Best Pubs in London: A Neighborhood Guide

Fleet Street, City of London

Rebuilt in 1667 after the Great Fire, with a cellar bar that feels like drinking in a medieval cave. Dickens was a regular, Samuel Johnson lived next door, and the low ceilings and dark corners haven't changed much since. Order a pint of Samuel Smith's Organic (£4.50 - one of the cheapest pints in central London) and find the snug in the basement.

Go downstairs to the vaulted cellar bar - the ground floor is fine but the cellar is where the atmosphere lives. Weekday lunchtimes are quietest. Closes early on weekends.

Borough, South Bank

London's last surviving galleried coaching inn, owned by the National Trust. The wooden galleries date to 1677 and Shakespeare supposedly drank here (the original Globe was nearby). A pint of Greene King IPA in the courtyard on a summer evening is as close to time travel as London gets. Mains £14-18 in the dining room.

The courtyard is the draw - arrive by 5 PM on summer evenings to get a seat outside. Walk through to the back rooms for the oldest, most atmospheric sections.

Wapping, East London

London's oldest riverside pub (1520), perched on the Thames in Wapping with a wooden deck overlooking the water. Executions used to happen at the low-tide mark you can see from the terrace. Samuel Pepys and Charles Dickens both drank here. The sunset views downriver toward Canary Wharf are spectacular.

Come at sunset for the views from the riverside terrace. It's a 10-minute walk from Wapping Overground - slightly out of the way, which keeps the crowds manageable.

Covent Garden

Tucked down an alley off Garrick Street in Covent Garden, nicknamed the "Bucket of Blood" because of the bare-knuckle fights once held upstairs. It's been a pub since 1638. John Dryden was beaten up in the alley outside. Despite the central location, it retains genuine character - low ceilings, wooden floors, and a fireplace that earns its keep in winter.

The upstairs bar is quieter and has more space. Ground floor gets packed after 5 PM on weekdays. One of the few historic pubs in the tourist zone that's actually worth visiting.

Fulham

London's only Michelin-starred pub. The venison Scotch egg (£10) is legendary - a runny yolk inside seasoned venison mince, deep-fried to a golden crunch. The menu is meat-heavy and seasonal: game in winter, British seafood in summer. Mains £22-28 but the quality matches restaurants charging twice that.

Book 2 weeks ahead for dinner, especially weekends. Lunch is slightly easier. The bar menu is available without booking and still excellent at lower prices.

Clerkenwell

The pub that invented the gastropub concept in 1991. Still going strong with a daily-changing menu of Mediterranean-influenced dishes cooked in an open kitchen behind the bar. The steak sandwich (around £14) is the consistent hit. It's a proper pub that happens to serve excellent food - no tablecloths, no pretension.

No reservations - it's a pub, you just show up. Lunch is the best time - the kitchen opens at noon and the food runs until it's gone. Cash and card accepted.

Waterloo, South Bank

Consistently one of London's best gastropubs for over twenty years. The menu changes daily but the bone marrow on toast (when available) and the slow-cooked shoulder of lamb are the dishes people remember. Hearty, generous portions that suit the pub setting perfectly. Mains £16-24.

No reservations except Sunday lunch (book Thursday). Arrive at 5:30 PM for a 6 PM weekday table. The bar serves drinks while you wait and nobody rushes you.

Highgate

A Highgate pub that does the best Sunday roast in London - or at least the one that generates the most passionate arguments. The beef and Yorkshire pudding (£22) comes with roast potatoes that would make your grandmother jealous. The weekend brunch is also excellent, and Hampstead Heath is a 5-minute walk for the post-meal nap.

Book Sunday roast by Wednesday - it sells out every week. Walk off the meal on Hampstead Heath. The pub is right on the edge of the Heath at the Highgate end.

Hampstead

A Georgian pub hidden on a backstreet in Hampstead, with gas lighting, wood panelling, and the feeling of stepping into someone's very well-stocked living room. The ales are well-kept (try whatever's from a local brewery) and the food is solid gastropub fare. The walk up from Hampstead tube through the village streets is half the experience.

Go on a weekday evening when you can actually get a seat by the fire. Weekend afternoons get busy with Hampstead Heath walkers. The upstairs dining room is bookable for food.

Kensington

Famous for the extraordinary display of flowers covering the entire facade - in summer it looks like the building is being consumed by a hanging garden. Inside, it's a proper Kensington local with military memorabilia on every surface. The real secret: the Thai restaurant in the conservatory out back serves excellent curries for £10-12. A Churchill pub with Thai food - only London.

Come for the pub, stay for the Thai food. The conservatory restaurant is first-come-first-served and gets busy after 6:30 PM. Arrive early or eat at the bar if the restaurant is full.

Hammersmith

A riverside pub in Hammersmith with the smallest bar room in England - it's literally in the Guinness Book of World Records at 4 feet 2 inches by 7 feet 10 inches. The terrace overlooks the Thames and catches the afternoon sun beautifully. Ernest Hemingway, Graham Greene, and the composer of "Rule Britannia" all drank here.

Visit on a sunny afternoon for the riverside terrace. The tiny front bar is a novelty but the main bar and terrace are where you actually want to drink. Fuller's London Pride is the house beer.

Rotherhithe, South East London

The Rotherhithe pub where the Pilgrim Fathers' ship was moored before sailing to America in 1620. It's one of only a handful of pubs in England licensed to sell postage stamps (a relic of the maritime trade). The back deck extends over the Thames with views of the City skyline. The food is decent gastropub fare (mains £14-18).

The riverside deck at the back is the highlight - small but atmospheric. Take the Overground to Rotherhithe station, 3-minute walk. Worth the slight detour from central London.