Getting to Royal Birkdale for The Open 2026

I'm going to start with the only piece of transport advice that actually matters: do not drive to Royal Birkdale during Open week. I live three miles from the course. I will not be driving. The road network around Birkdale simply cannot cope with 250,000 people attending a major championship, and the R&A and Sefton Council implement road closures that make it impractical anyway. Start planning around Merseyrail and work backwards from there.

Merseyrail: the right answer for most people

Birkdale station is on the Merseyrail Northern Line (Southport branch). From Liverpool Central, the journey to Birkdale takes around 45–50 minutes with frequent direct trains. From the station it's approximately a 12–15 minute walk to the Royal Birkdale clubhouse: the route is signposted and stewarded during Open week.

• →From Liverpool Central: Merseyrail Northern Line direct to Birkdale. 45–50 minutes.
• →From Manchester: train to Liverpool Lime Street, cross to Liverpool Central, then Merseyrail to Birkdale. Allow 90 minutes minimum.
• →From Southport: Birkdale is one stop on the same Northern Line. Three minutes by train.
• →From London: Avanti West Coast to Liverpool Euston/Lime Street, then Merseyrail to Birkdale. Allow 3 hours from Euston.
• →From Formby: one stop direct to Birkdale. Four minutes. The best Open base for this reason.

Park and ride

The R&A operates official park-and-ride from multiple sites during Open week. Full details will be published on theopen.com closer to the event. Park-and-ride coaches connect the venue from car parks around Southport and surrounding areas. Pre-book as soon as park-and-ride details become available: they fill up.

Staying locally and walking in

If your accommodation is in Birkdale village or within a mile of the course, you can walk each morning. This is the best Open week logistics setup. Birkdale village has decent restaurants and pubs within five minutes of the course, and walking to The Open Championship is an experience worth paying for in accommodation costs.

If you're combining golf and spectating

The other Sefton Coast courses: Hillside, Southport & Ainsdale, Formby GC, West Lancashire: all have their own car parks and are reachable by car without Open week restrictions. Road closures are specific to the Birkdale/Waterloo Road area. Drive to your golf course normally on your golf days. Use Merseyrail for your Open spectating days. Don't try to drive between the two.

One final thing

Book your return journey before you go in. Birkdale station at the end of a championship day is crowded. If you're on a pre-booked train, that's fine. If you're on a park-and-ride coach, know your departure point before you walk through the entrance gate in the morning. After eight miles of walking a links course in the sun, you'll thank yourself for having sorted this out the night before.