The Manchester Pub Walkabout

Johnny James, Managing Editor

Book now

The Manchester Pub Walkabout

Until 6 December 2025
Date
Time
Session Features
19 Jul 2025
3:00 pm-5:00 pm
26 Jul 2025
3:00 pm-5:00 pm
02 Aug 2025
3:00 pm-5:00 pm
09 Aug 2025
3:00 pm-5:00 pm
16 Aug 2025
3:00 pm-5:00 pm

See website for more sessions

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Bars
Band on the Wall
Book now

Stagger across three hundred years of Manchester’s drinking history in one of the city’s most fun-loving walking tours, packed with fascinating stories, brilliantly bizarre facts and hilarious fun and games.

Meeting outside Central Library, you’ll work your merry way around the city centre’s most iconic classic pubs, with your expert guide feeding you facts that lift the curtain on each location’s unique, boozy history.

You’ll hear the stories behind pub names (why is it called The Peveril of the Peak?), about the curious sports and games associated with pubs both past and present, and about the strangest clubs that have occupied Manchester’s music pubs.

Billed as “THE funniest pub tour in the country”, expect a healthy dose of the absurd alongside the informative as you view Manchester in a new, if slightly hazy, light. And make sure to listen up, because the tour ends with that cherished British pastime: a pub quiz. Expect more daftness and laughter, and even some “great” prizes!

One recent guest called the tour “A wonderful romp through pub history, truly entertaining and informative. My favourite way to enjoy Manchester.”

More Jonathan Schofield Walking Tours

Walking Tour Stock imagery
Until
ActivityCity Centre
The Manchester Music Walkabout

Manchester’s famous musical legacy comes to life in this walking tour around the city, which will take you from the 1960s to the present day.

jonathan schofield giving tour
Until
Manchester
The Kimpton Clocktower Tour

Explore the incredible history behind one of Britain’s grandest and most storied commercial buildings: Manchester’s Grade II listed Kimpton Clocktower Hotel.

The University of Manchester
TourManchester
Secrets of The University of Manchester with Interior Visits

Epic architecture, hidden green spaces and ideas that changed the world. Explore the rich history of achievement at The University of Manchester.

After Hours at Chetham's Library
TourManchester
Chetham’s Medieval Buildings

Join an access-all-areas guided tour of Chetham’s Library and the surrounding school – among the most venerable buildings in the North West.

Stockport Plaza
TourManchester
Secrets of Stockport

Join Jonathan Schofield Tours and explore the fascinating stories and stunning architecture of a town on a meteoric rise.

Southern Cemetary Chorlton by Tom Jeffs
TourChorlton
Southern Cemetery Tour

Within Chorlton’s Southern Cemetery lie fascinating stories, beautiful architectural details, and the inspiration behind one of The Smith’s best songs.

Photo of the John Rylands Library from outside
TourCity Centre
Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx in Manchester

Explore the ways in which Manchester helped shape and reinforce the ideas of the fathers of communism, Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx.

St James' Church, Didsbury (1)
TourDidsbury
Secrets of Didsbury

Discover hidden histories, stunning architecture and fascinating local figures in of Manchester’s most sought after suburbs.

Emmeline Pankhurst statue, St Peter's Square
TourManchester
Suffragettes, Significant Women and Manchester

Explore the Suffragettes’ epic fight for equal rights on this guided tour around significant buildings and landmarks.

Manchester Town Hall
TourManchester
The Magical Mystery Bike Tour

Hop on your bike for this guided cycling tour, exploring fascinating corners of Manchester you may never have seen before.

St Peter's Square
TourManchester
The Peterloo Massacre Tour

Visit key locations associated with a moment that helped shape the future of the nation, tracing the footsteps of those who stood for change.

Science and Industry Museum
TourManchester
The Railway Age Begins: An Anniversary Tour

In 1830, the world’s first fully operational, steam-powered passenger railway opened between Liverpool and Manchester. Take a closer look at this breakthrough moment.

Elizabeth Gaskell's House
TourManchester
The Manchester Literary Tour

On the eve of Elizabeth Gaskell’s birthday, join Jonathan Schofield Tours for a stroll around the sites (and sights) of Manchester’s literary past.

Knutsford Tour
TourKnutsford
Secrets of Knutsford

From wild buildings to wilder characters, explore hidden histories and architectural oddities in the Cheshire town of Knutsford.

St Ann's Church
TourManchester
Halloween: The Ghosts of Manchester

Explore Manchester’s creepiest corners this Halloween, when Jonathan Schofield Tours will reveal the city’s ghosts with the most.

Walking Stock Image
TourManchester
Bombed and Besieged: Manchester at War

Marking the anniversary of the Christmas Blitz, this walking tour explores Manchester’s history of conflict, from the English Civil Wars to the World Wars and beyond.

