pint

IF there’s ever a time to sink a pint of Guinness, it’s got to be today, which is St Patrick’s Day.

You’ll likely find the best pour in its birthplace of Ireland, but there are plenty of bars all over the world pulling stouts for punters.

Sophie Swietochowski shares her pick of unlikely destinations to pick up a Guinness, along with some holiday deals for those who are tempted.

NEPAL

THE aptly named Irish Pub is not only in one of the most off-grid locations in this list — being in the small town of Namche Bazaar — it’s also one of the highest boozers in the world.

Many claim it’s the most difficult pub to reach because of its position in the gateway to Mount Everest.

OK, it may be a two-day hike to get there but it’s well worth it for the views — and at least you can reward yourself with a well-deserved pint at the end.

CHEERS TO THAT

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CHEERS!

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NORWAY

ON Paddy’s Day, punters sink Guinness like its medicine, so what could be a more fitting setting than a 19th-century pharmacy?

Svanen, in the Norwegian capital Oslo, ranks 32 in the 50 Best Bars in the world list, with its traditional glass medicine cabinets, marble columns and black and white tiled floors still intact.

You’d be hard pushed to find a quirkier joint for sipping the dark stuff.

JAMAICA

RICK’S Cafe has to be one of the most spectacular spots to enjoy a pint, with sweeping views of the Caribbean Sea that are best enjoyed at sunset.

The bar-cum-restaurant in the town of Negril has become a popular spot for cliff jumpers thanks to its hilltop perch, 35ft above a clear and perfectly blue ocean.

A pint of Guinness will set you back a fiver.

THE FAROE ISLANDS

THIS collection of volcanic islands, floating in the sea between the UK, Norway and Iceland, are so unspoilt that it’s hard to picture a bar here being anything more than a few tables and a weathered gent serving only the local poison.

But the Irish Pub (again) is a little more than that.

Located in the capital Torshavn, this charming spot offers lovely views of the harbour.

You may even spot seals, whales and dolphins, too.

ICELAND

IT may be better known for attracting geography enthusiasts than stout-loving stags, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t places serving the black stuff in the Land of Fire and Ice.

Den Danske Kro is a lively spot in capital Reykjavik with Danish-style furnishings and a wide selection of beers on tap — including the Irish favourite for £9.

CZECH REPUBLIC

IN capital Prague, pints are poured with a side serving of history.

Its Old Town dates back more than 1,000 years and is dominated by the Baroque Church of St Nicholas and the dramatic Kinsky Palace.

And just off the square you’ll find Waxy Malone’s.

A pour of Guinness here will set you back around a fiver.

YouTuber Danny from the Honest Places channel visited different boozers in Rhyl in North Wales — a former tourist hotspot now dubbed one of Britain’s worst seaside resorts

A YouTuber who travelled to one of the so-called worst seaside resorts in Britain claimed he felt completely at ease there, where traditional boozers brimming with character were packed with locals enjoying affordable pints.

Danny, who operates the Honest Places channel, was visiting Llandudno and Rhyl in North Wales, with the latter having earned the nickname “Costa Del Dole”.

The resort is littered with abandoned buildings and establishments which have closed down permanently. Despite once being a magnet for holidaymakers, the pier, funfair and shopping centre have long since faded into memory.

The Telegraph listed it amongst the worst seaside resorts in Britain three years ago and described it as “Blackpool after a neutron bomb”. Danny, however, labelled it “Britain’s saddest seaside town” in his YouTube headline before speaking about it affectionately upon arrival.

He commented: “We have come to Rhyl because I felt a bit too out of place (in Llandudno). I feel actually at home in Rhyl.

“This is the front — it is such a contrast to Llandudno. I know people say British seaside towns have gone to s***. But they have been s*** for ages. This is a real British seaside town. Most of them are s*** and that is a real seaside town.

“So Whitby is a seaside town but it’s not a real British seaside town because the real ones are the ones that are like this, like Blackpool.

“But the main reason I came here, I didn’t want to go to another pub in Llandudno because it is just a bit tepid really.”

He continued: “There are some proper tasty pubs I went into last time where the barman and bar staff were just shouting at the customers and stuff like that.”

