World's best craft beer destinations you can fly to with Avios

Portland Beer Week in June runs for 10 days and features events across the city. The autumn fresh hop season in September is a pilgrimage of its own, when the Willamette Valley's just-picked wet hops produce limited-edition beers available nowhere else.

Beyond the beer: Powell's Books, the largest independent bookstore in the world, can easily swallow an afternoon. Forest Park brings 5,000 acres of urban wilderness above the city, while Portland’s outstanding food cart culture, some of the best Japanese restaurants in the US, and a fiercely competitive coffee scene give you plenty to do between brewery stops.

An off-peak Business Class return from London to Portland costs 198,000 Avios plus £599 per person.

Denver, Colorado

They say if you want to change the weather in Denver, just wait five minutes. We say, why waste those five minutes waiting for the weather gods to make up their minds? Just head over to one of the many breweries sprinkled all over the city.

Denver's proposition is a strong one: over 100 breweries in the metro area, plus the Rocky Mountains starting 45 minutes from downtown. The River North Art District, known as RiNo, is the epicentre of the city's craft beer scene. Bierstadt Lagerhaus makes traditional German-style lagers with zero compromise, using a 90-minute boil and extended cold lagering periods that most American breweries have long abandoned in the name of speed.

Wynkoop Brewing opened as Colorado’s first brewpub in 1988 and remains a Denver institution and the place to understand where the city's beer culture began. Denver also hosts the Great American Beer Festival every autumn, by far the largest and most competitive beer competition in the country, which draws over 800 breweries from across the US.

Beyond the beer: Red Rocks Amphitheatre is one of the most extraordinary concert venues in the world, while Rocky Mountain National Park puts some of Colorado’s best scenery within reach. Come in winter, and you can also combine Denver with a ski trip, with resorts such as Breckenridge and Vail accessible from the city.

You can fly to Denver from London on an off-peak Business Class return flight for 198,000 Avios plus £599 per person.

San Diego

What San Diego adds to the beer equation is the weather. You drink outside for most of the year, taprooms open onto patios that look out over the Pacific, and a brewery crawl is as likely to include a beach stop as a bar. North Park is the neighbourhood with the highest number of craft breweries and taprooms, but the tasting rooms cluster throughout the city. There’s also San Diego Beer Week in November, which you can time your trip around.

The city has over 150 craft breweries, a concentration that rivals Portland, and a culture rooted in the West Coast IPA style that San Diego effectively invented. Stone Brewing in the Miramar district is one of the most influential craft breweries in the world, its Arrogant Bastard Ale having done more to establish the aggressive hop-forward style than almost any other single beer. Ballast Point's Sculpin IPA put the city on the global craft beer map, while AleSmith produces consistently award-winning ales across the spectrum.

Beyond the beer: Balboa Park and the San Diego Zoo are obvious highlights, while La Jolla Cove is great for snorkelling and sea lions. You can also head south into Baja California wine country just across the Mexican border, where Ensenada and Tijuana have developed their own serious craft beer scenes.

Book an off-peak Business Class return from London to San Diego for 198,000 Avios plus £599 per person.

New York

It shouldn't surprise anyone to find The Big Apple in any list, so varied and surprising is the city that never sleeps. And while New York is not the most concentrated craft beer destination on this list, it may be the most diverse.

The city has over 100 craft breweries across its five boroughs, and the range spans everything from Brooklyn Brewery's pioneering work in Williamsburg to Other Half Brewing's cult-status hazy IPAs in Carroll Gardens, and the rapidly expanding Hudson Valley beer trail north of the city, which some are already calling the Napa Valley of beer. Kings County Brewers Collective in Bushwick makes some of the most interesting experimental beers in the northeast, while Interboro Spirits and Ales in East Williamsburg packs an extraordinary amount of quality into a small space.

New York is a British Airways Avios destination staple. The Business Class price point makes it one of the most accessible long-haul redemptions, and the range of neighbourhoods means no two brewery crawls look the same. Brooklyn alone could occupy several days.

Beyond the beer: Everything. Central Park, the Met, the High Line, MoMA, the best restaurants in the US, and neighbourhoods that change character block by block. You could spend a week here and still leave with a longer list than you arrived with.

An off-peak Business Class return from London to New York costs 176,000 Avios plus £499 per person.

