UK/London and Paris

This is a decent guide to traditional UK pubs. https://whatpub.com This is a more recent chain that has started up http://www.thecraftbeerco.com only been to one of their pubs but they sell traditional beers along side craft beers.

 

Depends a bit what you're after. Traditional cask bitter at its best? More modern pale and hoppy cask and keg? The nerdiest craft stuff?

NB I'm not sure how much use Whatpub is unless you've got a very particular pub that you want information on - it includes 250 pubs serving real ale within a mile of Covent Garden with no option for filtering out the dross...

I'd second the Craft Beer Co recommendation, though. Also the Euston Tap and related Bloomsbury Leisure Group operations.

 

The area around Wembley Stadium is just one big industrial estate, admittedly is a while since I was there, but I can’t imagine it’s changed too much. Your best bet is staying in the central London area for your pre match drink.

What you won’t be able to do, is have a beer while watching the match. In England, you can’t drink alcohol in a part of a football stadium (apart from the corporate hospitality areas) where the pitch is visible.

 

You can’t drink in the stands, there are bars in the stadium, but if you try taking a beer to your seat, a steward will stop you.

 

Covent Garden area, the Harp is a pretty well established must visit.

 

I still go with the link below for London, minus the info on the Kernel:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/london-beer-recommendations-for-visitors.96473/
In Covent Garden, the Craft Beer Co Covent Garden is probably my favorite. The Harp is also great (much smaller but more "British-y" feeling. Both are probably in my top 3 regular places along with Cask Pub and Kitchen (which is down by Victoria and not really in your area unless you are going to see Wicked while you are here).

 

I'd never heard of Nicholson's pubs until I went to Edinburgh this week and they were all pretty good. They even had their own beer and it was very good.

 

What amazes me about Craft Beer Co is despite their huge selection their cask stuff is always on form.

 

Thank you for posting this. I am also heading to London on Oct 25 and will be there till the 30th ish. Long trip. Thank you to all the other people who posted using all this info for my trip too.

I also have 2 beers I am looking to trade. They are from a brewery call Bottle Logic. It one of the premier breweries here in Southern California. I have a barrel aged imperial raspberry stout (Jam the Radar) and a barrel aged chocolate vanilla stout. Would any one be interested?

 

A friend of my does www.BeerGuideLDN.com -- good mix of traditional and "modern" beers. A disclaimer -- I do the software, he does the drinking (at least on London )

 

Thants a great list. Thanks

 

For France, the "French Beer Geek" community did this adress repertory, cheers.
http://www.frenchbeergeek.fr/Adresses/

 

Hah, yeah, there's a lot to choose from!

If you want my picks I'd say that a good selection of obvious A-list London destinations would be the Bermondsey breweries (particularly Brew By Numbers and Partizan, limited hours), the Harp on Chandos Place for a really good mix of trad ale and don't-scare-the-horses craft, and then for full-on Brit-craft try some of Mother Kelly's in Bethnal Green, Cask in Pimlico, the Rake, any Craft Beer Co, the Euston Tap and any Brewdog bar.

For slight curveballs - generally classic "pubby" pubs with solid ales and a load of character - I'd suggest the Pride of Spitalfields, the Jerusalem in Clerkenwell, the Seven Stars off Chancery Lane, the Lamb on Lamb's Conduit Street and the Royal Oak in Borough. But other people might have other suggestions along those lines. The George in Southwark and the Princess Louise in Holborn are both worth a look, too, for the history / decor if not so much for the beer.

Bear in mind that you won't be particularly constrained by location - public transport in Central London is ridiculously good.

Disclaimer - I'm not actually based in London, but I'm only an hour up the road and get down there from time to time.

 

A couple more historic ones, The old Cheshire Cheese https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ye_Olde_Cheshire_Cheese although it was rebuilt after the fire in 1667, and my favorite ye old Mitre http://www.yeoldemitreholborn.co.uk off Hattern garden but officially in Cambridgeshire, part of it's rich history. Spent many a happy lunch time in these two pubs.