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Spinko
16-01-2013, 19:53
Four or five of us are catching up in London first weekend in February. It's quite a mixed group, with some arriving at Euston, some at Paddington and some from south at either Victoria or London Bridge. All but one would I'm sure be happy to spend all day touring some pubs (hopefully in one area) but one is a religious fellow so we also need a nice restaurant and perhaps something a bit different to do/see, eg parks, other historic buildings. ;)

Usually in London I land at the Euston Tap and am happy there! But I'm tempted to suggest something like a Covent Garden - Holburn - Smithfield crawl. Is that a good idea or are there better crawls/venues to do stuff while sampling great pubs? (If we can avoid the kick-and-clap that would be good too!)

Gann
17-01-2013, 12:59
So Spinko,

You want us to recommend something a bit different to do / see in London..
If I may be so bold that's not dissimilar to being thrown into an enormous vat of minestrone soup and asked to suggest a piece of Vegetable..

And I am also intrigued by the fact that your religious member demands a nice restaurant..

But for something a bit different I can recommend the guided walks, of which there are many and take in a lot of different aspects of the capital.
Info can be found here. http://www.walks.com/
A good one is the Hidden Alley ways walk and if I recall they also do an Alley ways and Ale walk, but I think this is only on a Monday evening.

And for your religious friend there is always the lazy option for the rest of you to embark on the pub crawl of Borough whilst pointing at the large ornate building nearby and saying "There you go religious Bob, Southwark Cathedral is over there."

Perhaps a more caring option would be to search out some of the fantastic hidden churches that are dotted around London. They are usually all open to the public (as long as there is not a service on ) and are generally fantastic pieces of historical architecture with very interesting interiors.
For example there are still 39 Anglican churches left within the Square Mile, all listed either Grade I or Grade II.
Info can be found here...http://www.secret-london.co.uk/City_Churches.html

Rex_Rattus
18-01-2013, 18:14
Thanks for all that Gann - we don't often get to talk about churches on here. One of my favourites is St Bride's, and being at the end of Fleet St it's the parish church for the printing industry. It's a classic Wren church of course, and the spire is said to have inspired (superb pun!) the tiered wedding cake design. The crypt was forcibly excavated during the blitz, and a bit of Roman pavement was uncovered. There's a free to enter printing museum down there now.

Of course there decent pubs in the area - Black Friar; Punch Tavern; Tipperary and YO Cheshire Cheese are all CARA inventory pubs, plus the old bell, and if you're into alleyway pubs the ye Olde Mitre is only a short walk away. That's my starter for ten - pubs, churches and culture all fitting together very nicely!

Spinko
19-01-2013, 07:46
I think it looks like a trip to Thameslink is in order for a crawl around Fleet St, Blackfriars, Farringdon and Clerkenwell. Surely ending the the Craft Beer Co on Leather Lane... :D

Thanks for all the suggestions and ideas.

Maldenman
19-01-2013, 08:48
Spinko, you say you are visiting at weekend? Be warned that a considerable proportion of City pubs will be closed.