Tastes, Tales and Traditional Ales Review: London Pub Tour

I have taken this tour twice, in June 2024 and again this May 2026, and I loved it both times. That is my review in one line, really, but here is what the WalksDevour Tastes, Tales and Traditional Ales tour actually involves: four historic pubs, four tastings, four drinks, and one very old (and yet fun!) game.

How the tour works

• Length: three and a half hours, currently running 3 pm to 6:30 pm (Sept 2026)
• Group size: a maximum of 12. Both of our guides, Becki and Sophie, were fantastic, and podcast listeners may recognise Becki from the show.

• Price: around AU$138 or US$99 per person, shown in your local currency on their site.
• What is included: four food tastings paired with four half pints (ale, cider and stout, with a non-alcoholic drink ready at every pub if you note it when booking), your guide, and a game at the final pub.
• How much food: the portions are generous, and WalksDevour’s own advice is to come hungry. We did not need dinner afterwards, and with the 3pm start it works perfectly as an early dinner that ends with your evening still ahead of you.
• Dietary requirements: they can adapt the tastings for vegetarians, pescatarians and pregnant guests, with vegetarian alternatives at every stop, and they ask you to add a note when you book. They do not recommend the tour for coeliacs because of gluten cross-contamination, or for vegans.
• Weather: almost the whole evening is indoors, the walks between pubs are short, and the guide knows the covered routes, so rain barely affects it.
• Afterwards: you are welcome to stay on at the final pub at your own expense, and your guide will have recommendations for nearby pubs and restaurants.

The four pubs

The first is reached down an alleyway most people walk straight past, and it has been serving since 1546.

There is a story in the courtyard about Elizabeth I and a cherry tree, and it is the kind of pub you would never, ever find on your own. Watching everyone’s faces as we turned off the street was one of my favourite moments of the evening, both times.

The second was built by Sir Christopher Wren to keep his stonemasons fed and watered while they rebuilt the church next door after the Great Fire. Three hundred years on, it is still pouring.

The third is on Fleet Street, rebuilt the year after the Great Fire, and Dickens, Mark Twain and Arthur Conan Doyle all drank under its low ceilings.

The walk to it is a history lesson in itself, from the first printing press to the newspaper years, past the Inns of Court and with St Paul’s in view, and it includes a stop to say hello to Hodge, Samuel Johnson’s cat, sitting in bronze on his dictionary near the great man’s house.

The fourth is a tavern Samuel Pepys wrote about in his diary, and it is where the game comes out.

I am not telling you what the game is, only that it is more than 500 years old, that Henry VIII played it for money, and that it is a very good way to end the tour with eleven people who were strangers three hours earlier.

What you eat and drink

The food is proper pub food done well: a hand-raised pork pie with mustard and chutney, a scotch egg with the yolk still soft (my absolute favourite!), and battered fish and chips. The drinks were London Pride, cider and Guinness, each chosen to suit its pub.

Also expect devilled whitebait – a tiny fried fish served whole, heads and all. Some of the group loved them, but they weren’t my cup of tea! Don’t worry though, even if you don’t eat the whitebait, you will not go hungry, because the other tastings are crowd-pleasers and generous.

The line-up varies a little by season and day, so treat the dishes above as the shape of the evening rather than a fixed menu. WalksDevour’s own promise is that you will eat well, and both times, we did.

The walking bit (in between the pubs!)

This is the gentlest of the WalksDevour food tours. The route covers about a mile and a half in short, unhurried stretches through the City and along Fleet Street, and you sit down at every single pub, so the evening is mostly spent at a table rather than on your feet.

Limited mobility: WalksDevour are upfront that these are historic buildings with narrow staircases, uneven floors and limited step-free access, and they ask anyone with specific mobility concerns to get in touch before booking so they can advise. Having done it twice, that is a fair description: the pubs are the real, unmodernised article, which is the whole appeal.

Who this tour suits

Anyone who wants to experience some of the most historic London pubs the city has to offer – with the stories to match.

You eat, you drink, you sit in rooms that have been serving for four or five centuries. It works whether you drink or not, since the non-alcoholic route is arranged in advance rather than improvised at the bar.

And if you want the strongest recommendation I can give: my second visit was with the two lovely ladies in the first pic on this post who we had helped plan their London trip through our itinerary consultation. We all had the most wonderful time on the tour.

Read more

• WalksDevour London tours: all our recommended tours
• Review: Ultimate London Food Tour [with WalksDevour]
• Review: London in a Day Tour: Abbey, Guard, Tower + Cruise
• London in a Day vs Best of London: Which WalksDevour Tour?

We were hosted by WalksDevour on this tour. As always, our opinions and views are our own, and we only recommend companies we would book ourselves.