Abbey Road

Few album covers are as legendary as The Beatles’ 1969 album, Abbey Road, featuring a photograph by Iain McMillan of the Fab Four strutting across the now infamous zebra crossing on Abbey Road. The record, named after the street where their studio was located, prompted the name change of the world-renowned Abbey Road Recording Studio (previously EMI Studios), alongside a rush of Beatles’ fans to the famous spot in St John’s Wood, North London.

Both the studio and the nearby pedestrian crossing remain key tourist attractions, with a steady stream of Beatles’ fans desperate to get that ubiquitous snapshot walking, skipping or dancing along the iconic black and white stripes. It’s a symbol so interwoven with British pop culture and so popular among tourists, that there’s even a live web cam permanently focused on the crossing, enabling friends and family members to view each other’s Beatles walk of fame in real-time from anywhere in the world.

Abbey Road Recording studio is also a tourist hotspot in itself, having produced a mind-blowing resume of classic records and movie scores, since it opened its doors back in 1931. Everyone from Pink Floyd to Lady Gaga has recorded there, alongside soundtracks for global blockbusters like the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter films. Housed in an early 19th-century townhouse, now a Grade II listed building, the studio is mostly closed to the public, although occasional live music sessions and events do take place inside, and the long-standing tradition of scrawling graffiti on the entrance wall of the building is still undertaken by visitors from all over the world. Don’t expect your message to go down in rock history though – the graffiti wall is so popular, it’s re-painted each month.