T-shirt in Glasgow
When I look at the map, I have covered a fair number of countries since I started blogging. 23, to be exact, and that means 23 countries I have visited in this three year period.
Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Ireland, Scotland, England (yes, I count England, even if they don’t have their own parliament!), Wales, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary and Cyprus.
Some of them, admittedly, for only a brief stay, but others where I have been able to go deeper into the beery heart of the nation.
Should I pick six of them as beer destinations?
Denmark, the Czech Republic, Germany, Scotland, England, Belgium and the Netherlands. Sorry, that’s seven. But they would make a mighty fine tour of Europe.
A general word of advice is to go for the brewpubs. The beer is fresher, the barmen know more about what they sell, there is more enthusiasm. I’ll give you my top ten some time.
Croatia is coming up, if I’m lucky with a side trip to Slovenia, but I don’t think they will make the core list.
There are still glaring white spots on my map of Europe, including Poland, Portugal and Russia. But there are also other continents to consider….
Beer in Sofia
I agree with the brewpubs argument, except for England, where a good freehouse is often more fun than the brewpubs.
I’m dying to go to Croatia at some point (amongst many other locations in Europe), and I’m really interested to hear if there is anything remotely going on with good beer at all there. I imagine it’s wine country, but I look forward to your insight on the subject, my good sir.
Cheers, and safe travels!
Scoopergen does Croatia here, Eric.
By the way, Knut, how come Northern Ireland isn’t on your list? Did you forget it has its own parliament, or have you just not been there since you started blogging?
Thanks for the heads-up, Beer Nut! I recall stumbling upon it a while back when some bloggers made some back-handed comments about “scooping” in general. This kind of info can be perfect for taking a trip.
Of course Northern Ireland should be on the list, even if it did not have any functioning parliament at the time. Belfast is covered on my old blog.
And it is probably the most friendly country I have visited, but it was, at the time, slightly below Cyprus when it came to the beer range on offer.