This article contains advertising. Our booking links are routed through a partner that adds commission tracking automatically, so if you book through one we earn a commission from the provider, at no extra cost to you. It never affects what we recommend. Affiliate disclosure
The Open Championship returns to Royal Birkdale in 2026, and for Liverpool-based golf fans it is the most significant sporting event of the year. The 154th Open runs from Sunday 12 to Sunday 19 July at the Royal Birkdale links in Southport, on the Lancashire coast 17 miles north of Liverpool city centre. It’s the eleventh time Royal Birkdale has hosted The Open, and for visitors planning a trip the practical question is essentially: how do I see The Open from a Liverpool base — what’s the travel, where to stay, when to go, what to do for the rest of the week, and what does it cost? This guide answers all of that.
The Open is one of golf’s four majors and the oldest of them. It draws around 250,000 spectators across its eight days of practice and championship play, and an additional global TV audience in the hundreds of millions. Royal Birkdale is widely considered one of the finest championship links courses in the world — bone-hard fairways, wind that comes off the Irish Sea unobstructed, and the deep dune topography that makes Lancashire’s links coast distinctive. For visitors who don’t golf themselves, watching The Open at Birkdale is still genuinely worth a trip; the spectacle, the rolling country setting, the famous holes that have shaped modern golfing history are accessible in a way that few other major sporting events offer.
The Open 2026 dates and structure
The full Open week is Sunday 12 July to Sunday 19 July 2026. The structure splits into two halves.
Practice days run Sunday 12 July to Wednesday 15 July. These are days when the world’s top golfers walk the course, practise their shots, and tune their game without the pressure of competition. Tickets are significantly cheaper than for championship days. The Open Practice days are widely considered the best-value golf spectating you can do — you get the same players, the same course, much smaller crowds, and the chance to walk alongside the field rather than fighting for a spot at the grandstands. For first-time Open visitors, a Wednesday Practice Day ticket is the smartest entry point.
Championship days run Thursday 16 July to Sunday 19 July. These are the four rounds of the competition itself. Crowds are much bigger, tickets cost more, and the atmosphere builds across the four days to the Sunday final round when the Claret Jug is won. Sunday is the most intense and best-televised day. Friday’s afternoon (the cut day) and Sunday’s back nine are the traditional high points.
Daily tickets are sold for individual practice days and individual championship days. Weekly passes give full-week access. Hospitality packages — significantly more expensive — bundle premium viewing areas, dining, and bar access.
Tickets and what to expect to pay
The main ballot for general admission tickets has now closed. Remaining ticket availability is through official re-sale, hospitality packages, and travel/accommodation packages bundled with tickets via authorised partners. Always buy through TheOpen.com or its named partners — secondary-market tickets carry a real risk of cancellation by The R&A.
Indicative 2026 pricing based on recent Open Championships: Practice Day general admission £35-£60 per day depending on day; Championship Day general admission £110-£175 per day depending on day (Sunday is the most expensive); Weekly Pass typically £450+; Hospitality Packages from £900 per day to £4000+ depending on dining and viewing tier.
Under-25s and under-16s have historically had discounted or free access with a paying adult — check the current under-16 and youth policy when booking. The R&A actively encourages young spectators and these schemes deliver one of the cheapest ways into a major golf championship globally.
Getting from Liverpool to Royal Birkdale
This is the single biggest practical decision. Royal Birkdale sits in Southport on the Lancashire coast, 17 miles north of Liverpool city centre by road. There are three sensible routes.
Merseyrail from Liverpool to Hillside Station is the smartest option for almost all visitors. Merseyrail’s Northern Line runs from Liverpool Central via Moorfields to Southport, with trains every 15 minutes. Hillside Station is the nearest stop to Royal Birkdale — a five-minute walk from the club entrance. Journey time from Liverpool Central is about 50 minutes. Open Championship event days have additional services. Return ticket around £8-£10. This is by far the easiest route on a championship day; you avoid the traffic, the parking queues, and the post-round exit scrum.
Driving from Liverpool takes 35-50 minutes off-peak via the A565 along the coast. On Open days, designated park-and-ride sites are set up around Southport with shuttle buses to the course. Direct parking at the course is heavily restricted — almost everyone parks at park-and-ride. Expect long queues both arriving and departing on championship days. If you’re driving, leave Liverpool by 8am for a Thursday or Sunday round.
Coach packages via The Open’s destination packages bundle a coach from central Liverpool hotels with admission. These are convenient if you’ve booked a ticket-and-accommodation package and want zero transport stress, but they cost more per day than the train and you sacrifice flexibility on departure times.
From Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Royal Birkdale is approximately 45 minutes by car. From Manchester Airport, around an hour. Most international visitors fly to Manchester for the better long-haul connections.
Where to stay during The Open
The big decision: stay in Southport itself, or stay in Liverpool and commute to The Open?