Vancouver

There's something about nursing a cold craft beer while gazing at snow-capped mountains outside. Vancouver's craft beer scene has been growing fast for over a decade and now counts more than 100 breweries across the city and the surrounding region.

The East Vancouver neighbourhood of Mount Pleasant has the highest concentration of breweries, with Brassneck, 33 Acres, and Strange Fellows all within walking distance of one another. Brassneck's tiny tasting room and constantly rotating tap list have made it one of the most talked-about craft breweries in Canada. Four Winds, out in Delta, is considered by many beer enthusiasts to be one of the best breweries on the continent.

Beyond the beer: What makes Vancouver a great British Airways Avios destination is the wider package. The North Shore mountains are visible from downtown, Whistler is two hours away, and Stanley Park is one of the largest urban parks in North America. And the city's proximity to the Pacific gives it a food culture that rivals that of any city in the world.

An off-peak Business Class return from London to Vancouver costs 198,000 Avios plus £599 per person.

Tokyo

Tokyo's craft beer story is unlike any other on this list. Small breweries became viable only in 1994, when the government relaxed minimum production requirements. Since then, brewers have done what Japan tends to do very well: take something seriously, refine it obsessively, then add a local twist. Expect clean, balanced beers made with ingredients like yuzu, shiso, and Japanese barley.

Popeye in Ryogoku is the benchmark for serious Tokyo beer enthusiasts, with over 70 taps and a constantly changing lineup that lets you drink your way around Japan without leaving the bar. Baird Beer is another essential stop. Founded by American brewer Bryan Baird in Numazu, it now has multiple Tokyo taprooms and produces some of the most consistently acclaimed craft beers in Japan. It’s the brewery most recommended by locals to first-time visitors.

This is also one of the strongest Avios long-haul redemptions on the list. Twelve hours each way gives you plenty of time to appreciate the difference between Business Class and Economy.

Beyond the beer: Shibuya Crossing, Senso-ji at dawn, the Tsukiji outer market for breakfast, hiking the old Nakasendo route between Kyoto and Tokyo, and food at every price point from convenience store onigiri to three-Michelin-starred kaiseki.

A trip to the best Japanese craft beer begins with an off-peak Business Class return from London to Tokyo, which costs 220,000 Avios plus £699 per person.

Melbourne

Melbourne has a strong claim to being the craft beer capital of the Southern Hemisphere. Greater Melbourne has over 150 breweries, a culture of small-batch experimentation, and a beer-drinking public that’s been educated by decades of serious café culture to expect the same quality from their glass of pale ale.

The Collingwood and Fitzroy neighbourhoods are the centre of the craft beer scene. Moon Dog World in Abbotsford is less a brewery than a beer theme park, with 50 taps spread across a huge 2,500-square-metre space. Stomping Ground in Collingwood has become another local institution since opening in 2016, with an enormous biergarten that usually fills up by mid-afternoon.

Hawkers Beer in Reservoir has built a strong international reputation for its IPAs and barrel-aged stouts, although it entered voluntary administration in early 2024, so check its current status before visiting. But the beers remain a reference point for what Melbourne craft brewing achieved. If you really want to time your visit properly, January brings the GABS Hottest 100 Craft Beers countdown, which is basically Australia’s answer to election night for beer nerds.

Beyond the beer: The Great Ocean Road is one of the world's great coastal drives, and the Yarra Valley wine country is an hour from the city. AFL football at the MCG is another strong draw.

Plan a trip Down Under by first booking an off-peak Business Class return from London to Melbourne for 319,000 Avios plus £899 per person.

Berlin

Why do you think the Berlin Bear is grinning in every statue? Berlin is Germany's most exciting beer city, which is not a sentence that would’ve been written 20 years ago. Traditional German beer culture is magnificent but conservative: lagers brewed to the Reinheitsgebot, beer gardens built for volume, pilsners that taste identical from one end of the country to the other. Berlin has kept that heritage and built something completely different on top of it.

The city has its own beer style to play with. Berliner Weisse is a tart, low-alcohol wheat beer that predates the IPA boom by a long stretch, and local brewers have given it a proper second life. Hops and Barley in Friedrichshain serves its own version alongside a rotating lineup of house ales and lagers. Eschenbrau in Wedding has been making unfiltered, unpasteurised beers in a courtyard brewpub tucked between apartment blocks since 2001, and Vagabund in Wedding is smaller still and produces experimental beers that travel to beer festivals across Europe.

