Among the many points in its favour are a brewery; a uniquely comprehensive bottle-shop, the House of Trembling Madness; one of the country's most evocative pubs, the Blue Bell; and, on the station, the latest of the exceptional Tap bars, following the Sheffield and Euston operations.

Wokingham, for its part (although local experts acknowledge it's no longer the town with the most pubs by population) has an impressive six pubs listed in the Good Beer Guide (and, no, cynics, none of them are Wetherspoons), including the Broad Street Tavern, three-times Berkshire CAMRA's pub of the year.

If, however, we're talking about a place with an unusual density of good beer, I'd nominate Altrincham, near Manchester. Go a bit further down the road and you're in Cheshire, a whole different kettle of footballer's wives and cocktail bars. But in Altrincham, beer rules. Most remarkable - considering the town's mere 40,000 population - is the cluster of three Belgian and specialist world beer bars: the Brew House; subterranean beer-boudoir, Mort Subite; (which has recently opened a tiny off licence, Bier Cell) and the Belgian Bar. If you're on a (civilised) crawl, it could not be more convenient. All three even do table service; you don't have to move, the beer comes to you.

A minute's walk away is the local brewery, Dunham Massey's brewery-tap bar, Costello's. It may look like the lobby of a Travelodge, but what it lacks in atmosphere, it makes up for in good, affordable beer. Indeed, the town is something of a bargain hunter's paradise, with the Railway Inn - a Joseph Holt's pub, on the way to Sale - and Samuel Smith's atmospheric vintage ale house, the Malt Shovels both serving eminently drinkable beer at knockdown prices. Read it and weep, southerners, but the Old Brewery bitter in the Malt Shovels is just 1.65 a pint.

My favourite Altrincham pub is the Market Tavern, a big, convivial old barn of a place with 10 well-kept ales on tap, real cider, the lot. Start your evening there, with a pint of George Wright's Northern Lights (5.1%, dry, exhilaratingly hoppy, lip-smackingly fruity), and I guarantee you that, two-thirds in, you will suddenly feel that warm, reassuring glow of contentment and decompression that confirms that this is going to be a good night.

That said, there is strong regional competition. In the Grove, the Star Inn and their ilk, Huddersfield has a circuit of real ale pubs that many aficionados would claim is the finest in West Yorkshire. Alternatively, the trans-Pennine real ale rail route - stopping off at station pubs (including two in Huddersfield) is, uniquely, a pub-crawl that offers door-to-door service. Would either of these qualify as your ideal Christmas booze-up?

Further afield, what of Edinburgh, Chester or an extended drinking tour of Liverpool? Would you consider a crawl that ranged from the Baltic Fleet via Cain's Brewery Tap to the Fly in the Loaf to be too spread out, or is a reviving stroll between pubs an essential factor in a successful day's drinking?

It is my neck of the woods of course, but even allowing for my natural regional bias, I reckon you'd have to go pretty far to beat Altrincham for beer quality and choice. Come on, booze Britain, it's time to share your wisdom. Where would you choose to go on a Christmas pub crawl?