The 26 Best Pubs in London (2026)

Fleet Street and the City. Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese is the pub most visitors have heard of, and it earns the visit for its rooms rather than its reputation. Its listing dates it to the late 17th century, so it went up in the years after the Great Fire, over a vaulted cellar of the same age. Inside it's a maze on three levels: panelling that may be 17th century, a Victorian bar counter, big fireplaces, and drinking rooms down in the cellars. The famous-regular stories (Dr Johnson, Dickens, Twain) are the pub's own; CAMRA calls them alleged. The owner is Samuel Smith's, the Tadcaster brewery that pours only its own beer in its pubs, and the Chop Room's signature is a steak and kidney suet pudding at £19.95. The catches: it's firmly on the tourist trail, and the stairs and levels rule out wheelchairs entirely. Blackfriars station is seven minutes away.

If I had time for one London pub interior, it would be The Blackfriar. It's a wedge-shaped Victorian pub opposite Blackfriars station, remodelled in the early 1900s by the architect H. Fuller Clark with the sculptors Henry Poole and Frederick Callcott, and it's listed at Grade II*. Every surface is marble, mosaic or copper, with reliefs of jolly friars (the pub stands on the site of a Dominican friary). The back room, the Grotto, is a barrel-vaulted mosaic room dug out of a railway vault, with mottoes like 'Haste is slow' on the walls. The poet John Betjeman led the 1960s campaign that saved it from demolition. It's a Nicholson's chain pub, so the beer and food are standard: the steak and pale ale pie is £20.50. CAMRA describes the crowd as office workers and tourists, so expect an after-work crush on weekdays.

Behind the Royal Courts of Justice, the Seven Stars is a tiny lawyers' pub with 1602 painted on its front. CAMRA reckons the building itself dates from about the 1680s, which still makes it old; the 'oldest pub in London' label is one that others give it. The name comes from the seven provinces of the Netherlands, after the Dutch sailors who drank here. The fittings are Victorian, there's a snug called the Wig Box, and the walls are covered in posters of courtroom films. It's run by the publican Roxy Beaujolais, beer comes from Adnams and smaller brewers, and the food is a daily blackboard menu. It takes no reservations, and the only way to the toilets is up a steep, very narrow staircase. On weekday evenings the crowd spills onto the pavement, so lunchtime is the easy slot. Chancery Lane is seven minutes away.

Holborn and Clerkenwell. Ye Olde Mitre is hidden down Ely Court, a narrow alley between Ely Place and Hatton Garden that most people walk straight past. The tavern is believed to have been founded in 1546 for the servants of the Bishop of Ely's London palace; the current building is from about 1773. In the front bar, the trunk of an old cherry tree is kept behind glass, and the pub tells the story that Elizabeth I danced round it, which is legend. The panelled rooms and the tiny snug called Ye Closet have no music, no TV and no fruit machines. It pours seven real ales, including at least three guests, and local CAMRA members voted it their pub of the year for 2025. The limits: food is a £9.95 ham and cheese toastie or a £7.50 pie, it shuts at 9pm on Saturdays, and it's closed on Sundays. Chancery Lane is five minutes away.

Cittie of Yorke looks medieval and mostly isn't. The 1430 on the front marks how long there's been a pub on the site, but the building you drink in dates from 1923 to 1924. It's still one of my favourite rooms in London for a pint. The back hall has a high timber roof, a very long bar, big vats on a gallery above it, and a row of carved wooden booths. It's a Samuel Smith's pub, so the beer is cheap by London standards, and the kitchen does a steak, shin and ale pie for £18.50. There's no food on Sundays and the pub closes at 6pm that day. It's quietest early in the afternoon, which is the time to get a booth. It's two minutes from Chancery Lane station.

For Victorian decoration, the Princess Louise on High Holborn is the one. Built in 1872 and fitted out in 1891, it's listed at Grade II*, with tiled walls, gilded mirrors, a mahogany island bar and a moulded ceiling. In 2007 and 2008 Samuel Smith's put back the original layout of small rooms divided by wood and etched-glass screens, so you drink in a booth with its own door to the bar. Even the basement gents is listed. CAMRA calls the beer especially good value for London, and the pie is £18.50. The partitions cut both ways: good for a quiet conversation, a bit dead if you want a buzz. It's two minutes from Holborn station.

