The best historic and famous pubs in London

‘The French’, as its regulars call it, has been a buzzing part of the bohemian heart of London for decades. Dylan Thomas, Sylvia Plath, Lucian Freud and, er, Suggs from Madness have all drunk here. During World War II, Charles De Gaulle and the Free French used the pub as their base. And so The French House still only serves its beer in halves. Très continental.

A handbill at the door announces the history of this charming riverside inn (surely the best on this stretch in Hammersmith), featuring the comings and goings of Charles II and Nell Gwyn at the pub. All the authors have paid it a visit – Graham Greene, Ernest Hemingway, Dylan Thomas – and William Morris lived next door. Take it all in beneath the exposed ceiling beams or by the roaring fire.

This Covent Garden legend occupies the backstreets away from the tourists. Its courtyard setting is probably how it attracted such a rough-around-the-edges crowd in the nineteenth century, when it hosted bare-knuckle prize fights. Earlier, back in 1679, poet John Dryden took a beating by thugs hired by poet John Wilmot down this back alley. Don’t worry, it’s all very convivial these days.

One of the oldest pubs in London is also one of the most charming, perched on a hilltop by Hampstead Heath. It’s been around since 1585 and has had a rollcall of literary Londoners through the doors – think Byron, Keats and Dickens. It even gets a shout-out in Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’. For more spookiness, ask bar staff for ghost stories that include an otherworldly appearance from highwayman Dick Turpin.

You probably know this Kensington spot for its extra outdoor decor. Every Christmas its exterior walls are decked out with rows of lights and more than a hundred fir trees, and in the summer it’s literally dripping with beautiful blooms. You should peek inside, though. You’ll find a flower-laden real-ale boozer, filled with Churchill memorabilia, that serves Thai noodles and curries. A tourist cliche it might be, but underneath all the foliage it’s also a very good pub.

Located just beyond the lock next to Camden Market the railway tracks and the canal, the Hawley Arms is a vast Victorian boozer that is stacked full of indie lore. Renowned regulars included the late Amy Winehouse, who could often be found pulling pints behind the bar. 

Rotherhithe’s riverside beauty of a boozer claims to be the place from which the Mayflower set out to Southampton before sailing off to the Americas. If the old oak beams and nooks and crannies don’t do it for you, the pub has had a licence to sell American stamps since the 1800s thanks to its historic connections, making it a pretty unique proposition.

This majestic Mayfair pub’s recent revamp has turned it into a work of art. Honestly. With a renovation spearheaded by hotshot gallerists Hauser & Wirth, this grand Edwardian room now boasts a stunning ceiling mural painted by the late Dame Phyllida Barlow. Don’t miss the food, either, including a classic Sunday roast which offers a satisfying taste of the high-end dining you’ll get at the fabulous Mount St Restaurant, which is upstairs.

Located behind the Royal Courts of Justice, the tiny, charismatic Seven Stars is the spot where barristers bring their clients for celebratory champagne or commiseratory scotch after a big case. Dating back to 1602, it escaped the ravages of the Great Fire of London and is now one of the few London pubs where you can confidently order a Martini as easily as you can a pint.

As the trend for gutting old pubs claims yet more Hampstead boozers, this place’s cachet increases. Located on a quiet hilltop backstreet, this Grade II-listed building was originally built as a house in the 1790s and used as the Assembly Rooms in the 1800s, before becoming a pub in 1928. A higgledy-piggledy air remains, with three low-ceilinged bar areas and one bar counter at which decent pints are poured. Sound food and a good choice of wines by the glass are further draws.

Ah, the Cheese. This pub is so renowned for its history that we’ve been stopped right outside it by tourists looking for the entrance. It’s down a side alley, you guys. And it’s totally worth getting lost in the pub’s many atmospheric crannies, restored after the Great Fire of London and frequented by PG Wodehouse and Dickens (obvs).

If it’s the pirate’s life for you, get along to Wapping’s Prospect of Whitby. Smugglers, sailors and other dubious sorts were said to frequent the pub (although, all that remains from those swashbuckling days is the old flagstone floor). Now it makes for quite a peaceful retreat, if you can handle the replica gallows on the foreshore outside, a reference to the fearsome revolution-suppressing ‘Hanging’ Judge Jeffreys, who was a regular patron of the place.

Belgravia’s Star attracted some stellar names through its doors in the swinging ’60s, from Peter O’Toole to Diana Dors. Perhaps they were drawn by the dazzle of the less salubrious clientele that cemented its name as a pub with a story. The tale goes that the gang that pulled off the Great Train Robbery in 1963 planned their attack here. Do some plotting of your own over a pint or two.

The birthplace of Britpop, the Good Mixer was a vital force in the mid-1990s music scene. Members of Blur made it a go-to spot, as well as Elastica and Menswear. It’s rumoured to be where Blur’s Graham Coxon met Oasis’s Noel Gallagher for the first time, with the latter allegedly saying to the Blur guitarist: ‘Nice Music, Shit clothes’. In the 2000s, and at the height of her fame, Amy Winehouse could be found taking on all comers on the pool table. 

Jack The Ripper tours are sure to take you down to The Ten Bells, a regular haunt for the Victorian prostitutes of the Spitalfields area who became the victims of Jack the Ripper. The faded décor and candlelight play into the hands of tourists who’ve heard tales of hauntings.

Try shaking the folklore from your pint in Ye Olde Mitre. This low-ceilinged inn dates back to 1546 and backs on to the courtyard in which Queen Elizabeth I is once said to have danced. Oddly enough, the pub was originally licensed to the Bishop of Ely in Cambridgeshire and used to be guarded by his frock-coated officials.

Every historic pub in London claims a connection with Charles Dickens, but not many can big up William Shakespeare as a fan. The Bard propped up the bar here and his plays were performed in the courtyard to the balconies of watchers (the galleries remain intact to this day). The George also shared a courtyard with lost pub The Tabard, where Chaucer set the beginning of ‘The Canterbury Tales’.

The warren of rooms echoes a Dickens novel, especially by night. The story goes that the pub is haunted by the ghost of a Spanish barmaid, adding a touch of spooky tourist-orientated ambience. The bar itself may be tiny, but there's a nice space out front with covered tables for a gathering overlooking the green. Atmospheric in winter, blissful in summer.