Staying in Southport puts you within walking distance or a short bus ride of the course. Southport is a Victorian seaside town with a long pier, the famous Lord Street shopping arcade, and a decent selection of hotels and B&Bs. The Vincent Hotel, Ramada Plaza, and the Royal Clifton are the established mid-to-upper-tier options. Prices climb dramatically for Open week — expect £250-£450 a night for properties that normally cost £100-£200. Book by December the year before for any choice. Several glamping and camping options around the course offer cheaper alternatives.
Staying in Liverpool trades a 50-minute commute for far more accommodation choice, better food and nightlife, and the chance to make a city-and-golf combined trip. Open week is busy in Liverpool too — particularly for hotels close to Lime Street and Liverpool Central where the train commute is easiest — but availability and value hold up better than in Southport. See our best hotels in Liverpool city centre guide for full options.
The smart approach: for serious golf fans planning to attend all four championship days, stay in Southport. For visitors planning one or two days at the Open plus exploring Liverpool, stay in Liverpool city centre and use Merseyrail. For broader options see our where to stay in Liverpool guide.
What it’s like to spectate The Open at Birkdale
Royal Birkdale is a links course — flat fairways carved between dune ridges, with the Irish Sea to the west. The course covers around 200 acres. Walking the full eighteen during a championship day involves several miles on rough grass and sandy paths between holes. Comfortable footwear matters more than at most spectator events.
For first-time spectators, the smart approach is to pick a few good holes and base yourself there rather than walking the full course. The grandstand views at the 18th green, the par-3 12th hole, and the famous 6th and 9th holes through the dunes consistently deliver the best spectator experience. Alternatively, you can walk a single match for a few holes — following one player or one group from tee to green to the next tee — to get the sense of the players’ decision-making and shot-making up close.
The Open’s spectator experience includes large screens around the course, a Spectator Village with food, drink, merchandise, and information, plus several “spectator hubs” where you can sit, eat, watch the leaderboards, and follow the championship from a static base. Food and drink prices are at championship event levels — expect £8-£12 for a hot meal, £6-£8 for a pint. The on-course bars sell champagne, gin and tonic, and beer at a typical sporting event premium.
Sun protection and waterproofs are non-negotiable. July in Lancashire is unpredictable. A clear day at Birkdale can deliver actual sunburn (much of the course has no shade). A wet day can deliver sustained rain for hours. Many regulars carry both sun cream and a waterproof jacket all day.
Combining The Open with a Liverpool visit
The smart approach for non-Liverpool-resident visitors is to make the Open part of a longer Liverpool trip. The Open’s evening programme is limited — players generally go to bed early, and the on-course bars close shortly after play. Most spectators leave the course by 8pm. That leaves plenty of evening time in Liverpool city centre, particularly given the Merseyrail commute is straightforward both ways.
A four-day visit might look like: Thursday — arrive Liverpool, settle in, evening at Concert Square or the Ropewalks. Friday — Merseyrail to Birkdale for the second round, evening dinner on Bold Street. Saturday — full day at the third round, evening on the Liverpool waterfront. Sunday — final round at Birkdale, return for celebration dinner in the city.
For non-golfing companions, Liverpool offers a full week of things to do without ever going to Birkdale. The Beatles Liverpool attractions, the city’s museums and galleries, day trips to Chester, and the core things to do in Liverpool all fill the days while a partner is at the golf.
Royal Birkdale: a brief context
Royal Birkdale Golf Club was founded in 1889 and has hosted The Open ten times prior to 2026 — the first in 1954, the most recent in 2017 when Jordan Spieth won by three shots. It is widely ranked among the world’s top 25 courses and the top three or four links courses in England. The course was designed in its modern form by Fred Hawtree and J.H. Taylor in the 1930s, with subsequent modifications by Martin Hawtree. The clubhouse is a distinctive white Art Deco building — one of the most photographed clubhouses in major championship golf.
Famous Open moments at Birkdale include Peter Thomson’s three Birkdale Opens in the 1950s and 1960s, Arnold Palmer’s win in 1961, Tom Watson’s 1983 victory, Justin Rose’s amateur record at the 1998 Open as a 17-year-old, Padraig Harrington’s win in 2008, and Spieth’s famous 13th-hole drop-shot save on the final round of the 2017 Open. The course has produced great Opens consistently.
What to eat and drink in Southport and Liverpool
Southport has a small but improving restaurant scene. The Vincent, the Bold Hotel, the Warehouse Brasserie, and several pubs around Lord Street offer good eating during Open week, but everywhere books out three to four weeks ahead for the busy nights. Pub food at the Scarisbrick Hotel and the various pubs along Lord Street is the easy fallback. Fish and chips at one of Southport’s seafront chippies is the local move after a day at the golf.
Liverpool’s restaurant scene is in a different league — see our best restaurants in Liverpool guide for the full options. For a Liverpool-based Open trip, plan your evenings in the city: fine dining options for a celebration meal, Liverpool’s best pubs for a more casual evening, and the brunch spots for slow Sunday mornings before the final round.
The Open with non-golfers (and kids)
Many Open visitors travel with companions who aren’t particularly interested in golf. The Open accommodates this surprisingly well. Under-16s have historically had free or heavily discounted entry with paying adults — and the spectacle, the on-course village, and the chance to walk in the dunes appeal to families. The 1st tee atmosphere, the leaderboard areas, and the merchandise tent all work for non-golfers.
