St. Paul Drinking Tour

Explore a city inextricably linked with drinking in the way it was intended.

Tour Summary

St Paul tour guide Colin

Collin Says:

St. Paul is founded by bootleggers and scoundrels. So what better way to truly experience this city than to explore its historic bar scene?

5/5

Alcohol and St. Paul are like peas and carrots – there really is no better pairing. Since the very early days when famed bootlegger “Pig’s Eye Parrant” served off-duty soldiers from Fort Snelling, imbibing has been a part of this city’s culture, and you’ll learn it on this three-hour bar crawl of our capital city. 

In this walking tour you’ll discover four bars and learn the city’s history as you do so. One of the best ways to discover a city is through its watering holes, and you’ll do just that as you find the walk (or stumble) your way through St. Paul’s story.

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What's Included?

What to Expect?

5/5 stars on TripAdvisor.

We're top-rated on Trip Advisor.
Come see what all the fuss is about.

Dan was a great tour guide. Full of energy and humor. Very relational and engaging. Knew his history of the area very well.
Tom Allen
Had a group of 9 do a tour with Dan. You get double the value -- great beer/bar stops that are unique and a proper tour/guide of The Loop and other districts where the beer stops were.
Derek J
Amazing tour! Colin was not only knowledgeable about the great bars he took us to, but gave us interesting history of Minneapolis and St. Paul which really added to make the evening really memorable.
Sara
John was a great tour guide, personable and knowledgeable about the area. The places he took us were very different from one another and offered great food and snacks. Definitely worth checking out this tour
JJ

Why St. Paul?

St. Paul plays its cards close to its vest — while Minneapolis steals the limelight, St. Paul has always been happy to sit back and let the people come to it.

Unlike Minneapolis, the bars of St Paul are often multi-generational, counting its age not in years but decades. St. Paul has a reputation of being a sleepy city, but what it lacks in hip, cosmopolitan glory it makes up for with “Cheers”-style bars, where everybody knows your name. 

For a time, St. Paul was a crime haven, with a corrupt chief of police allowing criminals from Chicago to make their home here (for a price).

In fact, Minnesota has played host to famed gangsters like John Dillinger, Babyface Nelson, Roger “the Terrible” Touhy, Machine Gun Kelly, Alvin “Creepy” Karpis, and the Barker gang.

So – why do a bar tour of St. Paul? St. Paul is a city inextricably linked to its bars, and that’s why the St. Paul Bar Tour is one of our favorites.

Other Information:

FAQs:

Your tour begins outside Cossettas in St. Paul

  • Weather-Appropriate Clothing
  • Your Camera
  • A Filled Tummy
  • Money
  • Comfortable Shoes

Cancel up to 24 hours prior for a full refund

While we advertise the tour as 3 hours, we arrive to bar #4 just before the 3 hour mark,  so make sure to leave yourself enough time for one last round. We recommend scheduling an additional 45 minutes for mingling and revelry before heading home or to your next event.

Dress how you please! As long as you stay out of activewear and that stained t-shirt you normally only wear to bed, you’ll be fine.

Do dress for the weather – we will be walking between bars, so plan to be outside for up to 10-minute stretches of time. 

In the city centre, a small beer costs $5-10 while a cocktail is in the $15-$25 range. 

 

A great way to save money is to prepurchase your drinks — with our drinks-included package, we can negotiate more aggressive rates with the bars and save you big money. 

Closed-toed shoes or sandals are important – some venues may not allow thongs/jandals/flip-flops inside after a certain hour.

Other than that — dress how you please! As long as you stay out of activewear and that stained t-shirt you normally only wear to bed, you’ll be fine.

Some like to dress up and continue the night after our tour completes, and some go more casual. Do what makes you comfortable. 🙂

We cap our group size at 12 people to ensure each person has the chance to have a personal experience with the tour guide and one another.

Of course! We are happy to host private functions on our personalised private tours. These are 3 hours tours we tailor specifically to your group’s requirements and interests. Book a private tour here!

We pick four bars that are within walking distance, but occasionally we’ll have a 10-minute jaunt between some of our furthest-apart venues. Your walking distance would never be more than 1 mile.

Of course! Feel free to book on a public tour, or if you want your very own chartered tour reserve it here!

5/5

Tour Start Point:

Your tour begins outside icoinc St Paul restaurant Cossetta’s. 

Grab a gift card.

Gift cards are only redeemable for Depot Adventures tour offerings. Gift cards are not redeemable for any third party offerings, including but not limited to offerings from “Get your Guide” and “Viator”.