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Nightlife in London

68 places from the A Reason to Stop library. Pick one to see what makes it worth a stop, then take the whole list with you in the free app.

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All nightlife spots

  • The Anchor BanksideA riverside pub on the south bank near Southwark Cathedral, on a site that has held a tavern for over 800 years and once served as the tap room for the adjacent Anchor Brewery.
  • Angie's FreehouseA small, traditional Brewer's Tudor-style Irish backstreet pub near Maida Vale that Time Out says pours some of the best Guinness in London, with darts, sport on TV and a mixed local crowd.
  • Big John's Biltong BarA ramshackle one-room Deptford dive bar with beer-mat-covered walls, cheap pints, house-made biltong and a sing-along crowd. Time Out named it London's best dive bar for 2026.
  • The Black FriarA wedge shaped Art Nouveau pub near Blackfriars station, decorated with bronze reliefs and marble mosaics depicting jolly monks.
  • The Blind BeggarA pub built in 1894 on Whitechapel Road, best known as where Ronnie Kray shot George Cornell in 1966. It serves lagers, craft ales and pizza, with a heated pergola garden.
  • The Blythe Hill TavernA Grade II-listed Victorian pub on the Forest Hill and Catford border, laid out as three tiny wood-panelled rooms with framed jockey portraits and known for its traditional Irish music sessions.
  • Bonne RouteA tiny, candlelit natural wine bar beside Harringay station that feels like someone's well-furnished living room. Time Out named it London's best wine bar for 2026.
  • Buckingham ArmsA late-Victorian Young's pub between Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey, popular with civil servants and MPs.
  • Buster MantisA Jamaican bar and restaurant spread across two railway arches off Deptford High Street, serving jerk, curry and rum cocktails by day before turning into a late-license nightclub with DJs on weekends.
  • Canal Café TheatreA 60-seat fringe theatre above the Bridge House Pub in Little Venice, at the meeting point of the Grand Union and Regent's Canals, and the permanent home of the satirical sketch show NewsRevue.
  • The Churchill ArmsAn 18th-century Kensington pub named for Winston Churchill's family ties, famous for its extravagant year-round floral display covering the whole building.
  • Coach & Horses (Greek Street)The Greek Street pub in Soho made famous by landlord Norman Balon, nicknamed London's rudest landlord, and by Private Eye's fortnightly lunches, with a wood-panelled 1970s feel and a quiet daytime atmosphere.
  • The Cock TavernA one-room 1930s Truman's pub on Mare Street with around eight changing cask beers and at least six real ciders, dark wood interiors and a tiny back garden.
  • The CockpitA Grade II-listed corner pub on St Andrew's Hill near Blackfriars, named after the blood sport of cockfighting and close to where Shakespeare bought a house.
  • The Cutty Sark TavernA Grade II-listed Georgian riverside pub on Ballast Quay, three storeys of bow windows over the Thames. A quieter, less touristy Greenwich pint than the town-centre pubs.
  • The DoveA Grade II-listed riverside pub on Hammersmith's Upper Mall, licensed since 1740 as the Dove's Coffee House and owned by Fuller's since 1796.
  • The DukeA Grade II-listed 1930s Art Deco pub on a quiet Bloomsbury backstreet, with original lino, period mirrors and a rear room of open timber-and-reeded-glass drinking booths.
  • Electric Shuffle (London Bridge)A shuffleboard and cocktail bar built into the railway arches beneath London Bridge station.
  • The Famous Royal OakA family-run Muswell Hill pub that looks like a flat-roofed school prefab outside but hides leather banquettes, a mahogany bar, a pool table and a garden with summer barbecues.
  • The FlaskA Grade II-listed pub on Highgate West Hill with a tavern recorded on the site since at least 1663, its name taken from the water flasks once sold there to collect spring water from Highgate and Hampstead Heath.
  • Flight Club VictoriaA social darts venue in the Nova development near Victoria station, blending traditional pub darts with radar-tracked scoring games.
