Log in to My Time Out for your personalised guide to what's on in London. It's fast, easy and FREE!

Best West End pubs

The best pubs and bars in London’s West End, including Mayfair, Soho, Covent Garden, Fitzrovia, Marylebone, Bloomsbury and Holborn

Find pubs by area

More Pubs & Bars features

Avoid the crowds and enjoy a quiet pint or a crafty G&T in London's best West End pubs. Whether you're looking for a place before a theatre show or a nightcap after a musical, follow Time Out's definitive guide to the finest pubs in the West End.

Contributions by Jessica Cargill Thompson, Michael Hodges, Lisa Mullen, Gabriel Tate, Gordon Thomson and Peter Watts

Find the best West End pubs on our map below.

Soho | Covent Garden | Fitzrovia | Bloomsbury and Holborn | Marylebone | Mayfair

Best pubs in Soho

  • Argyll Arms

    18 Argyll Street, W1F 7TP

    Built 1740-42 but entirely remodelled in 1897, this Grade II-listed building stands as a monument to the opulence and quality of late Victorian pub design. It was made to pull in the punters and, more than a century later, is still worth going inside to gasp at the etched mirrors, woodwork and brown-ridged ceilings. The main bar curves out, naturally leading you deeper into the pub; wandering between the Victorian etched glass and wood partitions that divide the bars (there used to be more, but in 1900 magistrates insisted they went because prostitutes were using them for business) can become pleasantly confusing.

    See Argyll Arms venue details

  • Dog & Duck

    18 Bateman Street, W1D 3AJ

    Small, brilliant Victorian drinking hole. Admire the wonderful green tile-work and the Victorian glass. This is an ale house, so drink whatever the beer of the week is – there are four on pump and they change regularly.

    See Dog & Duck venue details

  • Coach and Horses

    1 Great Marlborough St, W1F 7HG

    This is still branded Norman’s Coach & Horses after the legendary landlord, Norman Balon, but the old bugger’s gone now and it’s rapidly turning into – shudder – a young person’s pub. Regular sing-songs with a piano accompaniment provide welcome lo-fi entertainment. Real ales are usually well kept.

    See Coach and Horses venue details

  • De Hems

    11 Macclesfield Street, London, W1D 5BW

    Technically not in Soho, but just a short stroll over Shaftesbury Avenue, this West End institution, built in 1890, was quickly leased by a retired Dutch sea captain who saw a gap in the market for an oyster bar in London’s glittering West End. The place quickly became a meeting point for passing Netherlanders, and was a regular haunt of the exiled Dutch Resistance during World War II. In 1959 it was renamed De Hems in honour of the captain (having spent its first 69 years as The Macclesfield) and has stuck like glue to its Dutch identity to this day.

    See De Hems venue details

  • Shaston Arms

    4 Ganton Street , London, W1F 7QN

    Pleasingly erratic arrangement of rooms. Sells wonderful beer from the Badger brewery in Dorset.

Back to top

Soho | Covent Garden | Fitzrovia | Bloomsbury and Holborn | Marylebone | Mayfair

Best pubs in Covent Garden

  • Cross Keys

    Cross Keys

    31 Endell Street, London, WC2H 9EB

    In Covent Garden you have to battle your way into pubs, although in the case of this Endell Street fixture it’ll be through the shrubbery. The Cross Keys is probably London’s most fascinating pub for bric-a-brac. As well as pop curios, there are miniature portraits of PMs, unattributed Victorian oil paintings, diving helmets, stuffed fish, a brass privy.

    See Cross Keys venue details

  • Lowlander

    36 Drury Lane, London, WC2B 5RR

    This Low Countries bar with a high ceiling is a must for the serious drinker, offering a staggering array of Dutch and Belgian beers – there are around 120 beers (15 on tap and over 100 bottles), including the whole range of La Trappe monastery beers from Holland and Belgian Bush Peche Mel. Nothing from Luxembourg, though.

    See Lowlander venue details

  • Harp

    47 Chandos Place, London, WC2N 4HS

    A recent Camra pub of the year, the Harp is the closest thing you’ll get to a local in Covent Garden. The dedication to cellar craft means the full-bellied ale-spotter is well represented among the crowd, but there are often a fair few tourists delighted to have found somewhere with real character among the neon steakhouses and chains.

    See Harp venue details

  • Lamb & Flag

    33 Rose Street, London, WC2E 9EB

    Everything about this pub says old. Walls are covered in Punch cartoons. Peer out of the top-floor window, and you could be in gaslight London.

    See Lamb & Flag venue details
  • The Salisbury

    Salisbury

    90 St Martin's Lane, London, WC2N 4AP

    It’s more towards Leicester Square, but this gorgeous Victorian pub is dripping with hand-carved mahogany, brass lamps and fantastic cut glass.

    Read Salisbury pub review
Back to top

Soho | Covent Garden | Fitzrovia | Bloomsbury and Holborn | Marylebone | Mayfair

Best pubs in Fitzrovia

  • Bradley's Spanish Bar

    Bradley's Spanish Bar

    42-44 Hanway Street, London, W1T 1UT

    Tiny, ramshackle Bradley’s is part of the London drinker’s rite of passage. Stumble down the staircase and stare at anyone with a seat in a bid to intimidate them into giving up a bit of room. Then get drunk on expensive Spanish lager and sing along to ’60s classics on the famous jukebox. Oh, and never, ever go to the toilet. An institution.

