Camden Market to Highbury Garage...the long way round

Wednesday in the capital. Gig tickets for the Garage in the evening. An afternoon to pass before the doors opened at 7.
How about a northern loop from Camden Town to Archway and back down Pentonville Road.
5.3 miles, according to Google, just under 2-hours walking.
An ambitious 8 pubs marked on the map.  Yep that sounds foolhardy enough for me.

My first port of call was a brewery tap located in the wedge on the eastern fringe of Camden Market between the railway lines and Regents Canal.  I remember this as being the most ramshackle bit of the market with gravel paths and proper stalls.  Refurbished after the 2008 fire, it's now more shopping centre than market, with shiny three storey buildings, bowling lanes, bubble tea and bagels.

3 Locks Brewery Tap (Unit S14, Water Lane, Camden Town, London, NW1 8NZ)
The 3 Locks Brewery opened at the end of 2022 .  The taproom has squeezed two floors into a railway arch providing views from the upper deck over the waterways.
As there wasn't a soul sat inside, I took my (very good) Schwarzbier to the outdoor tables.

The beer list contained 9 of their own ales ranging from pils to stout to sour.  Priced rather heftily from £5 to £6.50 for two thirds.  Yes, my maths isn't so rusty that I can't work out how much a pint that is.  Cripes!
That didn't stop me returning for another, sticking dark, this time the delicious sweet 'Indulgence' chocolate stout.

A lovely place - and part of me wanted to try more of the beers - but I also wanted to complete the planed route I'd made earlier.
Starting with a very short walk...just 5-minutes up the canal to the Wetherspoon's Ice Wharf to check the festival beers and grab a quick half.  It's a bit dull within but has an enviable position with outdoor seating facing the market and Dingwalls across the water.

Here's the essential Camden Locks photo...

Spoons quickly visited, I headed through quieter residential streets beyond the the touristic hub of Camden; the chaos returning once I reached the shops and eateries of Kentish Town. Beyond the station I ventured into the avenues of Georgian terraces looking for the Pineapple.

The Pineapple (51 Leverton Street, Kentish Town, NW5 2NX)
This is a rather famous pub thanks to a high profile campaign to save it from closure a few years ago.  It dates back to 1868, has a pub heritage listing for a trad layout and splendid bar back, and boasts a couple of marvellous Bass mirrors (as opposed to ones churned out on a Wrexham industrial estate, I guess).

Just the wrong number of people present towards the end of the lunchtime Thai food service.  I couldn't respectfully take a decent picture of either of the side rooms or - frankly - any decent picture at all...

Cask ales on offer were Elephant School 'Bumbleduck', Adnams 'Ghost Ship', Grey Trees 'Pale', their own badged Pineapple Ale, and a Portobello 'Home Turf'.
A quick 'Home Turf' for me, realising in horror that I'd ordered the Six Nations-themed option.

Leaving the Pineapple I swung round onto Highgate Road, strolled past the Forum (venue for many an early 00's PropUptheBar gig...Public Enemy, White Stripes, Queens of the Stone Age...and continued past the camel...

Until I reached - undoubtedly - one of London's finest pubs...

Southampton Arms (139 Highgate Road, Kentish Town, NW5 1LE)

This has 'Ale Cider Meat' painted on the side and it's fair to say it does what it says on the tin.  Sausage rolls and pork pies in the deli counter at the end of the bar.  Sixteen beers to pick from - eight cask and eight keg, covering most tastes. Six ciders hand pulls behind the counter.

The question was: did I really need to traipse around anywhere else for the rest of the afternoon?
I ordered a pint of the Heritage Brewing Co. 'Charrington's Oatmeal Stout', because I'm always a sucker for those recreated old recipes from long-gone brewers.

The Southampton Arms is as no-nonsense as you can get.  One simple room with wooden floors, seating on pews, handled mugs, piano, dog.

Steely Dan's Greatest Hits played on the record player behind the bar, entertaining a varied bunch of afternoon customers just getting into double figures.  I stuck around for a second beer, picking one from Howling Hops (who now run the pub) - a super dark mild.
The gents are outside in the back yard and contain a scruffy collection of football stickers on the cisterns, very Clapham FC dominant, although my eye was drawn to the one promoting the St Pauli supporters outpost...

Talking of St Albans...

Duke of St Albans (Highgate Road, London, Kentish Town, NW5 1QX)
This 2026 Good Beer Guide entry was under 10-minutes walk up the road from the Southampton Arms, standing next to a mini-roundabout, with seating in front of it and a fine collection of hanging baskets that'll look great when the weather warms up and the flowers bloom.
There were four casks to pick from on my visit, the Anspach & Hobday 'Danelaw Brown Ale' taking my fancy, probably based on pump clip appreciation.

The pub dates back to around 1859.  It closed in 2008 and transformed firstly into a Greek restaurant, then into a wine bar at a time when this part of the city had a bit of a shortage of cask ale outlets.  The Duke of St Albans has been given a new lease of life with a 2024 refurb by the same folks who run Saint Monday Brewery (at the old London Fields site - a brewery tap for a future trip).
The Saint Monday ales are available on keg here, along with a hefty selection advertised on big beer boards.

