A Pint of History
London's pubs aren't just places to drink — they're where the city happened. Five historic pubs, five centuries of stories, and yes, five pints if you're up for it. Fleet Street to Southwark via the City.
4.29|120 minutes|2.9 km|5 Stops
Start
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese
End
The George Inn
Tour Stops (5)
1
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese
Hidden down a narrow alley off Fleet Street, this pub was rebuilt in 1667 after the Great Fire and sits on 13th-century monastic cellars. Dickens, Twain, Conan Doyle, and Samuel Johnson all drank here.
2
The Black Friar
An Arts and Crafts masterpiece on a Dominican friary site. Wedge-shaped, saved from demolition by poet John Betjeman, with marble, bronze, and mosaic interiors that make it the most visually stunning pub in London.
3
Ye Olde Watling
Built in 1668 by Christopher Wren's workers as their local while constructing St Paul's Cathedral next door. The timber frame is original, built with salt-preserved ship timbers.
4
The Jamaica Wine House
Site of London's first coffee house (1652), where a servant from the Ottoman Empire introduced coffee to England. The alley around it spawned Lloyd's of London and the modern insurance industry.
5
The George Inn
London's last surviving galleried coaching inn, owned by the National Trust. Dickens referenced it in Little Dorrit. Shakespeare almost certainly knew the inn that stood on this spot.