    See Bradley's Spanish Bar venue details
  • The Fitzroy Tavern

    Fitzroy Tavern

    16 Charlotte St, W1T 2LY

    The Fitzroy wears its history with pride. Photos on the wall depict the pub in its heyday, when it was the haunt of hard-drinking boho locals. Originally named The Hundred Marks, the Fitzroy assumed its more familiar identity in 1919 when it was taken over by Polish immigrant Judah ‘Pop’ Kleinfeld. Augustus John, Jacob Epstein and Aleister Crowley were among the regulars. The pub’s reputation as a literary boozer continued until the 1950s: Dylan Thomas, Laurence Durrell, George Orwell and Julian McLaren-Ross were all regulars. It’s now a popular haunt for Charlotte Street’s more parsimonious advertising crowd; parsimonious because this is a Sam Smith’s pub.

    See Fitzroy Tavern pub venue details

  • Newman Arms

    23 Rathbone Street, London, W1T 1NG

    One of Fitzrovia’s old-timers, the Newman is famous for featuring in the first murder scene in Michael Powell’s ‘Peeping Tom’ and for selling some of London’s best pies. It is the pub described by George Orwell in both ‘Keep the Aspadistra Flying’ and ‘1984’.

    See Newman Arms venue details

  • Cock Tavern

    27 Great Portland Street, London, W1W 8QE

    Excellent pub that’s always rammed with tourists, language students and local office workers. The Cock has been impeccably restored (old photos serve as a guide).

  • King & Queen

    1 Foley Street, London, W1W 6DL

    Proper local pub with an upstairs function room that proudly sports a framed Time Out cover (our ‘100 Greatest Gigs’ issue, which celebrated Bob Dylan’s 1962 performance here). It’s also a rugby pub, but you don’t let that put you off; this is an earthy, friendly place that also puts on folk and improv music nights.

    See King & Queen venue details
Back to top

Soho | Covent Garden | Fitzrovia | Bloomsbury and Holborn | Marylebone | Mayfair

Best pubs Bloomsbury and Holborn

  • Princess Louise

    208-209 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7BW

    Probably London’s best-looking pub, the Princess Louise (named after Queen Vic’s fourth daughter) was built in 1872 but its spectacular decor dates to 1891 and is now ‘a monument to the craftsmanship that was taken for granted in the 1890s’, as one pub guide puts it. There are magnificent mirrors (by Richard Morris of Kennington) and gorgeous mosaics (by Simpsons & Sons of St Martin’s Lane), an amazing ceiling and a glorious horseshoe bar.

    See Princess Louise venue details

  • Museum Tavern

    49 Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3BA

    The current Museum Tavern dates back to 1855 and was originally laid out as five separate bars. Although it was knocked through into one open space in the 1960s, it still retains its historic character. Etched mirrors behind the bar bear the legend ‘Watneys Imperial’. Ales are taken seriously: four regulars and three guests. A good whisky selection too. Not as tourist-heavy as you might expect in spite of being opposite the British Museum.

    See Museum Tavern venue details

  • Queen's Larder

    1 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AR

    An unpretentious little Greene King pub, situated on the corner of Queen Square, which draws local doctors, lawyers, accountants, professors and a couple of regulars propping up the bar. A collection of clown dolls grins from above the bar.

  • The Lamb

    92 Lambs Conduit Street, London, WC1N 3LZ

    The Lamb appears in most Londoners’ top-five favourite pubs, partly for its beers (a weekly rotation of cask ales and ciders), partly for its pies (usually four at a time, steak and ale, chicken, leek and ham, etc) and partly for the theatrically inclined Victorian interior which still has the etched-glass snob screens around the mahogany bar, a panelled ceiling and brass balustrades.

    See The Lamb venue details
  • Book online

    The Bountiful Cow

    51 Eagle Street , Holborn, London, WC1R 4AP

    A superb little find in an alleyway off High Holborn, the Bountiful Cow strikes the right balance between stylish bar and careworn boozer. The inside is modish, with wooden banquettes and kitsch film posters on a cowboy theme. A beef-heavy menu is served in the basement dining room, but this pub-diner shows there are more possibilities for an ambitious boozer than a straightforward gastropub makeover.

    See The Bountiful Cow venue details
Back to top

Soho | Covent Garden | Fitzrovia | Bloomsbury and Holborn | Marylebone | Mayfair

Best pubs in Marylebone

Back to top

Soho | Covent Garden | Fitzrovia | Bloomsbury and Holborn | Marylebone | Mayfair

Best pubs in Mayfair

  • Book online

    Guinea Bar

    30 Bruton Place, London, W1J 6NL

    The Guinea is a small, wooden-floored room, given over solely to the pleasures of whistle-wetting and talking rubbish. West End drinking, or indeed London daytime drinking, doesn’t come any better.

    See Guinea venue details

  • Red Lion

    23 Crown Passage, off Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 6PP

    A welcoming sight down a dark alley, this is a pub popular with local workers. The decor and bright lighting make it feel more like someone’s sitting-room than a pub.

    See Red Lion venue details
Back to top

Soho | Covent Garden | Fitzrovia | Bloomsbury and Holborn | Marylebone | Mayfair

Map of best West End pubs



Map key

Back to top



Email Tweet Share

Share your thoughts

  • or log in into My Time Out
  • *
  • *
* Mandatory fields for leaving a comment