The Lamb on Lamb's Conduit Street, first recorded in 1731, keeps a double row of snob screens: small hinged etched-glass panels around the bar that once gave drinkers privacy from the bar staff. There's a working 19th-century polyphon, a kind of music box, that plays for a charity donation, and otherwise no music. The pub says Dickens is said to have drunk here; treat that as its story. It's a Young's pub serving its cask ales and guests, with fish and chips at £20. The ground floor was kept as it was in a refurbishment in May and June 2026, and the upstairs is now more of a dining room. The main bar is one fairly small room, so it fills quickly. Russell Square is seven minutes away.

The Eagle is where the gastropub is generally reckoned to have started. Michael Belben and the chef David Eyre opened it in January 1991, cooking proper food in an open kitchen behind the bar of an ordinary Farringdon Road pub, and it has had only three head chefs since. The menu is chalked on a blackboard and changes twice a day, and the steak sandwich is the dish it's known for. It's mostly walk-in: small tables are first come, first served, and only tables of five to ten can book, by phone. Food arrives when it's ready, not all at once, and on Sundays the pub closes at 5pm. It's ten minutes from Farringdon station, near Exmouth Market.

Covent Garden and Soho. Down an alley off Rose Street, the Lamb & Flag is the Covent Garden pub I'd pick over the ones on the piazza. The pub's own history puts the first record of a pub here at 1772, when it was the Coopers Arms, and it became the Lamb & Flag in 1833. In 1679 the poet John Dryden was beaten up in the alley outside by thugs hired by the Earl of Rochester. The 'Bucket of Blood' nickname from bare-knuckle fights, and the stories that Dickens and Karl Marx drank here, are legend. Downstairs are two small, dark, low-beamed rooms; upstairs is the Dryden Room, where you can book to eat fish and chips at £20.95. After work the drinkers fill the alley, summer and winter. Covent Garden station is three minutes away.

The Harp, on Chandos Place behind Trafalgar Square, is my pick for beer in the West End. In 2010 it became the first London pub to win CAMRA's National Pub of the Year, and it still runs ten hand pumps of cask ale plus traditional ciders and perries. It's one narrow bar with mirrors and portraits, no music and no TV, and a small lounge upstairs. Food is only sandwiches, pork pies and bar snacks, and it closes at 8pm on Sundays. CAMRA says it can become very crowded, and it's popular with musicians and stage crew from the nearby Coliseum, so come mid-afternoon if you want a stool. It's three minutes from Charing Cross station and dogs are welcome.

The French House on Dean Street has its own rules. Beer comes in half pints only (pints are poured on one charity day a year, 1 April), there's no cask ale, phones aren't allowed, and most people drink wine. During the Second World War it was the unofficial headquarters of the Free French in London under its landlord Gaston Berlemont; the names said to have drunk here since (Dylan Thomas, Francis Bacon) are part of Soho lore. It's a single small bar of 1930s panelling, walls covered in photos of regulars. You can't book for drinks, but the upstairs restaurant takes bookings for lunch and dinner, Monday to Saturday. It's small and packed most evenings, and people end up drinking on the street. Leicester Square is five minutes away.

Mayfair, Belgravia and Kensington. The Guinea is a small Young's pub in a Mayfair mews with a steak restaurant behind it. CAMRA dates the building to 1741; the pub's claim of an inn here since 1423 is one CAMRA calls highly unlikely. The front bar keeps a rare low screen dividing a tiny Private Bar from the Lounge Bar. The restaurant opened in 1952 and the pub bills it as London's original steakhouse, with meat on display at the entrance. It's Mayfair-priced: the beef, Guinness and oyster pot pie is £35. Book the restaurant; the bar is walk-in but short on seats. Children must be 12 or over, dogs are allowed in the bar only, and the restaurant is wheelchair accessible. Green Park is nine minutes away.

