Londoners and visitors alike have many different attractions and activities to enjoy while staying in the city, but perhaps none have quite such a fun appeal as the London pub crawl!
With a wide variety of great venues to choose from, here’s our top tips for making the most of your own journey through the city’s pubs…
Plan ahead
Some pub crawls can be undertaken in a single afternoon or evening, whilst others require a little more planning and commitment. Before you head out on your own journey, be sure to check how much time it’s likely to take.
This is particularly important if you’re on a short trip to the city and have only limited time to spend on this particular activity.
Check out transport
London’s transport system is one of the best in the world, with everything from the London Underground to buses, overground trains, taxis and trams to take you around the city in style.
However, the distances between some pubs could be a factor in determining whether you choose this route – take a look ahead of time to be sure its something you can manage in the time you have.
Pace yourself
This is a vital thing to remember if you’re headed on an extended pub crawl, as it’ll help ensure the experience remains memorable for the right reasons, not the wrong ones!
Be sure to stay hydrated as you journey around London’s pub scene, consider mixing it up a little by having soft drinks in some of the pubs you visit, and take enough time to really enjoy each drink before travelling to the next venue.
Try a literary pub crawl
If you’re looking to try something a little different than the standard pub crawl experience, try giving the London Literary Pub Crawl a spin. This excursion takes you on a trip through some of the most significant pubs in the city, showcasing former watering holes for major literary figures in London’s past and present.
If you’ve ever wondered where the likes of William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Dylan Thomas enjoyed a few drinks, then this is an unmissable way to both raise a toast to these icons of literature and get to know more about the city’s past while staying at the Montcalm hotel.
Check out some of London’s historic pubs
It will come as no surprise to anyone who has ever been to the city, but London has many historic buildings, many of which have fantastic stories behind them. What will come as a surprise is that these historic venues include a wide range of different pubs!
For a unique take on the pub crawl, you can head for places such as Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, located in Fleet Street, Gordon’s Wine Bar in the Strand and The Lamb and Flag in Covent Garden.
There are numerous providers of official pub crawls with like-minded individuals, or you can plot your own course via pubs set within buildings which date from the 13th century to the present day. Its hard to imagine a city which would offer such a vast quantity of pubs which span so much history, so during your stay at your hotel and spa in London this is a wonderful way to add some extra vibrancy to the trip.
Be inspired by tennis pros with the Wimbledon Eight
This pub crawl takes you on a journey through Wimbledon Common’s most important pubs. It was the pub crawl popularised by Oliver Reed, the famed actor known as much for his love of booze as much as for his acting work.
Each pub offers something different: Swan, Crooked Billet, Fox and Grapes, Hand in Hand, The Dog and Fox and the Rose and Crown are all still in evidence, though two of Reed’s favourite venues – The Brewery Tap and Prince of Denmark – are no longer here, making the Wimbledon Eight more like the ‘Wimbledon Six’ these days.
The pub crawl is the ideal way to celebrate your stay in the city, and to see a side to Wimbledon which many people never experience. You can always finish the evening by heading to Marble Arch restaurants for a delicious meal, creating a delightfully offbeat night out in London.
Explore the Monopoly pub crawl
Whether you’re an avid Monopoly fan or just want to try an even more unusual way to see London’s pub scene for yourself, this journey through key locations from the Monopoly game includes 26 pubs, and is aimed at providing a pub in every single Monopoly street or station.
There are currently two versions available; one which provides a time-saving way to see the sights, and the second of which is created in order. The latter is lots of fun, but does involve some added travel. It was originally created by fans of the game, and provides a pretty comprehensive look at a side of London which is often unseen.
This is a great evening activity for seeing some of London’s undiscovered gems, and can be teamed with afternoon tea London deals as a way to really make the most of a day out.
Experience the Circle Line pub crawl
If you like to travel, then this pub crawl is the perfect way to journey through London’s tube stations. To complete the pub crawl in total, you need to set aside twelve hours – a mammoth undertaking, but worth it if you’re really committed!
There are 27 pubs in the Circle Line pub crawl, which are all located outside one of the 27 tube stations on the route. The original version of this trip was inspired by a look at the TFL Tube map, when it was noted that the map for the Circle Line did not resemble at circle at all, but a beer bottle. Its certainly an imaginative reason for going on a pub crawl!