Berlin is also one of the most cost-effective Avios destinations in the programme. The short-haul Economy redemption cost makes it an easy add-on to a longer points strategy, and the city's accommodation costs are well below those of Western European capitals, so the whole trip is more affordable once you land.

Beyond the beer: Berlin has enough culture and nightlife to keep you busy between brewery stops. Start with the Reichstag and Brandenburg Gate, spend a few hours on Museum Island, or walk along the East Side Gallery. Kreuzberg is a great option for its markets and street food, while the city’s famously late nightlife means midnight can feel like the beginning of the evening.

If you want to be drinking buddies with the Berlin Bear, book an off-peak Economy return from London to Berlin for 20,000 Avios plus £5 per person.

Madrid

Let's be honest, Madrid is not the first city that comes to mind when you think of the best craft beer destinations in Europe. But it probably should be. The scene has grown quickly since the early 2010s, and you can now find over 30 dedicated craft beer bars and taprooms in the city centre alone, with the Malasaña and La Latina neighbourhoods having the most options.

La Tape in Chueca can turn one beer into a full survey of Spanish craft brewing, thanks to its enormous 100-tap list. La Buena Cerveza on Calle del Amor de Dios keeps things nicely curated with a rotating selection of Spanish and international taps. Fabrica Maravillas in Malasaña is one of the originals, and still nails the Madrid formula: serious beer, zero fuss, and a room that feels more like a lively local bar than a shrine to hops.

Madrid is also bookable through British Airways Avios destinations as a partner redemption via Iberia. The Iberia Avios destinations redemption costs make Madrid and Barcelona both easy cases for a long weekend.

Beyond the beer: The Prado and Reina Sofia museums. The Retiro park. Jamon and vermouth at a market bar in La Latina. La Liga football, with Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid both based in the city.

An off-peak Economy return on Iberia from London to Madrid costs 26,000 Avios plus £25 per person.

Barcelona: The Best Beer-and-City-Break

The rivalry between Spain’s two greatest cities apparently isn't only restricted to the football field. Barcelona's craft beer scene arrived later than Madrid's, but it’s developed its own character, thanks to the city's Catalan identity and a long tradition of experimental food and drink culture.

The Eixample and Gràcia neighbourhoods have the highest concentration of craft beer bars and taprooms. Ale and Hop in the Born is one of the most respected craft beer bars in Spain, with an extraordinary selection of local and international beers. Edge Brewing in Poblenou produces American-influenced IPAs and stouts that have won international recognition. The Barcelona Beer Festival is held each March and draws breweries from across Europe to one of the continent's best craft beer festivals.

Beyond the beer: Barcelona also works if you want a combination of beach, architecture, food, and beer in a single trip. The La Boqueria market, Barceloneta beach, the Sagrada Familia, and a craft brewery crawl through Poblenou are not a contradictory itinerary. They’re a very good week.

You can fly an off-peak Economy return from London to Barcelona for 26,000 Avios plus £5 per person.

Best Destination For Your Needs

Now, for the cheat sheet you should carry in your back pocket for when beer goggles are making decision-making a little harder. Here are the best craft beer cities to visit based on the kind of vacation you want:

• Serious beer geeks: Portland. The density, variety, and depth of the scene are unmatched.
• Beer and sunshine: San Diego. Outdoor taprooms, Pacific views, and West Coast IPAs in their natural habitat.
• Beer and mountains: Denver. The Great American Beer Festival, 100-plus breweries, and the Rockies are forty-five minutes away.
• Best long-haul adventure: Tokyo. Craft brewing done with Japanese precision, ingredients you cannot find anywhere else, and one of the world's great food cities as a bonus.
• Best European beer weekend: Berlin. Short-haul Avios cost, exceptional beer history and a craft scene doing something completely new with it.
• Best beer-and-city-break: Barcelona. Architecture, beach, food, and a craft beer scene that has come a long way in a short time.
• Best family-friendly option: Vancouver or Denver. Both have outstanding outdoor activities and brewery taprooms that welcome families during daytime hours.

The pub crawl has evolved. It now involves a passport, a points balance, and a tap list downloaded before departure. There are worse ways to travel.

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