NOTHING beats a good pub crawl. And the pubs on the Food And Drink Festival Real Ale Trail are not just good, they're wonderful. Thirteen boozers, all with the sort of individual character that national chains can never buy, packed to the rafters with proper beer.

Visit all 13 and your life will be greatly enriched, and your shirt badly stained. But no fear: if you have had your card stamped on buying a drink at each venue, you will be given a limited edition T-shirt as a replacement.

The said shirt is being modelled to within an inch of its life in our photograph by Shaun Collinge, Maltings supremo and Real Ale Trail mastermind. The cards can be collected from his pub at Tanners Moat.

So here is Bar Talk's unrivalled guide to the lucky 13 venues taking part...

The Ackhorne,

St Martins Lane

Is there any greater gift to mankind than a pub with a permanent stock of Roosters beer? For this alone, Jack and Mel Merry deserve the Nobel prize for peace artists. (Mind you, this columnist's Roosters keyring, purchased from that very beer boutique some time ago, snapped almost immediately. Great beer, great atmosphere, dodgy merchandising).

Blue Bell,

Fossgate

Visit the Blue Bell and you have the chance to become intimately acquainted with the past, and with other drinkers. Like Ronnie Corbett it's small, old, and some of the jokes have seen better days. And it's all the more enjoyable for that. Your hosts are landlord Jim 'Tell Paul Newman I'm Out' Hardie and wife Sue.

Bootham Tavern,

Bootham

Altogether a bigger prospect, the Bootham Tavern is a sport and social club with proper beer, including Black Sheep. If you want a quiet drink, avoid times when the footie is on the telly.

Golden Ball,

Victor Street

Can anything beat the experience of sitting back in the Gilded Gonad, pint of Pedigree in hand and chewing the fat with York pub godfather Don Butler? Only if Manchester United are being thrashed 6-0 on the corner box at the time. Great pickled eggs too.

Last Drop Inn,

Colliergate

No kids, no jukebox (although the old joanna is always in danger of being tinkled by drunken Liberace-a-likes), no fruit machines. Just fine beer delivered fresh all the way from Toft Green. In York Brewery's first pub, less is more.

The Maltings,

Tanners Moat

If they displayed all their awards at this ale emporium, they'd be no room at the bar for the fabulous, ever-changing range of beer. Fine fare is organised by the glamorous hostess, Max, via the Dragon's Pantry. If you want to speak to the landlord, Showbiz Shaun, go through his agent.

The Mason's Arms, Fishergate

A long-time favourite of Bar Talk's, this riverside boozer always stocks tasty real beers. And the food is something else: proper, home made pub grub in portions that Lisa Riley would struggle with. Much banter to be had with the regulars too.

The Minster Inn,

Marygate

This is how it used to be, and how it should be. Four rooms, not one big enough to swing a cat (the Cat Swinging Society now meets at the Bay Horse down the road). Friendly welcome to regulars and tourists alike. The perfect place to waste a sunny Saturday afternoon.

The Royal Oak,

Goodramgate

A warm welcome awaits at this ancient, comfy and well-kept hostelry, declared tourism pub of the year in 2001. It has been run with style and grace by Dave and Sally Smith for 25 years and as well as a fine pint of Burton, you can partake of Sally's tasty and innovative menu. Peas a speciality.

The Swan,

Clementhorpe

A Tetley heritage inn. Pete and Rachel have taken this historic boozer and done nothing to it other than put a smile on its face. A recent visit just before closing time confirmed that the beer is fab, the atmosphere great, and the toilets handy.

Tap And Spile,

Monkgate

Andy Mackay and team welcome you to the Victorian boozer which bucked the trend and swapped the open-plan airport lounge look for two room cosiness. Always plenty of great real ales to choose from.

The Three-Legged Mare, High Petergate

York Brewery's second pub has quickly established itself as the place to go for young and old alike. In the shadow of York Minster, the Wonkey Donkey has managed to pull off the trick of attracting locals along with the tourists, and was a focal point during the Save City campaign.

York Brewery,

Toft Green

Tony Thomson and Co have proved it is eminently possible to organise a drink-up in a brewery in the fully stocked bar. Once you smell the hops and barley cooking in the mash tuns, or whatever brewers do, you'll be gagging for a pint of the finished product. Mine's a Terrier.

- YORK publishing combo Stone Soup know a thing or two about local pubs. And bars. And restaurants. They really should stay in more.

Anyway, the guys from the Fishergate Centre used this knowledge to compile an eating and drinking guide to coincide with the Food And Drink Festival.

The York Food, Drink & Leisure Guide is a full colour glossy, with details on everything from delis to ghost walks. Yours for £3, guvnor.

Updated: 08:48 Saturday, September 14, 2002