Pub crawling in the Borough area

Being in a students hall has a great number of advantages: you pay cheaper rents, you test your adaptability both to physical constraints (here I should upload a picture of my shower room) and cohabitation, you develop your investigative skills (still trying to find out who “took” my cutlery) and in cases like mine, when heating is limited to 18°C, you even get to burn a higher amount of calories per day.

But above all, you get to meet both people from all over the world who are as eager as you to visit and discover the city, and locals who can actually take you to the places they like and introduce you to the culture of your host country.

One of the nicest aspects of my hall of residence is the vivacity of its social life. Last night’s event was a lovely a pub crawl/guided tour of the area that I advise you to take if you live in Southwark.

1. Visit the spot where Romans used to party (top of Tabard St.)! Discovered a few years ago, this is the place where the most ancient inscription of London’s Roman name was found.  The slab refers to  the trade in Champagne that used to take place with the French city of Reims. Besides, a gladiatrix grave has been found in this area. The archeological findings are now in the London Museum and new buildings have covered the area, but still, it is quite cool to start a pub crawl in a place where people have been partying for more than 2000 years!

2. See London’s Oldest Inn: the debate over the oldest pub in town is still raging, but the George Inn is worth a visit for its quite singular atmosphere.

3. Find Bridget’s Jones house and the restaurant where Hugh Grant and Colin Firth fought for her, just next to Borough market (which is instead worth a detailed visit at day time).

4. Head to the Anchor Pub for a beer by the Thames (as long as the weather is nice). You can also try the typical fish and chips here, but I haven’t so far (to be continued).

5. Have a look at Shakespear’s Globe Theater, extremely charming by night, as it has been built to be as similar to the original one as possible.

6. End the night sipping a beer by the Thames at the Old Thameside Inn. Not only you will keep having a nice view on the river, but you will be in front of the exact handcrafted replica of the Golden Hind, the galleon used by Sir Francis Drake to circumnavigate the globe. This boat has equally sailed the world and has featured in a number of movies.

Extremely reliable sources (a.k.a. my Irish flat-mate) maintain that a real pub crawl must include at least 5 pub stops, 12 at Christmas time, but I tend to prefer this mix of nice, interesting spots and beer.

If this wasn’t enough for your first pub crawl design your own @

http://www.pubvite.com/pubcrawlplanner/ and share it!