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Pubs, pubs and more pubs:
The Different Types of Pubs You'll Find In the
United Kingdom
 When the guide books says the pub is the centre of British life, they’re not
kidding. There are over 61,000 pubs in the country, give or take a handful, with
over 25 million customers crowding into them every year. Three-quarters of the
population visit the pubs, with over a third doing so at least once a week. It
might sound like a cliché, but you really haven’t seen Britain until you’ve been
to a pub.
Of course, you may have a little trouble choosing just which pub you want to
visit. After all, it being Britain, there’s a pub for every kind of drinker —
pubs for students, pubs for poseurs, pubs for your average Joe Salaryman, even
pubs for families. Here are the five most common types of pubs you’ll see:
Tourist Pub — This is pretty much what it sounds like. Most of the time, these
will be the places listed in guide books or included in the standard tour guide
— they didn’t start out being tourist pubs, but just ended up that way because
they were listed. If you’re not going to be in town long but still want to get a
taste of British life, then one of these might do. To find one on your own, just
look for a shop that looks very obviously like an old fashioned pub on the
outside, and has the requisite roomful of tourists inside. These pubs will
usually have plenty of history (which was why they were listed in the first
place) and that well-preserved look most tourists want to see when they’re
looking for an ‘authentic British pub’. In a busy tourist-oriented pub, you’ll
enjoy impeccable service, and staff will be accustomed to explaining British
beers and helping you to sort out your coins — but you will just one of many
tourists popping in for a drink and you’ll rarely find a local in one of these
places to chat with.
Your Local — This is the kind of pub you’ll never see listed in a tourist guide,
where the locals themselves go to and everyday British life plays out, minus the
fancy trappings. It’ll probably have a solid, traditional name like ‘The Red
Lion’ or ‘the Winchester’ hanging on a signboard outside, but other than that,
it won’t be too obvious. Inside, the décor may be old, but it won’t be historic.
This is the kind of pub you’d want to go to if you’re holidaying for longer than
a few days and want a friendly place where you can relax, chat with the locals
and have the bar staff remember ‘your usual’.
Family Pub — This is the place to go when mum and dad want to enjoy a sociable
drink out at pub AND have the children well taken care off too. You can bring
your kids in, unleash them in the pub playground or kid’s room and then enjoy
your lager with the other thankful parents in the next room, safe in the
knowledge that your kids will only be terrorising the other patron’s children.
There will usually be facilities (changing rooms, high-chairs, sometimes even
toilets, children’s menu) set up especially for the children and in some pubs,
the staff may even be trained to look after them. It’s a good way for families
to immerse themselves in the local culture and community, especially if the
holiday is longer than a few days. In the outer areas, just look for the pub
with the playhouse in the garden; in the city centre, the pub may show a sign
saying ‘families welcomed’ in the window.
Student Pub — If you’re a student, or just looking for a younger crowd, then
it’s the students pub for you. If you want to look for one, here’s an easy way:
get a map. Find a fair-sized university. Draw a circle around it, covering about
mile’s radius. The student pubs will mostly be in the circle, since the
cash-strapped students will usually walk to their drinking spots.
You can
recognize a student pub right away when you open the door: the walls will have
the requisite university scarves, trophies and other tribal emblems; the noise
level is deafening; and the median age is about 25. Student pubs will be at
their most lively during term time, in the evenings, at weekends and just before
exam time.
Circuit pubs — Related to the student pub, this is the ‘hipper’ version of a
pub. Every Friday and Saturday nights, young Brits in the bigger towns do a ‘pub
crawl’ or ‘circuit’, drinking a bit at each pub along a well-defined route
before moving onto the next place. The pubs on these routes tend to be flashier,
brighter and more self-consciously fashionable then their counterparts. There’ll
rarely be a body over thirty in the place, the music will of course be the very
latest tunes and the drinks will generally be the most exotic (and expensive)
varieties you can get in a British pub.
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