a short Tube hop to the Abbey Road crossing. It lasts about two hours and cost £20 per person in 2026; it has run on Tuesday mornings, but check the current schedule before you travel. The company's second walk, The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour, covers a different set of West End sites.

You can book directly on the London Walks website or through GetYourGuide and similar platforms, which list the Richard Porter walk. Check the meeting point carefully, since the two walks start at different Tube stations. Guided or not, wear comfortable shoes and bring a charged phone for the crossing: St John's Wood to Soho is about three miles in a straight line, and the detours roughly double it.