The first establishment he and a friend visited was Victory Club on Queen Street which has been welcoming drinkers for more than 70 years.

He wasn’t particularly taken with his pint of Caffrey’s Stout but remarked: “The gaff is alright though isn’t it?” His companion responded: “Yeah, tidy and reasonably cheap.”

Yet, if they considered paying £4 a pint reasonable value, they were in for a pleasant shock at their next destination.

They were drawn to The Bodfor and after hearing the booming music from within, Danny chuckled: “It does look good in there, doesn’t it? It reminds me a bit like Benidorm!”

He continued: “People will watch this back and say you should have went in but I’ve got a better boozer for you.”

Danny then headed towards the Imperial Hotel pub and described it as being like stepping into somebody’s front room.

Whilst at the bar, he announced that he had never sampled a pint of Fosters in his life, before deciding to try one.

And staring at his drink, he commented: “That head is beautiful! I don’t think I’ve had better head.”

After taking a gulp, he then remarked it was “fitting” to have a Fosters in Rhyl, before his friend responded: “Absolutely, for what it is, it’s a good pint. You want a fizzy, cold, tasteless pint. That’s what you get.”

Danny then admitted he was enjoying it more than anticipated before he enquired how cheap it was. After discovering the pint was just £2.70, he enthused: “Granted, it’s Fosters. But at that price, you can’t kick off. That’s got to be a 10/10.”

His friend then suggested that one could have a smashing night out in Rhyl with just a tenner and some loose change.

Stepping outside post-pints, Danny remarked: “We got some nice little tasty pubs, we saw Rhyl, it hasn’t changed. I don’t think it will change.”

Last year, reports suggested that Rhyl, which boasts four beaches, would undergo transformation thanks to £200million invested over the past decade, as per Denbighshire County Council.

The town also benefited from a £20million injection from the government’s Levelling Up fund three years ago.

Culture – Shelby murals and Sabbath shrines

The runaway success of the TV crime drama Peaky Blinders has been credited with boosting tourism to Birmingham and the West Midlands since it first aired in 2013, even though much of the series was actually shot farther north, in Merseyside, Yorkshire and Manchester. The release this week of the Peaky Blinders movie The Immortal Man (much of which was filmed in and around Birmingham this time) will undoubtedly generate a new wave of interest, particularly in the Black Country Living Museum in nearby Dudley, whose authentic recreations of streets, houses and industrial workshops appear in key scenes in the TV show and the film – most notably as the location for Charlie Strong’s yard (pictured below).

At the Digbeth Loc. Studios, where much of the new movie was shot, fans can also see Peaky Blinders murals created by artist Mr Murals. A walking tour of the city with a guide dressed as “Edward Shelby” (from £20pp, viator.com) is well worth a couple of hours, while historic mugshots, artefacts and the original cells in which members of the real-life Peaky Blinders gang were once held are now on show at West Midlands Police Museum.

The city has also become something of a pilgrimage site for heavy metal fans, especially since the final Black Sabbath concert at Villa Park last summer and Ozzy Osbourne’s passing just over two weeks later. There are Ozzy and Sabbath landmarks all around the city, including another of Mr Murals’ artworks on Navigation Street, near New Street station, which all four members of the band visited and signed ahead of the concert. A couple of minutes’ walk away is The Crown pub (now sadly closed) where Sabbath played their first gig and heavy metal was born out of Brum’s industrial clank. Sabbath also feature on murals outside Scruffy Murphy’s rock pub and beside Birmingham coach station in Digbeth – and no pilgrimage would be complete without a visit to Black Sabbath Bridge on Broad Street, where Ozzy’s widow, Sharon, and children Aimee, Kelly and Jack laid flowers during his funeral procession.

Birmingham’s metal connection doesn’t end there – the Jewellery Quarter is a pilgrimage site of a different type, mainly for couples looking for wedding bands. It’s said to house Europe’s largest concentration of jewellers and produce 40% of the UK’s jewellery; the FA Cup was even produced there. The quarter also boasts quirky attractions such as the Pen Museum (Birmingham once produced 75% of the world’s pen nibs) and the UK’s last coffin furniture factory, The Coffin Works, now a museum, whose long history includes decorative coffin fittings for the funerals of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the queen mother, among many others.

