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On Boxing Day 1967, The Beatles‘ Magical Mystery Tour aired on BBC One. The film, nearly an hour in length, was a psychedelic masterpiece, blurring the lines between comedy, surrealism and of course, their music.
The film riffed on the classic British tradition of mystery tours, which saw passengers get on to coaches without knowing the destination. Magical Mystery Tour follows the coach, driven by Ringo Starr, as it goes on an improvised adventure, featuring musical interludes by the band.
Picture the scene, families sitting down after Christmas in an era when houses just had one television and three channels, and then watching the biggest band in the world go on a psychedelic, unscripted, coach trip around the south of the UK. It goes without saying that the reaction, both from the general public and critics, wasn’t positive, but it has since grown a cult following.
Well, now it’s your turn, get those car keys, hop in your motor, and you can follow the same route that the Fab Four took. It’s time for a road trip.
First off, you’re starting in London, the nation’s capital. Like all coach journeys, it’s important to grab yourself some food and drinks for the trip. Unlike most coach trips that depart from London, this one won’t start at Victoria. You can replicate the coach from the movie, which began its journey from Allsop Place, that’s right by the Baker Street tube station and 30 seconds from Regent’s Park.
The first stop for that iconic yellow coach was Teignmouth, a beautiful seaside town in Devon. The small town had been artistically important before Magical Mystery Tour, having been the subject of a William Turner painting over 150 years prior. You can visit its famous pier or have a stroll along its coastal path. Paul, John, Ringo and George all stayed in the Royal Hotel, a hideaway that had also hosted Beatrix Potter, Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhour, before being demolished and replaced by apartments.
If you really want to experience what the Fab Four did, then a 40-minute drive takes you to Widecombe-in-the-Moor. In Magical Mystery Tour, the coach drove down the winding country roads around the village. The sparse, isolated nature of the moorland comes across on film, showing its natural beauty but also feeling, at times, a little bit eerie. The village itself has the huge St Pancras Church, otherwise known as the “cathedral of the moors” thanks to its gigantic 120-foot tower. While you’re here, you’re basically slap-bang in the middle of the Dartmoor National Park, so you may as well explore one of the country’s most stunning landscapes.
With the moorland done, it’s time to do what every 16-year-old Brit does after finishing their GCSE exams, and go to Newquay. Newquay is the main stop in the film, and the band spent three days here in September 1967 filming. You’re going to need to spend the night at the iconic Atlantic Hotel, a grand Victorian hotel perched on the Cornish coast. The band themselves each slept in adjoining luxury flats besides the hotel, and famously had to have the local police cordoning off the area by the hotel in order to eat in the hotel’s dining room without being overrun by crazed fans.
The stunning Holywell Bay and nearby Tregurrian Beach all feature in the movie, so soak in some rays on those beautiful beaches, and grab a pasty before getting on your way back to the big smoke.
On your route back to London, there’s only really one stop needed, a quick detour to Taunton, the Somerset market town that is featured briefly during some driving sequences in the movie.
So next time you find yourself at a loose end for the weekend, ask yourself what John Lennon would do, and I don’t mean spend days and days in bed. Get out on the open road and experience the Magical Mystery Tour for yourself.
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