Who Invented the Pub Crawl?

We are a very popular stop for a lot of pub crawls and we had a customer ask who started the concept of pub crawls? Well…our Chief Party Officer decided to do a little research…by asking some of our regular “historians”.

I've been told that the first pub crawl took place somewhere in England…or Scotland…or maybe it was Ireland…in the year 1645. A group of hooligans led by a young Sir Geoffrey Toppenbottom decided to go out drinking one night and hit the local tavern. Since they were a hard-drinking group, the tavern quickly ran out of ale. Sir Toppenbottom was not drunk enough yet so he and his drinking buddies rode to the next village and drank the second tavern dry. Three villages and four taverns later, Sir Toppenbottom and his intoxicated cohorts forgot where they left their horses yet somehow managed to crawl their way home…a week later, coining the phrase “pub crawl.” And that is how pub crawls began...supposedly. Thankfully, it no longer takes a week to visit 5-6 pubs, but what do you expect in the year 1645 when your only transportation is on foot or horseback?

As for the historical accuracy of this? We all know how a few drinks can embellish or completely fabricate a good story...just sayin'.