My girlfriend and I will be in London the week of March 10. Does anyone have any pub suggestions that would make for a good crawl in the Victoria area? Care to join in?

We're going in April. I found this website interesting and plan to visit a couple of places described.<BR>http://users.aol.com/sfhsliz/pubs.htm<BR>

<BR>Here’s a walk that covers four rather historic pubs in a relatively concentrated area although not in the Victoria area. Take the tube to the Charing Cross station. Walk across Trafalgar Square to St. Martin’s Lane. (It’s between the National Gallery and St. Martin in the Fields church. At 90 St. Martin’s Lane, you’ll find The Salisbury Pub which dates from the mid 19th century and is notorious for the bare knuckle fights that were held there in that era. It’s a stunning pub and you may find it filled with theatre people. Leave the pub, cross St. Martin’s Lane and enter Goodwin’s Court at 55-56 St. Martin’s Lane. Goodwin’s Court is a wonderfully authentic 18th century street. At its end turn left on Bedfordbury, then right on New Row, cross Garrick Street and continue straight onto Rose Street to 33 Rose, The Lamb and Flag pub. This one is really old, being one of the few wooden structures to survive the Great Fire of 1666. It was once known as the “Bucket of Blood” because of all the fights that broke out in it. It was also one of Charles Dickens favorite spots on his pub crawls. Backtrack to Garrick Street, turn left, continue down Garrick (which changes its name to Bedford) to The Strand and turn left again. Continue on The Strand to 91 The Strand and The Coal Hole pub. Now a popular refuge for theatre people, it got its name in the early 19th century from the coal haulers who unloaded boats on the river and went there to restore themselves. Leave the pub, cross The Strand and walk straight ahead to Southampton Street. Walk up to Maiden Lane, turn left and continue on Maiden Lane which changes its name to Chandos Place. At 51 Chandos Place you’ll find the Marquis of Granby pub which dates to the 17th century when it was called “The Hole in the Wall” and run by a mistress of the Duke of Buckingham. It’s a friendly tavern which, like the others, attracts theatre people. Now backtrack on Chandos to Southampton, turn left on Southampton and continue up the hill to Covent Garden Market where you won’t find any pubs of historic significance but you will find three pubs on the north side of the market, any one of which serves pretty good traditional pub food.<BR><BR>Remember that most pubs are of the self service variety. You order food and drink at the bar and pick it up yourself. Also, traditionally, bartenders are not tipped.<BR><BR>

Great reply, Wes! With the Tube, buses and cabs there is really no reason for one to limit oneself to the pubs in a partiular area.<BR><BR>Even though it's often packed with tourists and is very small to begin with, when I can find the Museum Tavern during a slow time, I enjoy it a great deal. Formerly known as THE DOG & DUCK, it is directly across from the front entrance of the British Museum. I think Dickens, much like myself, made it a point to drink in every pub he came across. It is claimed that Karl Marx was a regular at the DOG'N'DUCK as well.<BR><BR>Exiting the Russell Square tube, turn left, walk to the alleyway, turn left again and one will see the FRIEND AT HAND, nothing particularly historic about it, but it's a nice place and serves pretty good food.<BR><BR>I don't know the address but ask a cabbie to drive you to the PRINCESS LOUISE. It is a beautiful place and one never knows who you might see there. I litteraly ran into Richard Harris one day as I was arriving and he was about to go out.<BR><BR>Pubs are an integral part of the London experience.

Check out the book "Historic Pubs of London" by Ted Bruning. Lots of good info and pictures, broken down by area in London.<BR><BR>One of my favorite pubs isn't in that area, but if you're near the Globe or new Tate, check out the Anchor on Bankside. <BR><BR>Have fun trying the different cask ales. These are the hand-pulled pints that are also called "real ale".