The Grenadier is tucked into Wilton Row, a Belgravia mews off a quiet street, with a red sentry box outside (a modern addition). It was built in 1843 as the New Grenadier, and the ceiling is covered in banknotes from around the world. The pub tells the story of Cedric, a soldier beaten to death for cheating at cards, whose ghost is said to haunt it; CAMRA says the ghost story and the Duke of Wellington link belong to an earlier tavern nearby, so take them as legend. It's tiny, with a pewter-topped bar, no TV and no music, and a couple of back rooms for diners. The beef Wellington is £39.95. The pub advises booking, even for two. It's five minutes from Hyde Park Corner station.

The Churchill Arms on Kensington Church Street is the pub with the flowers: its front is covered in them most of the year, and in Christmas trees each winter. Its history is muddled. The pub says it was built in 1750 and renamed because Winston Churchill's grandparents drank here; CAMRA dates it to 1824 and says it isn't named after him at all. What's certain is the room: a 1930s fit-out, a ceiling hung with bric-a-brac and Churchill prints, and a conservatory that serves Thai food, as it has since 1988. Pad Thai is £14 and the restaurant adds 12.5%. It's a Fuller's pub with London Pride and ESB on cask. CAMRA says it gets extremely busy, so book for dinner. There are no wheelchair-accessible toilets. Notting Hill Gate is five minutes away.

Borough and Southwark. The George Inn is London's only surviving galleried coaching inn, rebuilt in 1676 after a fire swept through Southwark, and CAMRA says it's the only purpose-built pub in London listed at Grade I. Part of the inn was demolished in 1889 for railway warehousing, but the wooden galleries survive on two upper floors above a large cobbled yard. The National Trust has owned it since 1937. Inside, the Parliament Bar has some of the oldest pub woodwork anywhere. Two things to know: Greene King runs it, so the food is a chain menu (fish and chips £19.95) and the beer is ordinary. And CAMRA notes three steps down to the bar with no accessible toilet, so call ahead if that matters. The courtyard tables are walk-in only. London Bridge is seven minutes away.

The Market Porter, on the corner of Borough Market, still opens from 6am to 9am on weekdays, a tradition from when it served the market's workers. The ground floor is one busy bar with Harvey's Sussex Best as the regular among five changing cask beers. Upstairs is a dining room looking over the market. Fish and chips on the July 2026 bar menu is £20.50, and on Mondays fish and chips with a drink (a pint of Harvey's counts) is £19. CAMRA warns that drinkers spill onto Stoney Street, especially at weekends, and it's card only. A weekday afternoon is the time to go. London Bridge is eight minutes away.

A minute away, The Rake is the Borough beer bar, a single tiny room at the edge of the market run by the Utobeer team. It has four hand pumps and 18 keg taps with nothing permanent, plus a big bottle range and often real cider. There's only light food, but with permission you can bring something in from the market. Seats are scarce and it's often packed, so aim for opening time. It's card only, and CAMRA notes it can close early in winter. The side entrance has a ramp and there's an accessible toilet. London Bridge is nine minutes away.

The river, east. For American visitors, the Mayflower in Rotherhithe comes with a story: the Mayflower ship took on passengers here in July 1620, and its captain, Christopher Jones, is buried at St Mary's church nearby. The pub itself opened in 1780 as the Shippe; the Tudor-looking interior is a 1957 recreation, and 'oldest pub on the Thames' is its own claim. The best seat is the wooden jetty out over the river, which is walk-in only. The Mayflower is one of the few pubs that publishes its prices: cask ale is £5.80 to £6.20 a pint by strength, and pies are £19.50. There are a few steps at the entrance and no accessible toilet. Rotherhithe station on the Overground (Windrush line) is three minutes away.

One stop across the river on the Overground, the Prospect of Whitby in Wapping calls itself the oldest riverside tavern in the country and dates itself to 1520; that's the pub's claim, but it was listed at Grade II in 1950 and it was originally called the Pelican. The pewter-topped bar sits on old barrels. A noose hangs over the river outside, a nod to Execution Dock nearby, and the Hanging Judge Jeffreys tales that go with it are legend. The riverside terrace and the upstairs balcony are why you come. Greene King runs it, so the food is its standard menu (fish and chips £19.95), and it's popular with tourists. It's step-free with an accessible toilet. Wapping station is eight minutes away.

