Bars & Pubs

Rockwell

Sleek whisky bar

Trafalgar Square: The Trafalgar Hilton Hotel, 2 Spring Gardens, SW1A 2TS

Distance: 0.1 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: 0.1 mls

ICA Bar

Having paid the £2 day membership fee (and thus skirting a local law concerning alcohol sales and nearby Buckingham Palace), walk through the ICA gallery to what at...

Trafalgar Square: The Mall, SW1Y 5AH

Distance: 0.1 mls

Champagne Charlies (branch of Davy's)

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

Distance: 0.2 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: 0.2 mls

Terroirs

Artisan-made food and ‘natural’ wines

Strand: 5 William IV St, WC2N 4DW

Distance: 0.2 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: 0.2 mls

International

Surrounded by dismal chains, this chic and cosmopolitan bar-eaterie easily stands out. With abstract paintings on the walls and the salon feel of the burgundy divans,...

Leicester Square: 116 St Martin's Lane, WC2N 4BF

Distance: 0.2 mls

Brumus Bar

As you'd expect of the main bar at London's most talked-about new hotel, Brumus is a handsome chap. More surprising, it isn't a bit snobbish - in fact, on a Saturday...

Piccadilly: Haymarket Hotel, 1 Suffolk Place, SW1Y 4BP

Distance: 0.2 mls

Electric Bird Cage

The distinctively theatrical hand of bar and club designer Shaun Clarkson - responsible for Covent Garden's Denim, La Pigalle and countless other opulent interiors -...

Piccadilly: 11 Haymarket, SW1Y 4BP

Distance: 0.2 mls

Harp

This honest little boozer diagonally opposite Charing Cross Post Office brings in blokey regulars who like to mull over the racing form. Apart from the engaging...

Leicester Square: 47 Chandos Place, WC2N 4HS

Distance: 0.2 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: 0.3 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: 0.3 mls

Salisbury

There's now a cashpoint by the door and a rainbow of WKDs in the fridge, but glimpses of modernity are still largely absent from this Victorian landmark. All cut-glass...

Leicester Square: 90 St Martin's Lane, WC2N 4AP

Distance: 0.3 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: 0.3 mls

Cork & Bottle

A cosy, tucked-away place for those in-the-know, this basement bar is one of the few independent establishments left around Leicester Square. A Mumm Champagne window...

Leicester Square: 44-46 Cranbourn Street, WC2H 7AN

Distance: 0.3 mls

Porterhouse

Irish by nationality but remarkably global by nature, this gleaming, multi-spaced hostelry has a gregarious, no-nonsense vibe. Underpinning it all are draught stouts...

Covent Garden: 21-22 Maiden Lane, WC2E 7NA

Distance: 0.4 mls

Maple Leaf

'This public house is dedicated to the friendship between Britons and Canadians', says the sign. Inside, a recent refurb has kept the log-cabin atmosphere which, with...

Covent Garden: 41 Maiden Lane, WC2E 7LJ

Distance: 0.4 mls

Lamb & Flag

A pub for over 300 years and a fixture on Rose Street for longer, the unabashedly traditional Lamb & Flag is always a squeeze, but no one seems to mind. Character...

Covent Garden: 33 Rose Street, WC2E 9EB

Distance: 0.4 mls

Pigalle Club

This sleek, chic, basement supper club (part of the Vince Power stable) is all about 1940s-style glamour: low lighting, olive-green carpets, antique fittings and...

Piccadilly: 215-217 Piccadilly, W1J 9HN

Distance: 0.4 mls

Blue Posts

One of several in central London, this particular Blue Posts in the heart of Soho's gay quarter is professionally run and amiably staffed. Guests, gay and straight,...

Leicester Square: 28 Rupert Street, W1D 6DJ

Distance: 0.4 mls

Bar Rumba

Bar Rumba says it's a fave with Londoners, and we believe it. Open since 1993 but still packing them in, this West End basement venue puts on some of the most esteemed...

Piccadilly: 36 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 7ER

Distance: 0.4 mls

5th View

There are few more indulgent pleasures than whiling away a couple of hours in a pub with a good book. But what about drinking in a bookshop? Set on the fifth floor of...

St James's: 5th floor, Waterstone's, 203-206 Piccadilly, W1J 9HA

Distance: 0.4 mls

De Hems

Benelux beers are ubiquitous these days, but there was a time when few venues purveyed pilsners and lagers from the Low Countries. This ornate-fronted hostelry on the...

Leicester Square: 11 Macclesfield Street, W1D 5BW

Distance: 0.4 mls

Crusting Pipe (branch of Davy's)

Covent Garden: 27 The Market, WC2E 8RD

Distance: 0.4 mls

Segar & Snuff Parlour (branch of Davy's)

Covent Garden: 27A The Market, WC2E 8RD

Distance: 0.4 mls

Red Lion

Hidden down a dark and narrow passageway, this traditional pub is an in-the-know location for local workers, and would doubtless excite overseas tourists looking for...

St James's: 23 Crown Passage, off Pall Mall, SW1Y 6PP

Distance: 0.4 mls

Davy's at St James's

St James's: Crown Passage, Pall Mall, SW1Y 6QY

Distance: 0.4 mls

Golden Lion

With its site opposite Christie's, in a district full of gentlemen's clubs, you might expect the Golden Lion to have an exclusive air about it. In fact, the staff at...

St James's: 25 King Street, SW1Y 6QY

Distance: 0.4 mls