Destination: LIVERPOOL, England

YOUTHFUL BEATLES perform at the Cavern Club, top.Paul McCartney at the legendary venue in 1999. The Fab Four during their Sergeant Pepper's era.

LIVERPOOL -- After a period of apathy, this northern English city -- famous for its cynicism -- has finally jumped on the Beatle bandwagon in a big way.

Now it seems as though there's a statue or image of John Lennon on every street corner. Liverpool's airport has been renamed in his honour. And Paul McCartney's boyhood home has become a national treasure.

Buoyant melodies and droll wit helped launch the quartet from four working-class Liverpudlians into global icons that shaped a generation. Today, walking tours, bicycle tours, auto tours and bus tours allow devoted fans to retrace the early footsteps of the Fab Four.

And why not? The Beatles are a huge tourist magnet.

"One million visitors come to Liverpool a year just because of the Beatles," says Jonathan Schofield, a Blue Badge Guide and author.

Some "weep profusely" in the Cavern Club, the basement venue the Beatles first played. Others cry entering the Beatles Story -- an exhibition on Albert Dock with amazing reconstructions of the Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road Studio and 16 other features.

Many coming to this mop-top mecca simply want to connect with the spirit of Lennon, McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. And that spirit remains very much alive.

Indeed, when it comes to historical landmarks, there's something for even the most fanatical of fans. From houses the Beatles were born in, lived in or even just visited -- to the spot where Lennon's mom was killed crossing the road, run over by an off-duty policeman.

You can stroll Penny Lane (allegedly named after a local slave merchant) or wander Strawberry Field, both made famous by Lennon-McCartney songs. When I was there recently, flowers still hung in the strawberry-hued wrought-iron gates for Harrison, who died in December.

Why not tour the house on 20 Forthlin Rd. that actually witnessed the birth of Beatlemania? McCartney's teenage home, where he and Lennon wrote some of the early Beatles hits, was purchased by the British government and restored.

The walls of Paul's bedroom are covered with scribbled song lyrics. The McCartneys lived here from 1955 to 1964 until screaming fans drove them away.

Take a sentimental saunter down Mathew St. to the Cavern Club where a cottage industry of clones, aka the John Lennon Bar, Abbey Road Pub, and Beatles Shop (open "Eight days a Week") has sprung up.

Hop aboard the Magical Mystery Tour and see Liverpool from a bus like the one in the 1968 film.

Next year you'll be able to book into the Hard Day's Night Hotel. The 120-bedroom, four-star hotel is scheduled to welcome fans of the Fab Four with Beatle-themed rooms in Liverpool's city centre.

Not to miss this summer, Aug. 22-27, is International Beatle Week -- Liverpool's annual orgy of Beatlemania, complete with hundreds of tribute bands.

Here are some sites worth a look for Beatle fans in Liverpool:

St Peter's Church Hall in Woolton, where John Lennon made his stage debut, played with his band the Quarrymen and met Paul McCartney on July 6, 1957.

Jacaranda, 23 Slater St. The Beatles used to play, rehearse and hang out here. Recently restored.

Liverpool Institute, Mount St., the school Paul and George attended.

Liverpool College of Art, Hope St. John attended this college where he met both Cynthia Powell and Stuart Sutcliffe.

Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital, Myrtle St. Ringo was sickly as a youngster and spent months here.

Penny Lane, off Smithdown Rd. Nearby is the barber shop, the fish and chip shop and the bank noted in the song.

Strawberry Field, Beaconsfield Field Rd. The old Salvation Army children's home where John would play as child.

Real fanatics can check out Madryn St., Princes Park, the birthplace of Ringo Starr; Walton General Hospital, Rice Lane, Walton, the birthplace of Paul McCartney or 12 Arnold Grove, Wavertree, the birthplace of George Harrison.

The Cavern beat goes on LIVERPOOL -- It was raucous, hot and sweaty -- the way good rock 'n' roll should be. The crowd thronged toward the stage where a band smoked cigarettes and guzzled pints of beer as they played guitar and drums. And play they did. It was one of the least pretentious performances we'd watched in a bar in a while. No strutting, flashy clothes or attitude. These guys just threw back their heads and sang and played. But then again, this was the Cavern -- which bills itself as the most famous club in the world. My buddy and I pushed through the crowd to the bar for another pint. "What's the name of the band?" he asked the bartender. "How do I know, mate? A thousand nameless bands have played here." Not to mention a few big names as well. Some 42 years ago, on Nov. 9, 1961, Brian Epstein strolled into the Cavern to catch a lunchtime performance. His record store had been blitzed with requests for records by a group that hadn't made any. So he came to hear and watch the Beatles for himself, and quickly became their manager. Two years later the Beatles had grown too big to play the Cavern. But the buzz had elevated the club to legend status. It soon attracted musicians like the Yardbirds, Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, Gene Vincent, Manfred Mann, the Kinks, The Who and Elton John. The Cavern shut down in 1966 but soon reopened with a new owner. Wishbone Ash, Thin Lizzy, Supertramp and Judas Priest played during the early 1970s. But the Cavern closed again in May 1973 because British Rail needed the subterranean land for an extension to Liverpool's underground rail. The Cavern reopened in the early 1980s. It was hoped the basement club would still be intact, but the structure had collapsed. The new club was built metres from the first, a true replica -- they even used the original bricks. This Cavern is still going strong. It even rocked to the music of Paul McCartney for the first time in almost four decades in December 1999. Three hundred fans crammed into the basement to watch McCartney at his 281st appearance at the Cavern. As the night wore on, however, McCartney noted it was not quite the same club he remembered. "It's over there somewhere, buried under that heap of rubble," said McCartney. Close enough for rock 'n' roll.

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