Tour
- Cost : £30.00
- Location : Southwark (meet under Borough market main entrance)
- Duration : 3 hours
Description
Step into the story of Southwark – once London’s wild side, home to outlaws, sex workers, debtors, and Dickens. This Proper Boozers walking tour blends hidden history with some of the area’s finest pubs, exploring the darker, stranger, and more human side of the city.
Tour highlight features
Sin and Southwark
Winding through London’s most rebellious borough, this walking pub tour blends pints with proper stories — from medieval vice to literary legends.
Itinerary
Sin, Licensed by the Church….
Hear how bishops turned brothel-keepers, and why Southwark was once the debauched backdoor to the city.
Debt, Dickens & Dark Alleys
Trace the footsteps of young Charles Dickens through poverty, prison walls, and the streets that shaped his stories.
Before Harvard Was a University...
Learn about the Southwark publican whose name ended up on the most famous college in the world.
Ghosts of the Gallows….
Find out who drank their final pint before meeting the hangman — and where the executions happened and what happened to the heads.
The Boozer That Fought Back….
Discover how locals stopped the bulldozers and kept their history alive — one pint at a time.
Gallery
The tour lasts between 3 – 3.5hours
The tour will involve about a 1.7mile (2.65km) gentle stroll with plenty of stops in between.
We will visit four pubs on the tour.
The pints are a sidenote to complement the journey, the true focus of the tour is the history and the stories hidden in Southwark. All pubs serve soft drinks and non-alcoholic options.
Walk-ups might be allowed but it will be availability dependant, it is best to book in advance.
Your ticket covers the full guided experience — including expert storytelling, historical insight, and a carefully curated route through Southwark’s most fascinating pubs and landmarks.
Food and drink are not included, so you’re free to choose what (or if) you’d like to eat or drink at each stop.
Unfortunately, two of the pubs on our route do not permit under-18s, so no minors can join.
The route and pubs are wheelchair accessible.
Yes – we welcome private bookings and can provide something more bespoke in line with the groups tastes.
The tour starts at the front of Borough market, right under the main sign. The tour concludes on Ayres Street which is a 200metre walk to Borough Underground station which is on the jubilee
Yes — in the pubs!
We suggest to eat beforehand. There will be some light snack options in some of the pubs, Pork pies, Sausage rolls, Pork scratching, crisps, nuts etc. Unfortunately we will not have time for any sit down or warm food. The final stop does offer food and you will be welcome to order from here.