Cross Abbey Road on the white stripes like the Beatles
A black cab slows behind you, the driver's face unreadable, while you and four strangers from Ohio try to walk in step across the white stripes without looking like you're trying. This is Abbey Road in St John's Wood, London, outside the studio where the Beatles recorded almost everything, and the crossing is not roped off or reserved for tourists. It's a real junction with real buses on a schedule that doesn't care about your photo. A camera above the street streams it all live, all day, so somewhere a stranger on their lunch break is watching you fail to get the shot on the first try.
Practical
- Cost
- free
- Best time
- Any time of year, but early morning any day works best
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time it takes
- 15–30 minutes at the crossing itself
- What people get wrong
- People arrive mid-morning or afternoon expecting an empty road and instead get a queue of tourists and real traffic that won't stop for a photo. Trying to recreate the exact Beatles pose while cars are moving is how people nearly get hit; wait for a genuine gap.
- With
- A group