Top Historical London Pubs

Visiting a pub in London is like visiting Times Square in New York…only cooler.  A great mid-afternoon or evening break at a pub after touring the Tower and riding the Eye, is a must. Skip the modern gastropubs with a menu full of fusion, and consider a more traditional establishment. These pubs, as gathered by Fodors, are the perfect place to quench your thirst with a hand-pulled pint and to drink in the history.

Its famous ex-regulars include Charles II and Ernest Hemingway. The Dove Inn is a very popular 16th-century riverside pub by Hammersmith Bridge and the smallest bar in Britain.[image]

A short walk up the hill from Hampstead Tube station, the friendly Holly Bush was once a country pub before London spread this far north. It retains something of a rural feel—there’s even a shoe polish machine by the entrance. [image]

Today, in the pub where the French Resistance convened during World War II, Soho hipsters and eccentrics rub shoulders. Note that in French style, only half-pints of beer are served at The French House. [image]

A step from Blackfriars Tube stop, The Black Friar is a spectacular pub with an Arts-and-Crafts interior that is entertainingly, satirically ecclesiastical, with inlaid mother-of-pearl, wood carvings, stained glass, and marble pillars all over the place.[image]


For the rest of the list, and notes on which tube stop will get you to the pubs, visit Fodors.