For Liverpool-based families travelling together, the smart split is one day at the Open for the golfer, with the non-golfing family at Liverpool’s many family days out — the World Museum, the Blue Planet Aquarium, or the Sefton Park playground all fit easily into a non-golfing day.
What it costs (total budget)
The Open Championship is among the more expensive UK sporting weekends. A realistic budget for a couple combining a Friday-Saturday-Sunday Open visit with a Liverpool stay:
Travel: £80-£200 return train tickets per person from elsewhere in the UK. Hotel: £450-£900 for three nights at a city centre Liverpool hotel during Open week. Open tickets: £350-£525 per person for three championship days at general admission. Merseyrail to Birkdale: £20-£30 per person for three return journeys. Food and drink: £300-£500 for three days. Total for a couple: around £1500-£2900 depending on hotel and ticket category. Hospitality packages add £900 per day per person upward.
For broader budget planning see our how much a Liverpool trip costs guide.
Practical tips from regulars
Bring binoculars. Even at the best spectator angles, the players are often 100-200 metres away, and a small pair of binoculars transforms what you can see. Wear waterproofs that pack small. Take a foldable seat or stadium cushion — many spectator areas have you sitting on grass or hard grandstand benches for long periods. Charge your phone overnight every night; phone signal at Birkdale is patchy and you’ll drain a battery faster than expected following live leaderboard data. Apply sun cream early — even cloudy Birkdale days deliver UV burn.
Familiarise yourself with the course map before you arrive. The R&A publishes excellent printable course maps each year. Identify your two or three target holes for the day in advance. Trying to walk all 18 leads to exhaustion and a worse view of the actual golf.
For Liverpool-based visitors, the train back from Hillside Station in the evening is busy but workable. Leave the course by 7.30pm at the latest for a smooth Sunday evening commute. Otherwise stay for the trophy presentation around 6.30pm-7pm and travel back in the second wave.
The Open at Royal Birkdale frequently asked questions
When is The Open 2026?
The 154th Open Championship runs from 12 to 19 July 2026 at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, near Liverpool. Practice days are 12-15 July; championship play is Thursday 16 July to Sunday 19 July.
How do I get from Liverpool to Royal Birkdale?
The smartest route is Merseyrail from Liverpool Central or Moorfields to Hillside Station, which is a five-minute walk from the course. Trains run every 15 minutes; journey time about 50 minutes; return ticket around £8-£10.
Where is Royal Birkdale?
Royal Birkdale Golf Club is in Southport, on the Lancashire coast, 17 miles north of Liverpool city centre. The closest railway station is Hillside on Merseyrail’s Northern Line.
How much do Open Championship tickets cost?
Indicative 2026 pricing: Practice Day general admission £35-£60; Championship Day general admission £110-£175; Weekly Pass £450+. Hospitality packages start from £900 per day.
Are tickets still available for The Open 2026?
The main public ballot has closed. Remaining tickets are available through official re-sale, official hospitality packages, and accommodation-plus-ticket packages from authorised partners. Always buy through TheOpen.com or named partners.
Is it better to stay in Southport or Liverpool?
Southport for serious golfers attending all four days — walking distance from the course. Liverpool for visitors combining The Open with broader sightseeing — better food, better hotels, easy 50-minute Merseyrail commute. Both work; the decision is personal.
What should I wear to The Open?
Smart casual or casual. There is no enforced dress code beyond banning sports clothing items in some hospitality areas. Bring layered clothing — Lancashire’s links coast weather is unpredictable. Comfortable walking shoes are essential.
Can I bring children?
Yes. Under-16s have historically had free or discounted entry with paying adults. The Open is a family-friendly major. Check the current under-16 and Youth policies when booking.
Can I bring food or drink?
Limited quantities of food are usually permitted in soft bags. Alcohol is not. Check the published guidance closer to the championship. The on-course food and drink provision is extensive.
What if it rains?
Play continues in most weather. Lightning or extreme conditions can suspend rounds. The championship completes over four days; if Sunday play is rained off heavily it may extend into Monday in extreme cases.
Can I walk the course freely?
You can move between holes and follow groups, but designated spectator areas at each hole govern where you can stand. Marshals direct movement between shots so as not to disturb play.
Final thoughts on The Open at Birkdale
For Liverpool-based or Liverpool-visiting golf fans, the 2026 Open at Royal Birkdale is one of the most accessible major championship experiences in world golf. The Merseyrail link makes the commute from a Liverpool base painless. The combination of a world-class course, a strong host town in Southport, and Liverpool’s wider city-break offering on the doorstep, makes for a more rounded sporting trip than most majors deliver.
Plan the practicals early: tickets through official channels, hotels by January, dinner reservations 4-6 weeks ahead, transport by Merseyrail not car. Then enjoy what is, in golfing terms, one of the absolute highlights of the British summer. For wider Liverpool planning see the Liverpool events and festivals calendar, the Liverpool travel guide, and our things to do in Liverpool overview.