London's Covent Garden Historic Pub Tour
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London's Covent Garden Historic Pub Tour
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US$40.58 per guest
Adult x1
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Instant Confirmation
Available Tomorrow
Free cancellation (24 hours notice)
For each guest that attends this experience, byFood will donate
10 meals
10 meals
Summary
Experience Details
What You’ll Experience
Where to Meet
Duration
3 hours
Number of Guests
1 - 6 guests
Language
English
Digital Ticket
Mobile or paper ticket accepted
For each guest that attends this experience, byFood will donate
10 meals
10 meals
Experience Details
Explore the heart of the Covent Garden neighborhood through its most iconic and character-filled pubs.
From traditional alehouses to quirky "locals", this tour blends beer, history and storytelling from the first pint to the last.
We start at The Harp, the first London Pub ever to be named the CAMRA Real Ale Pub of the Year. A small pub with a huge reputation.
Then it's off to The Salisbury, marvel at glittering cut-glass décor and backstage gossip from the West End. We regular see well-known actors at this pub, after (or before!) their shows in the West End.
The Lamb and Flag is next, hidden down an alley from those who don't know about this lovely pub, despite it being there for over 250 years.
We explore through Covent Garden itself and soak up its street-performing legacy before a last pint at The Coal Hole, a richly atmospheric pub beside the Savoy on London’s famous Strand — the perfect spot for a final toast
This is London's history, one brilliant pub at a time!
What You Get
Veteran local guide, native-English speaker
Entry into 4 historic London pubs is included in the price of the tour
Drinks
Food - (our last stop has great British pub food, and plenty of space to eat)
Tips for the guide (optional)
Good To Know
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Service animals allowed
- Wheelchair accessible
What You’ll Experience
1
The Harp, Covent Garden
We start where proper London drinking starts — The Harp, a narrow, mirror-lined boozer that's been voted CAMRA Pub of the Year more times than most pubs manage in a lifetime. On a good evening the crowd spills out onto Chandos Place, pint in hand, and you're straight into the real thing.
This is where your guide breaks down what most visitors never learn: the difference between cask and keg, ale and lager, hand pump and cellar. You'll taste your way through a rotating line-up of guest ales and finally understand why the British get so serious about a well-kept pint.
It's the perfect first stop — equal parts pub-school and warm welcome — and it sets the tone for everything that follows.
40 minutesAdmission Ticket Free
2
The Marquis
A minute's walk along Chandos Place brings us to The Marquis — a vinyl-lover's dream, its walls lined with over 3,000 records, many of which you're welcome to pull out and spin yourself.
While the music plays, your guide digs into the darker history of these streets: tales of the highwaymen who once worked the roads into London, and the characters who drank, plotted and vanished into the night. It's storytelling with a soundtrack.
Expect live-music energy, an easy buzz, and the kind of lived-in local feel you just don't get in the tourist traps a few streets over. It's the pub locals hope you never find.
5 minutesAdmission Ticket Free
3
The Salisbury Pub
Next is The Salisbury, and the moment you step inside you'll see why it's earned its name — a glittering interior of cut glass, polished brass and stage-worthy flair, right in the beating heart of theatreland.
This has long been the actors' pub, ringed by West End stages, and your guide serves up the backstage gossip and green-room legends that come with it. It's also where you'll be poured a pint of Timothy Taylor's Landlord that many regulars call one of the best in Britain.
Settle in, look up at those ceilings, and soak up a room where generations of performers have raised a glass before curtain-up.
This is picked consistently as our guests' favorite pub on the tour!
35 minutesAdmission Ticket Free
4
Covent Garden
Between pints, we wander through Covent Garden itself — the beating heart of London's street-performance scene and a haven for the musicians, magicians and mime artists working the crowds beneath the old market roof.
Your guide walks you through centuries of theatre and street magic, from its days as the city's fruit-and-veg market to the buskers who still audition for their pitch here today. Keep your eyes open — the entertainment is free and everywhere you look.
It's a breath of open air and spectacle before the final pint, and a reminder of how much history is packed into these few streets.
10 minutesAdmission Ticket Free
5
The Lamb & Flag, Covent Garden
Tucked away down a narrow passage off Covent Garden, the Lamb & Flag feels like a survivor from another London. A pub was first recorded on this site in 1772, when it was known as the Coopers Arms, before taking its present name in 1833. In the early 19th century, bare-knuckle prize fights earned it the blood-curdling nickname “The Bucket of Blood,” while novelist Charles Dickens later became a regular. The surrounding alleys have an equally colourful history: in 1679, celebrated poet John Dryden was ambushed and badly beaten nearby by hired thugs. Today, this Grade II-listed pub offers a far warmer welcome—and the chance to enjoy a drink in one of Covent Garden’s most atmospheric historic corners.
35 minutesAdmission Ticket Free
6
The Coal Hole
The tour concludes at the Coal Hole, a richly atmospheric pub beside the Savoy on London’s famous Strand. Its name comes with two competing stories: some say the space was once a coal cellar for the Savoy Hotel, while others link it to the coal heavers who worked beside the nearby Thames. The present Grade II-listed pub forms part of the Savoy Court complex, built in 1903–04, and retains a wonderfully theatrical interior of dark wood, lofty beams, decorative friezes and an elaborate fireplace. Its character recalls the Strand’s Victorian “song and supper” clubs, where comic songs, sentimental ballads and lively performances entertained the crowds. Surrounded by some of London’s greatest theatres, it is a fitting place to finish the tour—and perhaps remain for another drink.
35 minutesAdmission Ticket Free
Meeting & Pickup
Meeting PointSir Henry Irving statue, Irving Street, Greater London England, United Kingdom, GB, WC2H 0HH
Open in Google MapsYour London Historic Pubs Tour starts outside the National Portrait Gallery. If you're running late, we're at the The Harp, Covent Garden, located at 47 Chandos Place.
End PointThe Coal Hole, Strand, Greater London England, United Kingdom, GB, WC2R 0DW
Open in Google MapsThe tour ends at the last pub we'll visit, The Cole Hole, 91-92 Strand, a 5-minute walk from where we start the tour.
Cancellation Policy
Cancel your booking at least 24 hours before the experience start time to receive a full refund.
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