Photo of the exterior of the Palace Hotel
Spotlight on

Hotels in Manchester

To make life easy when it comes to booking your stay, here’s our guide to Manchester's best hotels.

Take me there

More things to do in Manchester

Haphazard 2025 at Z-arts
FamiliesManchester
Haphazard 2025 at Z-arts

A free day of bizarre behaviour and exciting live performance at Z-arts. Expect the unexpected. Playful, unpredictable, and not easily forgotten.

Free entry
Amy Webber comedian
Until
ComedyChapel Street
Greater Manchester Fringe 2025

Greater Manchester Fringe Festival 2025 offers a fascinating and diverse programme of performance with ticket prices that won’t break the bank.

From £5.00
MusicManchester
John Talabot at The White Hotel

A quietly radical force in contemporary club culture, John Talabot returns to The White Hotel for one of his signature all-night sessions.

From £13.00
Manchester Town Hall
TourManchester
The Magical Mystery Bike Tour

Hop on your bike for this guided cycling tour, exploring fascinating corners of Manchester you may never have seen before.

From £25.00
Culain Wood
LiteratureManchester
Crooked Poets at the Crooked Man

Hosted by John Darwin, Crooked Poets is a monthly spoken word night at the Crooked Man bar in Prestwich, featuring a special guest and open mic.

Free entry

Manchester District Guides

  • The front of Didsbury restaurant Volta.
    Didsbury, Manchester

    Didsbury has the perfect split between big brands and independent businesses, welcoming all from far and wide.

  • Ancoats, Manchester
    Ancoats & New Islington

    Ancoats, just off the Northern Quarter in Manchester, is one of the city's most increasingly desirable neighbourhoods. Find out why.

  • People enjoying drinking in Altrincham
    Things to Do in Altrincham

    Plan a day out down Altrincham way, and you’ll soon find that one day isn’t nearly enough. Getting there is easy on the tram, or how about cycling along the...

  • Salford museum and art gallery exterior
    Salford, Greater Manchester

    Cross over the River Irwell, and you’ll find yourself in another city entirely – Salford, which is enjoying something of a regeneration.

  • chinatown, manchester in sun by ben williams
    Chinatown, Manchester

    Chinatown is a network of back streets dotted with Chinese restaurants – go to Ho’s Bakery for perfect honey buns, Hunan for spice and Middle Kingdom for a very affordable menu.

  • The Quays, Greater Manchester

    The Quays is home to MediaCityUK (the largest media hub in Europe) and studios purpose-built for the BBC’s move up North in 2011.

  • Chorlton, Manchester

    Chorlton is a left-leaning suburb a few miles south of Manchester’s city centre (and only 10-odd minutes away by tram). A sprawling hive of artisan coffee shops, boutique clothing stores,...

  • Cheetham Hill, Manchester

    Cheetham Hill gets a bad rap as an area, however as you begin to look round you will find it has plenty to do. Let us be your guide.

  • A coffee stand at Levenshulme Market
    Levenshulme, Manchester

    From cultural points of interest to unique watering holes, explore what Levenshulme has to offer in our guide.

  • Canal Street, Manchester

    Manchester’s picturesque Canal Street and its surroundings constitute what is reputedly the oldest gay village in the country.

  • Photo of a handwritten label in a cafe that says
    Burton Road, West Didsbury, Manchester

    Tis Burton Road is the heart of West Didsbury, a beautifully maintained leafy hubbub of shops, bars and restaurants where independence is paramount. The main strip is home to fifteen...

  • Beech Road Chorlton, Manchester

    A laid-back mix of gift shops, independent outfitters, restaurants, pubs and parks, on a sunny weekend afternoon it’s heaving.

Spotlight on

Food and Drink in the North

Here’s our summertime guide to great food and drinks across the North.

Take me there

Manchester Visitor Guides

.
Spotlight on

Tours and Activities in the North

Get stuck into some talking, baking and walking in this months top picks of Tours and Activities in the North.

Take me there

Culture Guides

  • Theatre in Manchester and the North.
    Theatre in the North

    From outdoor shows to drama in the dark, our theatre guide celebrates genre-pushing work, new writing and contemporary performance.

  • Author portrait
    Literature Events in the North

    Our latest round-up features plenty of one-off live literature events to wrap your ears about, so get those diaries ticking over...

  • Two women stand next to an orange car.
    Cinema in the North

    August brings a huge LGBTQ+ film festival, plus a reggae classic and a spotlight on Japanese animation.

  • Blondshell by Hannah Bon.
    Music in the North

    From Lyra Pramuk’s sacred synths to the sugar rush of YAANG, our latest music picks bring ritual, rebellion and ridiculous levels of fun.

  • Exhibitions in the North

    Monumental sculptures, charcoal confessions and a show of two paintings only - all this and more in this month's exhibition picks.