Bars & Pubs

Fire Station

The London County Council's grand Edwardian fire station on Waterloo Road was converted into one of the city's early gastrobars in the 1990s. The restaurant's in the...

Waterloo: 150 Waterloo Road, SE1 8SB

Distance: 0 mls

King's Arms

On one of central London’s last remaining terraces of Victorian workers’ cottages, this corner pub is now firmly on the tourist map, but also remains a firm...

Waterloo: 25 Roupell Street, SE1 8TB

Distance: 0.1 mls

The Anchor & Hope

Waterloo's most famous gastropub remains a good place for a drink, though dining is certainly the main event, and it can become impossibly busy. Nibbles such as polish...

Waterloo: 36 The Cut, SE1 8LP

Distance: 0.2 mls

White Hart

Popular with employees from South Bank media offices, this bustling corner pub has big windows looking onto the short cut to Waterloo station. As well as several wheat...

Waterloo: 29-30 Cornwall Road, SE1 8TJ

Distance: 0.2 mls

Hole in the Wall

Better than an ATM, the HITW is an unreconstructed drinking hole in 'the wall' of the old South Eastern Railway's line into Charing Cross. In a calculated snub to the...

Waterloo: 5 Mepham Street, SE1 8SQ

Distance: 0.2 mls

Baltic

An unlikely find on Blackfriars Road, the Baltic is sleek, chic and discreet. The exceptional north-east European restaurant is a bright and airy Grade II-listed...

Waterloo: 74 Blackfriars Road, SE1 8HA

Distance: 0.2 mls

Crown

A thoroughly successful pub renovation, the Crown is worth the walk down bleak Blackfriars Road. Often less crowded than nearby locals, it's a comfortable, vaguely...

Waterloo: 108 Blackfriars Road, SE1 8HW

Distance: 0.2 mls

Rose & Crown

Probably the oldest pub in the area, oddly marooned by World War II bomb damage to the surrounding houses and their subsequent redevelopment into offices, the Rose...

Waterloo: 47 Columbo Street, SE1 8DP

Distance: 0.3 mls

Lord Nelson

A drab 1950s council estate façade hides one of the funkiest little pubs in south London. Kitsch and cosy thanks to a wall-length beach theme, the Nelson's decor also...

London Bridge: 243 Union Street, SE1 0LR

Distance: 0.4 mls

Concrete

Thank the Lord. Starbucks has gone and in its place is a classy little bar/café with the tongue-in-cheek name of Concrete (set, as it is, in the vast Brutalist...

Waterloo: The Hayward, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX

Distance: 0.4 mls

Skylon

There can't be many better transport views than this in all of London. Sit at the cocktail bar (in between the two restaurant areas), and gaze out of what seems like a...

Waterloo: Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX

Distance: 0.4 mls

Three Stags

The Three Stags has been through a turbulent period of late. Following an ill-advised flirtation with admitting diners only, new ownership has seen it recapture its...

Waterloo: 67-69 Kennington Road, SE1 7PZ

Distance: 0.4 mls

Charles Dickens

You would have to know it's here, this unprepossessing freehouse by the mainline rails heading out from London Bridge station, but regulars can always be found as you...

London Bridge: 160 Union Street, SE1 0LH

Distance: 0.4 mls

Wine Theatre

Disappointing wine bar

Bermondsey: 202-206 Union St, SE1 0LH

Distance: 0.4 mls

Ministry of Sound

With venues around the world not to mention compilations released every month of the year, the Ministry of Sound makes no bones about being a mega-successful clubbing...

Waterloo: 103 Gaunt Street, SE1 6DP

Distance: 0.6 mls

Lord Clyde

A marvellous neighbourhood boozer. Through a red-curtained entrance, cherry banquettes surround a neat bar counter, a fireplace, timeless pub paraphernalia and no...

London Bridge: 27 Clennam Street, SE1 1ER

Distance: 0.6 mls

Red Lion

'A Great British Tradition' runs the wording around this 600-year-old pub between the Cenotaph and Big Ben. And with Spitfire, Courage Directors, Fuller's London...

Westminster: 48 Parliament Street, SW1A 2NH

Distance: 0.7 mls

Gordon's

One of London’s oldest bars, Gordon’s is adorned with sweaty, stained alcoves and cobwebs. Surprisingly this appeals to a young, trendy crowd, but you’re still...

Strand: 47 Villiers Street, WC2N 6NE

Distance: 0.7 mls

The Gladstone Arms

This may just be the coolest little pub in south-east London. The landlord has form, having run the equally bijou (and largely undiscovered) Smersh in Shoreditch and...

London Bridge: 64 Lant Street, SE1 1QN

Distance: 0.7 mls

Edgar Wallace

His bust sitting attentively on the bar counter, the pre-war penman would have appreciated this neat, well-run pub serving handpump ales and decent wines to a mainly...

Aldwych: 40 Essex Street, WC2R 3JE

Distance: 0.7 mls

Black Friar

This curiously wedge-shaped pub at the north end of Blackfriars Bridge lures significant numbers of people away from their desks at 6pm - particularly in summer, when...

City: 174 Queen Victoria Street, EC4V 4EG

Distance: 0.7 mls

Champagne Charlies (branch of Davy's)

Strand: 17 The Arches, off Villiers Street, WC2N 6NG

Distance: 0.7 mls

Island

Fancy splashing your cash? Gorgeous to a fault - all bare brick walls, slick 1970s wallpaper and cream sofas - with a mezzanine to pose on, this new West End...

Strand: Hungerford Lane, WC2N 6NG

Distance: 0.7 mls

Boot & Flogger

A marvellous anachronism, the Boot & Flogger was until recently the only hostelry in the UK that had the right to sell wine without having a licence, thanks to a...

London Bridge: 10-20 Redcross Way, SE1 1TA

Distance: 0.7 mls

Ship & Shovell

Sir Cloudesley Shovell is a strange enough character to name a pub after, let alone two facing each other prow to prow at the Thames end of the Arches. Both taverns...

Trafalgar Square: 1-3 Craven Passage, WC2N 5PH

Distance: 0.7 mls

Retro Bar

Hidden down a quaint alley, and seemingly frozen in 1984, the Retro Bar is one of London's most eccentric gay bars. A framed black and white photograph of Boy George,...

Trafalgar Square: 2 George Court, WC2N 6HH

Distance: 0.7 mls

El Vino

City: 30 New Bridge Street, EC4V 6BJ

Distance: 0.7 mls

CellarDoor

Public convenience turned public bar

Covent Garden: Zero Aldwych, WC2E 7DN

Distance: 0.8 mls

Bedford & Strand

With its glass-topped wood dividers, B&S looks more like a Yates’s wine lodge than a hip bar, but it’s one of the few non-touristy places in this part of town and...

Covent Garden: 1A Bedford Street, WC2E 9HH

Distance: 0.8 mls