Where to eat – from fried chicken to fine dining

In the city centre, John Bright Street is a great place to start – brunch at kitsch indie cafe-bar Cherry Reds is a good shout, while cider and speciality sourdough pizza spot The Stable remains underrated. Save some room for grungy, rock-themed fried chicken joint Bonehead, on the adjacent Lower Severn Street – a hangout for the Osbournes, Slipknot, Jason Momoa and Mogwai in recent times. In the Jewellery Quarter, the Saint Paul’s Market food hall has seven indie kitchens, including Persian, Indian, Thai and more.

Birmingham is also a city of fine dining – in 2019, Opheem became the first Indian restaurant outside London to be awarded a Michelin star; it now has two. Meanwhile, the Jewellery Quarter’s inherently alternative, goth-black restaurant (housed within a former factory, of course) The Wilderness has just won its first Michelin star, taking the city’s total to five. Chef-owner Alex Claridge cooks modern British fare using seasonal ingredients, such as rhubarb and rocket, that probably shouldn’t sit on the same plate, but pair surprisingly well. His menus are designed to surprise and provoke the senses – as is the heavy rock playlist.

Where to drink – from a pint of mild to craft beers

It feels like every family in Birmingham once had someone working at one of its famous breweries, Mitchells & Butlers or Ansells. It’s therefore no surprise that pub culture remains very much alive in a city that birthed one of the region’s classic pints: M&B mild. Traditional pubs serving similar ales from around Birmingham and the West Midlands pepper the city – try Black Country Ales’ pubs The Craven Arms, The Jewellers Arms and The Wellington for starters. And don’t forget to order a cheese and onion cob to go with your pint for the full West Midlands experience.

The modern craft beer revolution is also very much alive in the city, with Attic Brew Co.’s Intuition most definitely the most poured craft pint in Brum (cans are also stocked on CrossCountry trains). Sample their wares at their central taproom, The Barrel Store.

Nightlife – from Irish boozers to experimental music

Much of Birmingham’s best nightlife can be found in Digbeth, the city’s original Irish quarter (where the Peaky Blinders also once roamed). Pubs such as Nortons, The Old Crown, Cleary’s and The Anchor offer some of the best Guinness, trad music sessions and craic this side of the Irish Sea. Digbeth is also the city’s creative quarter, and home to experimental concert promoter Capsule, which brings equal parts peculiar and brilliant musicians to Brum, who might otherwise skip the region completely. Keep an eye out for Capsule’s Supersonic festival, an award-winning event running since 2003 and scheduled for 25-26 April this year, that takes over venues in Digbeth. One such is Centrala, an experimental arts centre and exhibition space that supports central and eastern European migrant communities.

After hours, dance to northern soul at The Night Owl, or head to venues such as Dead Wax, Suki10c, Lab11 and Mama Roux’s for parties ranging in genre from house to jungle.

Stirchley – the hispter hotspot for cocktails and breweries

A 10-minute train ride south of New Street station is Stirchley, a neighbourhood of award-winning indies that continues to thrive. Take Couch, for example, just named the UK’s number one at the 2026 Top 50 Cocktail Bars awards, and South African-British fusion restaurant Riverine Rabbit, which was recently awarded a Bib Gourmand by Michelin.

Stirchley is also known locally as the beer hub of the city, with three major brewers (Attic, Birmingham Brewing Company and GlassHouse) within a half-mile radius; all three have taprooms. In keeping with Birmingham’s liking for a pint or few, the Stirchley Beer Mile takes in those three plus two award-winning bottle shops and at least 10 pubs and bars on an easy walk between Stirchley and Cotteridge. Don’t miss Bonehead’s dive bar Deadbeat, a similarly grungy rock bar that sells Pabst Blue Ribbon on tap and often hosts NYC-style pizza slice pop-ups.

Where to stay – Georgian hotels and modern townhouses

Boutique hotel Saint Pauls House in the Jewellery Quarter (doubles from £99) sits on the city’s last remaining Georgian square and offers comfortable rooms, waterfall showers and plush beds. Or stay around the corner at the modern Frederick Street Townhouse (doubles from £99), which is connected to the popular Button Factory pub.