Abbey Road Studios: Open days
The entrance to Abbey Road Studios. Photo via Abbey Road Studios.
We are often being asked if it’s possible to visit and see the studios in Abbey Road. Usually the answer is no. It is still a working studio for musicians and artists, so unless you are planning to record or mix something, and have booked studio time, you can’t. However, since 2012 Studio 2 in Abbey Road has been open for visitors for a week or two in August, for a ticket-buying audience. This has not been done every year, but most years since. 2020 was of course not such a year, in fact, the studios themselves were shut down for a while.
June 1968: John and Yoko crossing over the street at Abbey Road, walking towards the studios.
The good news for 2021 is that Abbey Road Studios are going to have open days. And this time it’s not just Studio 2, as on previous occasions – it’s also Studios 1 and 3 plus all the respective control rooms, and the Studio 2 echo chamber. This is the first time that so much of the studio complex has been available to a visiting audience.
The open house week is from Monday the 9th to Sunday the 15th of August, and on display will also be hitherto unseen photos and films, recording consoles, various instruments and other artifacts. The bad news is that visitors are not allowed to shoot any videos or take photos during their 90 minute tour of the place. Tickets are £100 plus fees.
Links: Abbey Road News – Open house in Abbey Road – Tickets
I visited two years ago and it was far out and fab. Studio 2 is pretty much unchanged from when The Beatles were recording there. I very much enjoyed roaming around the studio, watching original instruments and recording equiment on display, and walking up the stairs to the control room. If you have the chance to be in London that week, I urge you to go. It is a bit pricy but I found it to be absolutely worthwhile and an unforgettable experience.
They let us take pictures of Studio 2 in 2019, is that no longer allowed?
They let us take pictures in Studio 2 in 2018, although the lighting was not conducive to good pictures. But no photos in the hallways and other areas. They said it was privacy concerns for whoever might be recording there at the time.
I have taken photos there in 1983, 1996 and 2012. The reason they are not allowing it this time around is stated on their “Open house” webpage: “Given the nature of some of the items on display during the tour, guests will be asked NOT to take any photographs or videos at all during their visit”