Finishing the excellent brown ale, I headed eastward toward Archway station, the next closest Beer Guide pub not far away.  Another one that's gone for the dark grey ground floor frontage which proved challenging for my camera.

St John's Tavern (91 Junction Road, Upper Holloway, N19 5QU)
We're in familiar territory here to the previous pub: a Victorian era building that has had a 2025 makeover after new owners took over.
They reportedly spent £1 million on the refurbishment - let's see that a million quid gets you...

The second pub in a row with metal posts holding the ceiling up, stripped-back wooden floorboards, open-plan design, and menus, wine list and candle on the table.
The cask selection here was Big Smoke 'Cosmic Dawn', Siren 'Tempo' or 'Memento'.
The St John's is very foody with some alarming expensive options (Lamb shoulder with braised lentils, Molyneux farm kale at £56 - I think I'll hold out for the Islington 'Spoons).

Background music came from CCFX (who?) then Franz Ferdinand and some more recognisable tracks.  I was comfy enough, but the Big Smoke pale ale was very ordinary and I was keen to move on to pastures new.

Landseer Arms (37 Landseer Road, Upper Holloway, N19 4JU)
Bit of JD Wetherspoon history here, as this pub was once JJ Moons, one of the first 10 in the chain.
The building dates back to 1870 when it was originally the Stanley Arms.

There wasn't really much pub variety across this and the previous two picks.  Another food-led venue that seemed equally welcoming to drinks-only custom; the evening's menu being immaculately written on a chalk board whilst I sipped my New River 'Twin Spring'.

Strewth.  Some would say I got a bit carried away.
Whatever happened to putting a sensible number of pubs into each post.

A long walk through Arsenal territory down Holloway Road eventually took me to The Lamb, a recent beer guide regular whose 4pm opening time had foiled me last time I was in the area.

The Lamb (54 Holloway Road, Holloway, N7 8JL)
This was originally the Highbury Brewery tap and has since been the Flounder and Firkin in a history of many identities.  Highbury Brewery is long gone, closed shortly after Taylor Walker & Co. took them over in 1912, although the pub continued to operate as a tap without a brewery.

The decreasing quality of pictures is indicative that I had surpassed optimum beer consumption for the day.
Oddness...

Blurriness...

Quirkiness...

Iggy makes for top signage to the gents WC, to be fair.

My beer - glowing by candle light in the picture above - was a 360° Brewery 'Sussex Blonde',  remarkably just £3 a pint for cask on Wednesday.
£3 a pint in London!

I declared that was quite enough beer for the day.  A short stroll down the road took me the White Lion Wetherspoon's for one of their new 'gourmet' jacket potatoes with soft drink.
Then across the road to the Garage for three relatively new bands, Cork's accordion-enhanced indie rock band Cardinals being the headline act.

They were very good and finished at a very respectable 22:10, ideal for this old soul with a gruelling bus ride up the M40 ahead after perhaps visiting a pub or two too many.

Bundesliga & Beer: Augsburg and Riegel Edition

A winter 2026 Bundesliga & Beer trip to the Bavarian city of Augsburg.

Augsburg is the regional capital of Swabia and third largest city in Bavaria after Munich and Nuremburg. It's one of the countries oldest cities and home now to just over 300,000 folk.
My early arrival provided plenty of time to wander the streets on the only really chilly day of winter 2026 that I can recall, a flurry of snow in the air.

Sightseeing...
The Rathausplatz should rightfully have been my first spot for the perfect tourist photograph.  Except I had dull grey sky above the Renaissance town hall, a stage set up in front of it, and the bell tower (old enough to only need three digits when writing the date) covered in scaffolding.

European cities do love to set up a stage in the square at the slightest excuse, a habit we really don't share here in the UK.  Over the years I've seen pagan rock and wood carving on stage in Heidelberg, an AC/DC cover band in Slovakia, and on-stage hairdressing displays in the Netherlands.
Nothing so exciting in Augsburg - just a large proportion of the city's under 10's and their pop music dance routines. But they were very enthusiastic about it.

I skipped the chance to win a 4ft high soft toy or drink local bottled beer, but did partake in vegetarian currywurst in a styrofoam cup.

Beyond the town hall are wonderful quiet streets with fast-flowing waterways running between buildings and the fascinating Fuggerei - the world's oldest social housing complex.

Elsewhere I found a impressive door knocker on St Maria's Cathedral...

And a very obscure vinyl selection in the record shop - Der Polizeikasper, anyone?

Right, time for a beer.
For this I headed back to the station where the 1516 Brewhouse within the station itself is sadly long closed, but Riegel Brewery is visible from the rail platforms.

