Now that there is a long weekend getting close, some of you might have some plans in mind. But if you don't, this post could give you some original ideas for next week's short holiday, if you are one of those lucky people who can travel. Television, cinema, music and art are the inspiration source for these routes we suggest, so if you are fan of something, pay attention.
United Kingdom is home of most of these tours we are presenting. The first of them, probably the most famous, has as main characters a music band well-known all over the World. You'd probably guessed we are talking about The Beatles.
The Fab Four's tour starts in Liverpool, the city where the band was created and the four members were raised. There, there are lots of agencies that take you around the most representative places of the Beatles' life, but you can look for them yourself if you are travelling low cost. There in Liverpool you should not miss mythical places as the Cavern, the Beatles Museum or Penny Lane.
You can also visit Albert Dock, from which you can see Chavasse Park, that many people compares with a 'yellow submarine'. Ten minutes from there, you can visit the Beatles Museum. In Allerton (20 Forthlin Road) lived McCartney family and that was the house where the Fab Four started training and compousing. 20 minutes from there, in Mendips, we can find John Lennon's house.
But to enjoy the real beatles' atmosphere you have to go to the best pubs in town, yo have to go to The Cavern, where they were discovered and performed live for the first time. And you should take a look to the Casbah Coffee Club, in West Derby, 'where everything started', as McCartney himself says. And if you are looking for accommodation, you can also sleep inside that atmosphere, because in Liverpool there is a hotel dedicated to the band. It is called Hard Days Night Hotel and it is totally recommendable, except if, as we said, you are travelling low cost ;)
And obviously, you should take a train or bus to London, where the band became phenomenon. It is very well known that every Beatle fan in London reproduce in their own way the legendary picture of the band in Abbey Road. So the first and unmissable visit is, precisely, this zebra crossing, probably the most famous of the world. If you go with another three friends, ask someone to take the photo. And remember, Paul appears barefoot! So act in consequence.
You can also leave your signature near this crossing and visit Paul's house and EMI labels studios, because there is all nearby. You should take the Saint Jons Woods Station exit in the tube. If you are still not full, you can go to the Madame Tussauds Museum and enjoy the reproductions in wax of the Beatles.
But if you need a change, London offers lot of thematic tours. If you ar a fan of Harry Potter's for example, you can take advantage of what the English capital is preparing. Even though the saga is finishing, the admiration for the books and films is rising, so lots of routes are being created for the little wizard's fans. The studios where the films were recorded, in Leavesden, Heartfordshire, will become a thematic park by 2012. But, for the moment, you can visit some of the outdoors that appear in the films.
Fans all over the world go to London to visit the sets where their idols were. They try to pass to Hogwarts at the platform 9 and 3/4, ubicated at King Cross tube station; they visit the zoo, where Harry spoke to a snake on the first film; they look for Berkshire and Privet Drive, the place where harry's aunt and ancle live...
But to know where Hogwarts exactly is they have to travel a bit further. That way they would discover such beautiful places like Oxford, the Anlwick Castle or the Gloucester Cathedral.
For detailed information: http://www.londonforidiots.com/harry_potter_tour.html
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| St. Christ Church, Oxford |
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| Bodleian Library, Oxford |
If you are not really into magic, don't bother, there is so much to do next week. If you like music you can visit the recently opened British Rock Museum, also in London. If you like reading, you have tours about your favourite books. As we have seen it happened in England with Harry Potter, Stieg Larsson's Millenium has its own tour in Stockholm. And the teen saga Twilight has made a small america town become popular just because the love story between Bella and Edward takes place in it. Forks, the rainy little town in Washington, unknown before the Stephanie Meyer's novels is not the only one to handle new visitants. Also Volterra, in Italy, is receiving new tourists thanks to this new fashion of visiting what we see and read in films and books.
But don't you ever think it is a new trend. TV series and shows have always have fans following them even to where they are filmed. One of the biggest phenomenons ever was the tv show Friends. Everybody in New York had to visit the outdoors that appeared in it. And, like the legendary Central Perk didn't exist, chinese made a reproduction in Beijing. There are some other tours about series noways, for example, one about Gossip Girl and a even virtual route of Lost.
But maybe the most weird of all, is this tour that takes us around the graves of the most popular music idols of History. Jim Morrison in Paris, John Lennon in New York, Michael Jackson in Los Angeles, Elvis presley in Memphis, Brian Jones in London...
Source: youtube / turismito.com / google (pictures) / londonforidiots /
