Review: The Beatles Museum (and Elvis Museum) in Alkmaar

It was years ago since I last set foot in the Beatles Museum in Alkmaar, by far the largest private collection of Beatles stuff that can be found worldwide (1800 square meters). In 2021, another collection was added under the name Elvis Museum. What can you expect?

When you enter, there is a coffee corner where during my visit a Beatles documentary was playing: Peter Jackson’s ‘Get Back’ (the rooftop concert, yeah!). After you paid the fifteen euro’s entry fee and put your bag in a locker, you can enter. You can go straight into the museum or into the store first where they have Beatles & Elvis t-shirts, toys, gadgets, key chains and a huge collection of records, lp’s, cd’s and dvd’s.

The museum consists of an overwhelming amount of information, photographs and collectors items. The main exhibit is the Beatles timeline, from John and Paul’s famous first meeting on 6 July 1957 to the official breaking up of the Beatles in 1970.

There are also specials on a.o. The Beatles Christmas Singles, The Beatles in Italy and Spain, The Beatles in Hamburg, The Beatles in the Netherlands (where they have performed in Hillegom and Blokker), the five movies they made, The Beatles Butcher Cover, The Beatles at the BBC, The famous red and blue double LP’s and The Beatles Singles Collection.

It is a huge setup; the sheer amount of stuff present is overwhelming. Compared to the collection of Beatles-stuff, the Elvis area is pretty small, but there are certainly nice items about the King and also his life story printed on boards. There was also a couch where I could watch Elvis perform on a monitor; he was singing ‘I Got a Woman’, a track the Beatles also covered. Nice!

Should you visit? Yes, this is the most important period in the history of pop music and the place is like a time capsule. Walking around and getting lost in all the memorabilia is a pleasant experience for sure. And don’t forget to have your photograph taken in front of the huge Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper’s boards.