While in town for the World Travel Market I took some time to meet up with some friends and have a few drinks. I figured a great way to see some cool bars was by joining a pub crawl. I have really started to like doing pub crawls in different cities all over the world. I know I have mentioned it before but it is a great way to see some local bars and meet new interesting people.
Undiscovered London offers a pub crawl of Camden. A very hip area with lots of interesting bars and restaurants lining the streets. Undiscovered London is a unique tour company. Instead of focusing on well known tourist points or over crowded bars they offer London from a different point of view. I am always looking for an off the beat experience so I was happy to join them on their pub crawl.
Unfortunately I could not join their free walking tour which takes you to all the things that are necessary to see while in London or their unique East End tour. The artsy, bohemian area of London. As we all know I am a sucker for an artist district and can’t wait to head back to London ( hopefully in January) and explore more!
For the time being I had to settle for a pub crawl. How unfortunate for me that I had to drink my way through Camden.
The night was of course rainy because you have not really experienced London until you have bar hopped through wet streets that destroy your favorite pair of brown suede boots. RIP boots you served me well.
The pub crawl starts at Beatrice a small unassuming bar where it is easy to talk to all your fellow crawlers. I struck up a conversation with an Australian girl who was touring the worlds best theater cities. London, Vegas, Paris, New York City to name a few. Seeing shows in each city. What a great idea for a trip. I also managed to find a few fellow New Yorkers in the mix.
It is possible my favorite bar of the night was the Blue’s Kitchen. A popular live music venue featuring excellent, you guessed it, blues bands! I have done quite a few pub crawls and none of them offered as diverse bars as this one. I didn’t even want to leave this one.
But then we arrived at the next one, The Cuban, and it was a salsa bar. Playing Spanish music. I love Spanish music and it made me feel right at home as most of the bars/clubs in New York always play this kind of music.
We ended the night at Barfly. All my friends in London knew this bar but had never been. It was a lively dance bar. We were all a bit tipsy at this point and immediately joined everyone on the dance floor. What a great way to end the night.
Our guide Connor was such a doll. He made sure that I knew what bus or train I was catching since I was unfamiliar with the area and we were far from where we started. All night he took pictures with us and chatted. It was great to have such a friendly guide who cared whether or not I knew where I was going.
I will never for the life of me understand why London stops running the tube so early, Midnight! Come on London, you’re better then that.
Alas I took the night bus home slightly drunk and beaming over the fun I had.
I had an awesome time with them as well, greatly recommended!
Who was playing at the barfly? If you wanted the ‘proper’ British pub experience you should have hit the Ice Wharf. There’s nothing like watching three generations of one family getting terminated by a frutie!
Where is the Ice Wharf? I will be back in London at the end of January. When I was at Barfly it wasn’t a band. It was a DJ.
Sounds like a fun night out! The Cuban, blues bar and barfly all seems like great places, will remember when in london next without the kids 🙂
Sounds like you had a fun night, you’ve inspired me to try a pub crawl this year! 😀
I will be back in London at the end of the month and will be sure to do it!
I will definitely try it out when I am there! Thanks for the advice
Superb stuff. Many thanks.
Many thanks for sharing, I always find out interesting things from your posts.