The Five Best Pub Crawls in Boston

Go back to your college years in a city replete with college students. Bostonians know how to drink, that’s for sure, and knowing where to drink in Boston when you’re unaccustomed to the city is a daunting task. Luckily, there’s an easy in, and a fun way to make friends – rather, five of them. The basic one is the Beantown Pub Crawl, which will never not have a reason to party; the Irish Pub Challenge is a once-in-a-year occasion to really let that Irish out, and the Harvard Square Pub Crawl is for history nerds to rock out with their pints out. Want a cool experience of the city through a Bostonian’s liver? Check out these five pub crawls.

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with the Beantown Pub Crawl

Photo via their official FB page.

The Beantown Pub Crawl will always find an excuse to crawl – St. Patrick’s Day is a no-brainer, and Valentine’s Day leads tons of drunken singles through the beer-stained trenches. Cinco de Mayo? ¡Desde luego! Ugly Sweater day? Uhhhhhh, why not? Starting at three different meeting points between 2 and 4, visitors get to hit up to six different pubs and receive drink specials and prizes. The bars range with events, but most of the crawls stay around Faneuil Hall and end… well, when you want it to end. Tickets are typically $15 but they post promotions on Groupon regularly.

Everybody’s Irish for a day on the Irish Pub Challenge

The Irish Pub Challenge is for the competitive drinker. The Irish Pub Challenge involves teams of 50 people dressed up in Irish (or simply stereotypical Irish) garb running around the city scanning QR codes at local pubs and strategically sneaking drinks. The beauty of this pub crawl is that there’s no obligation to drink at each stop but it allows visitors to get to know the local scene and refueling when necessary. $35 gets you a spot on a team, a wristband that secures entry at scheduled locations without cover, an official T-shirt and Koozie beer wrap, Shamrock beads and paddy hats, drink specials at participating pubs, and a chance to win a free trip to Ireland. The best thing? Part of the proceeds go to the Sean A. Collier Memorial Fund, which honors the memory of a police officer who died in the Boston Marathon bombing.

Drink and chat the Harvard Square way on the Harvard Square Pub Crawl

For the person who has ever thought that history class would be much more enlightening and entertaining with a pint or four, the Harvard Square Pub Crawl is the ideal tour. Organized by the Cambridge Historical Tours, the pub crawl is led by a professional storyteller and drinker and weaves around Harvard Square to hit up historical drinkeries. The First Printer Restaurant, which memorializes Stephen Daye the first printer in British America on his former home, specializes in handcrafted cocktails and New England classics; John Harvard’s Brewery & Ale House is a historic pub that has a family legacy that is linked back to William Shakespeare (great place for a craft brew); and other stops make for an enlightening drink. The ticket price also includes New England style appetizers at each of the stops.

Keep on bussin’ with the Bustonian Party Bus

Is it really riding in style if you’re getting drunk on a neon party bus outfitted with a built-in stripper pole called "The Bustonian"? Maybe not, but it’s pretty damn fun. And with stops at the top bars and clubs in Boston with no cover or waits in line, passengers on the Bustonian certainly arrive in style. Passengers often have more fun on the bus than off, preferring to stay on the bus with the blaring sound system, liquor in the coolers and swaying dancefloor. Great for parties of up to 32 people – birthdays, bachelorettes and whatever else – the Bustonian is a silly but great way to see the city.

Cool, chill beer people get to have their own pub crawl experience with Boston Brew Tours

Everybody knows that Boston is one of America’s beer centers. After all, Sam Adams, one of America’s first and certainly its largest microbrewery is based out of Boston. So microbrewheads who really want to get a kick out of the Boston scene get a chance to tour some of their largest craft breweries and try the best beers the city has to offer. The guides are closely connected with Samuel Adams, Meadhead, Cambridge Brewing Co., Night Shift, Mystic Brewery, Harpoon Brewery and Beer Works; and offer the original tour as well as an "After Hours Tour" which includes a sampling of 18 different beers, a dinner and beer pairing and a well-informed driver.