  • Frank's CafeA summer-only rooftop bar atop a multi-storey car park in Peckham, run by the arts charity Bold Tendencies, with views across the City skyline and artwork built into the fabric of the building itself.
  • The French HouseA tiny, bohemian Dean Street bar where the crowd spills onto the pavement and beer is served only in halves. It has been a haunt of writers, artists and Soho eccentrics for generations, with a well-regarded restaurant upstairs.
  • The George InnLondon's last surviving galleried coaching inn, steps from Borough Market.
  • Gordon's Wine BarLondon's oldest wine bar, candlelit and cellar-dark, tucked below street level near Embankment since 1890.
  • The GrapesA narrow riverside pub on Narrow Street for close to 500 years.
  • The GrenadierA historic mews pub tucked down Wilton Row in Belgravia, built in 1720 as the officers' mess for the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards before opening to the public in 1818.
  • The HarpA narrow, award-winning real-ale pub just off Covent Garden, repeatedly named London's best pub by CAMRA.
  • The Holly BushA Grade II-listed multi-room pub on Holly Bush Hill in Hampstead, built in the 1790s as stables and later a catering wing for the Hampstead Assembly Rooms before becoming a pub in 1928.
  • The Holy TavernA candlelit pub on Britton Street in Clerkenwell, set in a building dating to 1720 that spent over 20 years as the Jerusalem Tavern before reopening under its current name in March 2022.
  • The Lamb & FlagA snug pub tucked down an alley off Garrick Street, one of the oldest drinking spots in Covent Garden.
  • Little Nan's BarA maximalist, kitsch cocktail bar inside a Deptford Market Yard railway arch, decorated with Union Jacks, leopard print and knick-knacks in tribute to the owner's grandmother, serving cocktails by the teapot.
  • The Lord ClydeA Grade II listed Victorian corner pub in Southwark with green and cream ceramic tiling, tucked down a side street near Borough Market.
  • Maggie's BarA small Irish pub in Kensal Rise, run by Maggie Hammill since 1988, when she converted it from a takeaway pizza joint.
  • Mannions Prince ArthurAn unpretentious Irish pub in South Tottenham with a pool table, sport on the screens, Friday karaoke and a portrait of the landlord and landlady on horseback.
  • The Marquis of LorneA Grade II listed Victorian corner pub in Stockwell wrapped in gold, jade and brown glazed tiles. Inside it is a down-to-earth local with a free jukebox.
  • The MayflowerA 16th-century riverside pub in Rotherhithe with a wooden jetty over the Thames, named for the ship that sailed from nearby.
  • The MitreA Grade II listed Victorian pub near Paddington and Lancaster Gate with etched glass, mosaic floors and a speakeasy style bar downstairs.
  • The MontpelierA pub on Choumert Road with a Saturday DJ line-up, Sunday live jazz sessions, and a 30-seat back room that doubles as its own small cinema.
  • Mr Fogg's TavernA Victorian-themed tavern in the historic Covent Garden Market Building, built around the fictional conceit of adventurer Phileas Fogg's own eccentric gathering place.
  • The Museum TavernA Bloomsbury pub directly opposite the British Museum, dating to 1723 and renamed from the Dog and Duck when the museum opened across the street in 1759.
  • The Nag's HeadA tiny Belgravia pub crammed with vintage bric-a-brac and penny slots, with the lowest bar counter in London and a rule against mobile phones.
  • The Old Bank of EnglandA grand Italianate pub on Fleet Street built in 1886 as the Law Courts branch of the Bank of England, which operated there until 1975 before being converted into a pub.
  • The Old Nun's HeadA 1930s timber-framed pub on Nunhead Green that Time Out calls the funnest pub in London, and a queer-friendly local with cabaret and quirky nights.
  • The Old ShipA Victorian corner pub in Limehouse known for drag and LGBT+ cabaret, a large real ale selection and fresh filled rolls.