Riegele WirtsHaus (Frölichstraße 26, 86150 Augsburg)
It's a grand complex with beer garden for warmer weather, bar and restaurant, shop and visitor centre.  The afternoon football fixture had ensured it was doing a roaring trade, with a queue to be seated and plentiful plates of food being whisked between tables.
I grabbed a stool at the bar and ordered the 5% Hefe Weisse.

There was a fair bit of choice beer-wise at Riegele.
The staple light-dark-wheat beer line-up, including pils and kellerbier were in place.  I quite fancied the Speziator beers - dopplebock wheat, dunkel or helles in 7%-and-upward ABV versions.  But figured these could be very unwise - I still had to navigate getting an electronic football ticket to work at the turnstiles.

Instead, my second pick was the sensible 4.9% 'Aechtes Dunkel', a toasty dark brew made with double-kilned malts.

The loos are worthy of a mention.  There's a random puppet display behind glass on the corridor to the facilities, then the choice urinal in the gents is the one on a tree trunk... 

  

Almost up there with the Combermere Arms.

As the football-shirted crowd was thinning out at Riegel, I figured I should think about finding my own way to the stadium.
I hopped on a tram at the Königsplatz interchange which takes you to the city outskirts in around 20-minutes.  The WWK Arena really is in nowheresville, surrounded by modern industrial buildings and motorways.

Negotiating the security perimeter takes you into the spacious concrete area outside of the stands where there is a fan shop, lots of grilled meatiness, chips, pancakes, and more Riegele beer to be brought.

My vantage point amongst the crowd of 30,107, was in the corner, directly above one of the camera operators.
The Augsburg ultras occupied the Ulrich-Biesinger-Tribune to my right and made an orchestrated wall of noise and drum banging throughout the game.

When I brought my ticket, both Augsburg and visitors Heidenheim were perilously close to the bottom of the Bundesliga table.  F.C.A. have had a few good results since, including the remarkable feat of being the only club so far this season to win at Bayern Munich.
I wondered how they managed that after 45 drab minutes with no significant chances created by either side.  There was a (very minor) bit of Forest interest 59-minutes in when one-time City Ground loanee Rodrigo Ribiero came on as sub - another in our long line of misfiring strikers.
Then on 80-minutes a breakthrough.  Augsburg converted a penalty and took a deserved lead.  Right...it's bloomin' freezing...can we go home now? 

I confess to leaving on 90-minutes and not staying to watch time added-on.  I was keen to get the blood circulating back to my toes and be on the first tram back to the city centre.
Catch the first tram and you get the one with Augsburg FC colours...

Options for a post-match beer were a little limited by Sunday evening opening hours, the streets of the old town already quiet at 7 in the evening.
I strolled past the cathedral on the streets of the old town to the first brew pub I'd spotted on the map.

Brauhaus Bayrisch Brau Pub (Frauentorstraße 38, 86152 Augsburg)
Claus Kröger's brewery was set-up in an existing pub in 2010.  It's a two-roomed set-up with one section in the dark beyond an archway. Typical large chunky farmhouse-style tables, a display of beer bottles on high shelving, and a small library of beer reading.
Here are the ale choices...note the good old fashioned laminating...

I stuck with the Zwickl hell, strength unlisted (but quite high I suspect), coming in under €5 for the half litre.
It may be homebrew compared to the Riegele, but I loved it - my favourite beer of the day.

It was just a bit of shame that the place was so quiet, although I guess it was a February Sunday evening in sub-zero temps.  Four customers sat around the bar, the lights above the tables put on especially for my benefit.  I had worried it was closed, but was afforded a warm welcome.  Just a shame that the locals didn't start to chat to me until I returned my glass and was on the way out.

Under 10-minutes brisk walk took me to another brewery with a tap in the same part of town.
Thorbräu have a long history dating back to 1582 and are named after the Wertachbrucher Tower which stands opposite the brewery. They've been in the same family since 1885 and currently produce around 25,000hl of beer per annum.

Bräustüberl zum Thorbräu (Wertachbrucker-Tor-Straße 9, 86152 Augsburg)
Step through the front door and there is cosy room to the right with a fair number of customers in, bench seating around the sides, retro wood panelling, beer posters, and yellowed ceiling.  To the left is the bar counter, with more rooms beyond which are opened up at busier times.
I opted for the last remaining stool at the bar.

"What beers do you have?" I asked in the absence of any kind of menu or list.
"We have everything."
I think Mrs PropUptheBar would dispute that when looking for sours and marshmallow stouts.
I asked for my default kellerbier - 'Maximillian's' being the Thorbräu version, a cloudy well-balanced 5.2% ale.

I stuck around for a half litre of the tasty 5.6% Dunkel, entertained by my fairly tipsy friendly neighbours who roped me into their surreal conversation and gave me a big hug when I announced I had to go home.

That marked the end of my evening in Augsburg, my bed beckoning after a long day.
I do wish I'd had a little longer in the city as there are a fair few more places I'd like to have visited given more time.  But never mind, there's always the brew pub at Munich airport to get one more dunkel before the journey home.