British city receives title of pub capital: a unique pub crawl.

A glorious city for beer lovers

According to The Sun: St Albans is one of the most attractive small towns in South East England. It is famous for its Roman history, lively streets, and convenient 22-minute trains to London.

But this city has another significant advantage: undoubtedly, St Albans is one of the best places in the UK for pub enthusiasts.

Alamy St Albans - the best city for pubs - I tried my own pub crawl

Many towns can boast several nice pubs, but in St Albans, there are simply a multitude.

Some claim that it has the highest number of pubs in the country, but that depends on the definition of what a pub is and the boundaries of the town you consider. However, there are about 55 pubs for nearly 90,000 residents — that’s one pub for approximately 1,600 people.

Among them, there is a pub that claims to be the oldest in the country — 'Ye Olde Fighting Cocks,' dating back to 793 AD. If this is true, it may have served beer to Alfred the Great when he rested after his victory over the Vikings.

Looking at the diversity of pubs in St Albans, you'll notice 'Peacock', 'Peahen', and 'Lower Red Lion'; it's curious whether there was ever an 'Upper Red Lion'.

The town is compact, making it ideal for a pub crawl — the opportunity to check out several of the best pubs in one day.

So we nicknamed it ‘St Crawlbans’.

Other towns, such as Tenby and Mumbles in South Wales, are famous for their pub crawls, but none can boast the quality of pubs found in St Albans.

This is not mentioned by accident in the new book 'Historic Pub Crawls in England' by author Thomas J. Wosper, starting with a beer route through St Albans. We chose our own route during a recent visit, relying on past experience and a desire to try some of our favorite establishments.

Our journey began at 'The Garibaldi', an inviting pub that greets visitors in a comfortable atmosphere. Then we headed to 'The White Hart Tap' and 'The White Lion', which also did not disappoint.

The hospitality at 'The Garibaldi' was at a high level, but at 'Robin Hood', we were greeted even better. There, we spoke with the owner, who treated us to another round and shared her interesting story.

'The Robin Hood' - one of many pubs that even received awards oldtollhousestalbans.co.uk

The Old Tollhouse was recently refurbished

Next, we visited 'The Mermaid' — a lovely pub with a cozy atmosphere and a diverse selection of drinks.

Unfortunately, 'The Boot' turned out to be overcrowded, as one might expect on weekends.

So we stopped by 'Lower Red Lion', which impressed us with its cozy setting. Christmas decorations were already hung, and chilly evenings became even warmer thanks to the burning fireplace.

Next, we headed to the historic 'Fighting Cocks', located near the cathedral, where we raised a toast to the eternity of old pubs.

We concluded our evening at 'Portland Arms' — another cozy establishment that also looked very lively.

What is it like to live in St Albans?

Travel Editor Assistant of The Sun, Sophie Swietochowski, explains:

I grew up in the surrounding area — at 31, I don’t plan on leaving this city. Why would I do that? St Albans is often called one of the best places to live in the UK, including the designation in The Sunday Times in 2020 when it was named the winner in the South East category.

It has retained a village feel thanks to its many green spaces and a compact center with ancient buildings dating back to the 12th century.

You can also book a tour ('Historic St Albans — an open city', see stalbanstourguides.co.uk), which will take you to local sights rich in history, including a medieval clock tower at the foot of the street, near the modern bakery Gail’s.

During our pub crawl, we encountered a bachelor party and a group of young people dressed as various Disney characters.

Despite our 10,000 steps that day, there were still many pubs we wanted to visit — among them the local Wetherspoons 'The Waterend Barn', 'The King Harry', and 'The Six Bells'.

We must not forget about the wonderful country pub 'The Prae Wood Arms', which warmly welcomes four-legged friends — it is located near the ruins of a Roman theater.

The legendary beer writer Roger Protz, who has lived in St Albans for over 50 years, even wrote a book about this pub culture: his 'Ale City – St Albans’ Beer History and Remarkable Pubs' was published in August.

After recommending a few pubs to me, he noted:

“You might think that writing an entire book about the pubs of a single city would be an exaggeration — but when it comes to pubs, St Albans is not an ordinary city.”

 

“The pub scene here is incredibly vibrant. Even since I finished the book a few months ago, the old pub 'Rats Castle' has undergone a really nice renovation.”

 

“Now it's called 'The Old Tollhouse' (the name of the original building), and it serves Harper's and Timothy Taylor’s. There’s always something new.”

It’s no wonder that The Campaign for Real Ale – or CAMRA – was founded in St Albans over a pint at the Farriers Arms pub in 1972. They remain at the forefront of the fight to preserve Britain's pubs.

Against the backdrop of a nationwide trend towards closure, with an average of six pubs closing each week, St Albans' success looks impressive.

The best thing we can do is visit our pubs, and few places are better for that than ‘St Crawlbans’.

garibaldistalbans.co.uk

The pub 'The Garibaldi' is also worth a stop.