The best pubs in London on a budget

The Shakespeares Head may look a little daunting from the outside. Don’t be shy: this salt-of-the-earth local extends a warm welcome to all. It’s hard to imagine a pub with fewer pretensions than this place, done out in gloss-painted wood, standard-issue pub carpets and plump seating. But this old-school boozer is made notable by the people in it: the staff, for whom nothing is too much trouble; and the clientele, an easygoing mix of theatregoers (Sadler’s Wells is steps away) and talkative locals who’ve been drinking here since their dads brought them in for a pint on their 18th birthday. It’s a mix mimicked on the walls, where signed photos of thesps and hoofers jostle for attention with the pictures of the locals out on a jolly. Quite a treasure.

There aren’t many boozers left in Peckham that haven’t been touched by the hands of modernity, but tucked away down an incongruous, sleepy backstreet lies one community local with an interior to transport you back to the 1970s. The Olde Apple Tree’s golden anaglypta ceilings, opulent furnishings, and William Morris-esque carpet will lure you in – but the mixed clientelé and cheap drinks prices will keep you there all night. Peckham’s least gentrified pub doesn’t take card – so remember to pay a visit to the cash machine first.

Dependable, no-nonsense spot for a proper pint. Look elsewhere for ironic lampshades and bare floorboards. Lined in red velvet and showcasing one the greatest pub carpets of the last 50 years, the Pride of Spitalfields is a prime example of what makes the trad pub guard great. Evenings here are always a bit of a smoosh, especially in the small side room, but in among the occasional bewildered tourist, high-flying fashion designer, and monied art dealer, you’ll find an extremely welcoming pub. Punters often spill out onto the cobbled street.

A welcoming Irish pub in-between Seven Sisters and Tottenham Hale. Come for the Guinness, stay for the majestic oil painting of the owners riding a horse through the Irish countryside. Warning; it’s cash only for anything under £10 – but it’s also one of the last places in London where that’ll cover two pints.

Despite appearances, the rustic-leaning Pocket hasn’t been here for 100 years, but was opened by stealth in the spring of 2025, complete with new-old wood panelling, a 1930s anaglypta ceiling, a nerdishly impressive collection of 1970s pub ashtrays (on the walls alas, not the tables), and a battered upright piano (which gets played three times a week). Beer is priced in order of strength, meaning it’s possible to get that rare thing - a London pint for a fiver.

A Victorian boozer on a Bermondsey backstreet, stumbling upon the Victoria feels like opening up a wonderful dusty portal to the past. There’s a lovely horseshoe bar, wooden snugs, classic Truman's Brewery tiling, and a solid pub grub menu. Due to the untouched interior, it’s featured in a bunch of movies and shows, including BBC’s 1970s and 1980s-set The Gold, Ashes to Ashes and Life On Mars, and, fittingly, their 1972 Evening Standard Pub of the Year plaque still takes pride of place. 

A no-frills Mile End pub that’s authentic to the end. Stepping into this magical, cash-only East End boozer is like going back to the 1950s. It feels downright anachronistic that you aren’t allowed to smoke in here. The family-run Palm Tree is one of Mile End’s great survivors and stands out like an un-hammered nail in an area otherwise flattened by Nazi bombs and developers’ chequebooks. Its ambience is sublime and unique; a kind of woozy, red-tinged dreamworld, frequented by the most characterful locals you’re ever likely to meet.

Beloved pubs getting turned into blocks of flats is a depressingly common narrative in London. So it’s heartening that Borough’s The Gladstone, having been condemned to the property developer’s wrecking ball in late 2016, reopened six months later, having been declared an asset of community value and taken on by a new team. It's now one of central London’s few Indian desi pubs – run by a brother and sister team and with a great Anglo-Indian menu, including Sunday roasts. 

The good bit: located on an impossibly handsome street of nineteenth-century workers’ cottages, this is easily the nicest pub in the immediate vicinity. The bad news: everybody in the immediate vicinity knows it, and the place is packed most nights as a result.

This much-loved Putney institution pulls off a neat trick: it's both a mecca for mutton-chopped ale connoisseurs and a friendly, unassuming local boozer. Tucked away on a quiet side street, not far from the Thames, the Brickie is rightly famous for its stonking, ever-changing selection of British real ales. 

Once under the rule of East End gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray (and apparently run by their old mum), the Carpenter’s Arms is now a friendly local. That doesn’t mean the place has lost its heritage though. The decor is traditional: wooden panelling meets a cream paint job. A painting of the bad-boys-with-hearts-of-gold sits on the wall at the back-end of the pub, and two huge chalkboards list the place’s extensive beer selection.

Trendy Homerton boozer the Adam & Eve has one of the best happy hours in Hackney, with beer for £5. Score a pint and then head over to their weird, L-shaped pool table and work out just how many you need to drink to be good at playing. 

This Farringdon boozer changes its name so regularly its almost impossible to keep up. We're big fans of its latest makeover though, as the Marian Anderson (named after the Black opera singer and civil rights activist) on Bowling Green Lane serves up £5 pints.

A classic flat roof boozer, this Hackney favourite (find it on Morning Lane, across from Big Tesco) has cheap pints and a great crowd. Keep your eyes open for their famous karaoke nights and join the local talent on the stage at the back of the room. 

Known across the capital for its extremely cheap Guinness (less than a fiver on our last visit), this Rye Lane favourite dates way back to 1871. Fun fact: Its only been called The Nags Head since the year 2000 (a tribute to the much-loved boozer in the iconic, Peckham-set sitcom Only Fools and Horses).