Why Formby Makes a Better Base Than Southport for The Open 2026

The Open Championship is at Royal Birkdale from 13–19 July 2026. Every hotel in Southport and Birkdale village has been booked for months. If you're still looking for somewhere to stay, Formby is worth seriously considering. Here's why.

The Train Journey

Formby station to Birkdale station is one stop on the Merseyrail Southport line. Around seven minutes. Birkdale station is then a fifteen-minute walk from the Royal Birkdale course entrance. Total door-to-course: under thirty minutes from most places in Formby village.

Merseyrail runs frequently and will have enhanced services during Open week. You do not need a car. You leave your accommodation, walk to Formby station, get on a train, get off at Birkdale, walk to the course. That's it. For anyone in central Southport, the journey is actually similar: take the Merseyrail one stop south to Birkdale rather than one stop north from Formby. The distance advantage for Southport is minimal.

The Availability Advantage

This is the practical reason people are considering Formby: accommodation is still available. Southport and Birkdale village are sold out for Open week at almost every price point. Formby has B&Bs, guest houses, and Airbnb properties that haven't been booked yet, partly because people assume it's too far from the course. The train makes this a non-issue.

If you're booking now, search for Formby on Airbnb and Booking.com alongside the usual Southport searches. You may find better availability, possibly at lower prices. For a four or five night stay across the championship, the difference in accommodation cost could be significant.

What Formby Gives You That Southport Doesn't

Formby is quieter. It won't have the full Open week chaos. The village has good independent restaurants and cafes that won't have four-hour queues on a Thursday evening. You can come back from a long day at the course and get a decent dinner without significant effort.

The beach and pinewoods are also here. If you're travelling with someone who isn't interested in golf, they can spend the day at Formby Beach or walking the red squirrel trail while you're at Royal Birkdale. It's a better deal for a mixed-interest trip than being stuck in Southport with access to a town centre that will be absolutely heaving all week.

The Honest Caveats

You're not walking to the course from Formby. You're getting the train, and trains during Open week will be busy on championship days. Get to Formby station early on Saturday and Sunday. Standing room only is a real possibility on peak days.

Formby village doesn't have the dining variety of Southport town centre. There are good restaurants but the choice is narrower. If you want to eat out every evening with a wide range of options, Southport has more. Formby has quality over quantity.

And if the accommodation you find is actually in Freshfield rather than Formby village, check which station is closer. Freshfield station is one stop north of Formby on the same line: also perfectly manageable, adds about three minutes to the journey.

What to Book

Look for properties within a fifteen-minute walk of either Formby or Freshfield station. That keeps your travel to the course under thirty minutes total. Beyond that radius, you start needing to drive to the station, which introduces the parking problem you were trying to avoid.