The Grapes in Limehouse is a narrow Georgian pub on the river, built between about 1787 and 1797 according to CAMRA; the pub says a pub has stood here for nearly 500 years. The pub says Dickens put it into the opening chapter of Our Mutual Friend, though CAMRA notes several pubs claim the same honour. One of its leaseholders is Sir Ian McKellen, and a Gandalf staff is fixed behind the bar. At the back, the Dickens Snug opens onto a tiny terrace over the Thames. Fish and chips is £19.50. There are rules: no bookings, no under-18s, and the toilets are upstairs. It's small, so you'll stand unless you're early. Westferry on the DLR is nine minutes away.

The Trafalgar Tavern in Greenwich has the river frontage I'd pick over any other in London: bow windows and balconies right on the Thames beside the Old Royal Naval College. It opened in 1837, closed in 1915, and reopened as a pub in 1965, when craftsmen from Pinewood Studios remodelled the inside, which is why it looks a little like a film set. It lists its prices: the house Trafalgar Bitter is £6 and whitebait, the dish the tavern's own history says it was famous for, is £9. Recent Google reviews are mixed on the food and the service, with waits at the bar when it's busy, so I'd come for a pint and the view rather than dinner. It's open every day of the year. Cutty Sark on the DLR is ten minutes away.

The river, west. The Dove sits on the Upper Mall in Hammersmith, a riverside path of old houses, and it's the prettiest of the west London river pubs. CAMRA dates the building to the early 18th century; it was licensed by 1740 as a coffee house, and Fuller's has owned it since 1796. The snug is claimed by Guinness World Records as the smallest public bar in Britain, though a beer historian's research suggests it was only created after 1911, so enjoy it as a claim. A plaque marks the 1928 flood, when the bar stood waist-deep in water. Out the back, a vine-covered conservatory leads to the Thames terrace, which can't be booked. Fish and chips is £19.95. It's crowded in summer and doesn't take cash. Ravenscourt Park station is seven minutes away.

North London. The Euston Tap is a beer bar in one of the two stone lodges that once flanked the entrance to Euston station, listed at Grade II. The ground floor is a single tiled room with the taps on the back wall and a screen showing train departures; a curving staircase leads up to more seats and the toilets. The list is ten keg and five cask lines, heavy on German and Czech beers. There's no food beyond crisps, it's card only, and indoor seating is tiny, so most people use the covered garden. It's three minutes from Euston station, which makes it the pint to have before a train north.

Up a side street off Hampstead's steep Heath Street, The Holly Bush is a village pub in a building from about 1797, first a stable and later part of an assembly rooms, which became a pub in the mid-19th century. The rooms keep their old character: a panelled bar, a tiny snug and a front room still labelled the Coffee Room in the window glass, with an open fire. It's a Fuller's pub that now leans towards dining, and it isn't cheap: the chalk stream trout is £34 on the dinner menu. The bar area is small and fills up, so book to eat. There's a deep step at the door and no accessible toilet, and it's card only. Hampstead station is three minutes away.

On the other side of Hampstead Heath, The Flask in Highgate Village has a building listed at Grade II that may be early 18th century, partly rebuilt in 1767. The name comes from the flasks it sold for collecting water from the local springs. Its best feature is an old bar between two rooms, enclosed by sliding glazed sashes. The ghosts, the story that Dick Turpin hid in the cellar and the famous poets who supposedly drank here all come from the pub's own lore. A lot of the space is a newer extension, so ask for the old rooms. The beef and ale pie is £19.95. The walk from Highgate station takes about a quarter of an hour.

The Southampton Arms on Highgate Road calls itself an ale and cider house, and it only sells beer and cider from small independent British breweries: seven cask ales, six real ciders and eight keg lines. It's one long room with pews, old brewery mirrors and a fire. CAMRA named it London's regional pub of the year in 2011. Food is bar snacks only (pork pies, scotch eggs, roast pork baps). There's no phone, no bookings and no coffee, and the gents is outside. It now takes cards as well as cash. Gospel Oak on the Overground is six minutes away and Tufnell Park on the Northern line ten.