Monopoly pub crawl
A Monopoly Pub Crawl is a pub crawl involving visiting public houses on each of the streets of a city which appear on that city's version of the Monopoly board. This is classically done in London, following the British version of the game, but could just as easily be applied to anywhere else having a dedicated Monopoly board and a sufficient quantity of pubs or bars.
London version
The London version of the pub crawl follows the list of locations in the British version of the game of Monopoly. Different routes are required, depending on whether the properties are to be visited in the same order that they appear on the board, and whether the four stations are to be included. Finding an optimal route is an example of a travelling salesman problem.
Visiting all the properties including the stations in strict order is the longest route and requires much back-tracking. Visiting just the regular properties in strict order, with the stations interspersed where most convenient (Fenchurch Street, Liverpool Street, Kings Cross and finally Marylebone), is much shorter, although the Strand has to be traversed twice. Allowing more flexibility in ordering allows for shorter routes.
In any case, Old Kent Road is a logical starting point as it is both the first property on the UK London Monopoly board and the most distant property from the others.
It's not uncommon for participants to take a Monopoly board on the route and have each pub sign the corresponding square of the board.
Properties and pubs
Not to be confused with New Kent Road, which it adjoins.
- The Lord Nelson, 338 Old Kent Road
- The World Turned Upside Down, Old Kent Road
- The Blind Beggar, 337 Whitechapel Road
There is one pub inside the station:
- Cooper's
The Angel, Islington is a specific inn which stood on the corner of Islington High Street and Pentonville Road until 1921 and no longer exists. The original building is now a Co-operative Bank. This term also informally refers to this part of Islington.
- The Angel, 3–5 Islington High Street, is a Wetherspoon's next door to the original building
- O'Neill's, 73-77 Euston Road
- The Finca, 96-98 Pentonville Road
There are no public houses in Pall Mall.
- The Red Lion, 23 Crown Passage, is in an alley off the road
- The Old Shades, 37 Whitehall
- The Silver Cross, 33 Whitehall
- The Sherlock Holmes, 10 Northumberland Street
There is one pub inside the station:
- The Victoria and Albert
- The Kemble's Head, 61-62 Long Acre, is the only pub which has a door on the very short Bow Street
Marlborough Street on the Monopoly board actually refers to Great Marlborough Street, not the other Marlborough Street which is some distance away to the south.
- The Shakespeare's Head, 29 Great Marlborough Street
- The Swallow Street Bar can be entered via Vine Street
- The Coal Hole, 91 Strand
- The Old Bank of England, 194 Fleet Street
- Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, 145 Fleet Street
- Albannach
- The Chandos
There is one pub inside the station:
- The Raven
- The Moon Under Water, 28 Leicester Square
There are no public houses on Coventry Street.
- Waxy O'Connor's, 16 Rupert Street
- The Glassblowers Arms, 42 Glasshouse Street
- All Bar One, 289-293 Regent Street
The only pub on this long shopping street is:
- The Tottenham, 6 Oxford Street
There is no Bond Street in central London; the term refers collectively to Old Bond Street and New Bond Street, neither of which have pubs.
- Shelley's, 10 Stafford Street
There is one pub inside the station:
- Hamilton Hall
- The Grosvenor House Hotel, 90 Park Lane
Mayfair is a district of London, not a street.
- The Audley, 41 Mount Street
- Ye Grapes, 16 Shepherd Market
Cultural References
- In the Red Dwarf book Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers by Grant Naylor, Dave Lister went on a drunken Monopoly board pub crawl with his friends to celebrate his 25th birthday, where he got very, very drunk — when he awoke, he was on Mimas, one of Saturn's moons, wearing a lady's pink crimplene hat and a pair of yellow fishing waders, with no money and a passport in the name of "Emily Berkenstein", and a worrying rash.
External links
- Website for the most recent London Monopoly Pub Crawl to date, with lots of useful downloads to help you: [1]
- Website for a regular London Monopoly Pub Crawl: [2]
- Website of another regular London Monopoly Pub Crawl: [3]
- Website with the day's diary from a successful London Monopoly Pub Crawl in 2001 using the suggested route: [4]