  • The Palm TreeA Grade II-listed 1930s pub standing alone in Mile End Park near the Regent's Canal after wartime bombing and later demolition cleared the streets around it, with a cash-only bar and regular live jazz.
  • The Pride of SpitalfieldsA traditional East End pub tucked just off Brick Lane, with a name change in the 1980s and a possible link to the Jack the Ripper case.
  • The Prince EdwardA preserved 1860s Holloway boozer with a Lincrusta ceiling, burgundy banquettes, etched glass and rare copper relief panels. It is one of north London's finest unspoilt pub interiors and still feels like a proper wet-led local.
  • The Princess LouiseA Grade II* listed Victorian pub on High Holborn, prized for its tiled walls, gilded mirrors, Corinthian columns and rare snob screens dividing the bar into booths.
  • The Prospect of WhitbyA riverside pub dating to around 1520, one of London's oldest.
  • The Royal Oak (Polly Clean Stairs)A Grade II-listed pub in Bexleyheath nicknamed 'The Polly', with a beamed ceiling, an L-shaped bar, a large beer garden and regular quiz, karaoke and music nights.
  • The Royal Vauxhall TavernSouth London's oldest surviving queer venue, a Grade II-listed 1860s tavern with a long run of drag, cabaret and themed club nights. It was the first UK building listed for its LGBTQ+ history.
  • The SalisburyA late Victorian West End pub on St Martin's Lane with etched glass, carved wood and bronze Art Nouveau nymphs, listed on CAMRA's National Inventory of historic pub interiors.
  • Satan's WhiskersBethnal Green's original neighbourhood cocktail bar, known for exceptional classic cocktails, a daily-changing menu and an old-school hip-hop soundtrack.
  • The Seven StarsA Grade II-listed pub on Carey Street behind the Royal Courts of Justice, dating from at least 1602 and among the oldest surviving pub buildings in London.
  • The Shepherd & FlockA small, one-room Irish pub on Goldhawk Road dating from 1869, with dark wood panelling, cosy nooks and sport on the TV.
  • Sherlock HolmesA Victorian-themed pub near Trafalgar Square with an upstairs replica of Sherlock Holmes's Baker Street study, built from a 1951 Festival of Britain exhibit.
  • The Ship TavernA 500-year-old Holborn pub tucked down a passage near Lincoln's Inn Fields, reputedly once a hiding place for outlawed Catholic priests.
  • Skinner's ArmsA traditional pub in Bloomsbury with wood panelling and leaded windows, sitting quietly a short walk from King's Cross and St Pancras stations.
  • The Southampton ArmsA small independent ale and cider house on Highgate Road near Hampstead Heath, serving only beer and cider from independent UK producers in a dark-wood, pew-seated old-fashioned room.
  • The Spaniards InnA coaching inn on the edge of Hampstead Heath, dating to 1585.
  • Trafalgar TavernA Grade II listed Regency pub on the Thames beside the Old Royal Naval College, opened in 1837 and once drunk in by Dickens.
  • The Warrington HotelA grand 1850s gin palace in Maida Vale with a gold-tiled entrance, mosaic floors, Art Nouveau touches and a Titanic-style staircase to the toilets, yet a reasonably priced local.
  • The Wenlock ArmsA small, no-nonsense 1835 corner pub in Hoxton, saved from demolition through community campaigning, with rotating cask ales, a house mild and real cider.
  • The White CrossA Grade II-listed riverside pub on Richmond's Thames bank, famous for flooding at high tide, when staff keep serving and the pub provides wellies, with a waterfront terrace.
  • The Windsor CastleA Grade II-listed pub from the 1820s on Campden Hill Road near Holland Park, said to be named for the view of Windsor Castle once visible from the site on a clear day.
  • Ye Olde Cheshire CheeseA warren of dark, low-beamed rooms rebuilt in 1667 after the Great Fire, once a haunt of Dickens and Dr Johnson.
  • Ye Olde MitreA tiny 16th-century pub hidden down an unmarked alley off Hatton Garden, easy to walk straight past if you don't know it's there.

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