Bermondsey Beer Mile, London, Guide du visiteur et quoi faire à proximité

The Bermondsey Beer Mile is a stretch of railway arches and nearby units in Bermondsey, London, where independent breweries brew beer and open their taprooms to the public. It is an informal name, not an official trail, but it has become one of the best-known craft beer walks in the city.

The story behind it

Bermondsey has long been a working district of warehouses, food trade and light industry, and the Victorian brick railway viaducts that cut through it left rows of cheap, sturdy arches. In the years after 2009, small breweries began moving into them, and the cluster grew until locals gave it a nickname that stuck. The name is loose, since the route is more a string of taprooms than a measured mile.

There is also an older beer link nearby. Southwark was once the centre of London's hop trade, and the Hop Exchange, a Victorian building on Southwark Street close to Borough Market, was where hops from the Kent farms were traded. It no longer deals in hops, but you can still see the building when you walk along the street.

What to look for

• Look up at the brick railway arches themselves, where trains rumble overhead while brewing equipment sits behind the roller doors and arch fronts.
• Notice the hand-painted signs, chalkboards and sandwich boards outside each taproom, which often list the beers currently on tap.
• Watch for the smell of malt and hops drifting out of the arches, which is often your first clue that a brewery is close.
• Spot the Hop Exchange building on Southwark Street, a reminder of the area's trading past, with its grand Victorian frontage.

Tips for your visit

• Saturday is the busiest day, when many taprooms are open and the arches fill with people. Opening days and times vary by brewery, so check current opening hours before you go.
• Allow two to three hours if you want to stop for a drink or two and look around without rushing.
• Many taprooms are casual and standing-room, and some are outdoors under the arches, so dress for the weather.
• Borough Market and London Bridge are within walking distance, which makes it easy to combine a beer stop with food or sightseeing.

See it on a quest

The London Bermondsey: Outdoor Escape Game takes you through this part of Bermondsey on foot, so you reach the arches as one stop on a longer route rather than as an isolated pin on a map. The app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle based on what is in front of you. It is a ticketed quest, and one ticket covers the whole group. You can start whenever suits you, with no guide and no group to join.