Historic Pubs in London

Published 18 September 2026 · By the Guide to London editorial team · Editor: Terje Moy

London's historic pubs are ordinary working pubs in very old buildings: you can walk in, order a drink at the bar and sit where writers, sailors and lawyers sat centuries ago, without a ticket or a booking. The best of them are along Fleet Street and Holborn, in Southwark and Covent Garden, and on the riverside east of Tower Bridge.

A pub (short for "public house") is a licensed bar that serves drinks and usually food to anyone over 18, and to younger people with an adult in many cases. Most of London's several thousand pubs are Victorian or newer, but a small group goes back much further. Some were rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1666, some served coaching passengers on the roads into the city, and some grew up on the Thames when the docks were the busiest in the world.

This guide picks out the historic pubs that are worth a detour, explains which stories are documented and which are pub legend, and gives practical advice on when to go. We have left out opening hours and prices on purpose: both change often, and every pub below publishes its own current hours.

How to tell a genuinely old pub from an old-looking one

Many London pubs look old. Dark wood, etched glass and a sign reading "Ye Olde" are easy to add, and plenty of pubs with this look were fitted out in the twentieth century. A few clues help you spot the real thing. Low ceilings, uneven floors, small rooms divided by wooden screens and a building that sits awkwardly in a narrow alley are usually good signs.

Be sceptical about claims of being "the oldest". Several pubs say they are the oldest in London, and they can all be right in a narrow sense: oldest licence, oldest building, oldest riverside site, oldest name. Where a pub makes such a claim, we say so rather than repeat it as fact.

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) keeps a National Inventory of historic pub interiors, a useful independent list of pubs whose rooms and fittings have survived with few changes. Ye Olde Mitre, below, is one of them.

Fleet Street and Holborn: taverns of lawyers and printers

For centuries this was the quarter of lawyers, printers and newspapers, on the western edge of the City of London. The newspapers have gone, but the courts and the Inns of Court remain, and so do several old taverns in the courts and alleys off the main road.

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, Fleet Street

Reached through a narrow passage off Fleet Street, the Cheshire Cheese was rebuilt soon after the Great Fire of 1666. It is a warren of small, dark, wood-panelled rooms on several levels, with vaulted cellars below. Writers from Samuel Johnson, who lived a short walk away in Gough Square, to Charles Dickens are linked with it by long tradition. Go during the day if you want to see the rooms without a crowd.

Ye Olde Mitre, Ely Court

This is the pub most first-time visitors walk straight past. It hides in a tiny alley, Ely Court, between Hatton Garden and Ely Place. According to the pub, it was built in 1546 for the servants of the Bishops of Ely, and for a long time the area counted as part of Cambridgeshire, so licensees had to go there for their licence. The pub also shows the trunk of a cherry tree that, by tradition, Queen Elizabeth I danced around with Sir Christopher Hatton. It is small, has no music or television, and is listed in CAMRA's National Inventory.

The Blackfriar, opposite Blackfriars station

The Blackfriar is not medieval, but it is one of the most unusual pub interiors in London. The wedge-shaped building was decorated in the early twentieth century in the Arts and Crafts style, with marble, copper reliefs and carved figures of jolly monks, a nod to the Dominican friary that once stood on the site. It survived a threat of demolition in the 1960s after a public campaign in which the poet John Betjeman took part. It is a short walk from St Paul's Cathedral, which makes it an easy stop after a morning in the City.

Southwark: the last galleried coaching inn

South of London Bridge, Borough High Street was the main road into London from Kent and the south coast, and it was lined with inns where coaches and travellers stopped for the night. Only one of them survives in anything like its old form.

The George Inn, set back in a yard off Borough High Street, is owned by the National Trust and run as a pub. It is the last galleried coaching inn in London: the wooden balconies on the upper floors once gave access to guest rooms around a courtyard. The present building dates from 1677, rebuilt after a fire swept along Borough High Street in 1676. Only one side of the old courtyard survives. Sit outside in fine weather to see the galleries properly.

The George is a five-minute walk from Borough Market, so the two combine well for a long lunch. The wider area, with its railway arches, food halls and old streets, is covered in our guide to Borough and Bermondsey.

Covent Garden and the West End: old corners among the theatres

The West End has hundreds of pubs, most of them busy and fairly modern inside. The Lamb and Flag on Rose Street is the best-known survivor among them. It stands at the end of a narrow alley, and the poet John Dryden was attacked in that alley in 1679, an event the pub still mentions. The building is small and fills quickly on warm evenings, when drinkers spill out into the courtyard.

A short walk away, the streets around Covent Garden have several other Victorian pubs with fine glass and woodwork. They are best visited in the late afternoon, before theatre audiences arrive for a drink before the show.

Riverside inns in Wapping, Rotherhithe and Limehouse

East of Tower Bridge the Thames was lined with docks, warehouses and pubs for sailors and dockworkers. The docks closed in the second half of the twentieth century and the warehouses became flats, but a handful of riverside pubs remain. They are the best places in London to drink with the water right below your window.

The Prospect of Whitby, Wapping

The Prospect of Whitby says it was built in 1520 and calls itself London's oldest riverside pub. The pub points to its original flagstone floor, a rare pewter-topped bar and old ships' masts built into the structure. It also lists Samuel Pepys, Charles Dickens and the painters Turner and Whistler among past customers. There is a terrace and a balcony over the river. Wapping station on the London Overground's Windrush line is a short walk away.

The Mayflower, Rotherhithe

Across the river in Rotherhithe, the Mayflower takes its name from the ship that carried the Pilgrims to America in 1620. According to the pub, the ship took on passengers at Rotherhithe that July, and its captain, Christopher Jones, is buried at St Mary's church nearby. The pub was once called the Spread Eagle, and it still sells postage stamps (including US stamps), a service that dates from the days when seafarers had little time ashore. It has a wooden jetty over the river, and dogs are welcome on the ground floor and the jetty but not in the upstairs restaurant.

The Grapes, Limehouse

The Grapes is a narrow pub on a quiet stretch of Narrow Street, a short walk from the towers of Canary Wharf. The pub says it has been a pub since 1583. Charles Dickens knew it, and a riverside tavern in his novel Our Mutual Friend is based on it. The actor Ian McKellen holds the lease. The back room is tiny and looks straight over the water.

The easiest way to link these pubs is on foot along the Thames Path, or by combining the river and the railway. Wapping and Rotherhithe are on the Windrush line, and Limehouse is served by the DLR; our page on the DLR and the London Overground explains how they work. For a slower arrival, the river bus stops at several piers in this part of the Thames.

Hampstead: a highwayman's legend on the edge of the heath

The Spaniards Inn stands on the road across the top of Hampstead Heath, next to an old tollhouse that still narrows the road. It is one of the pubs most often linked with the eighteenth-century highwayman Dick Turpin. Treat that story as legend rather than history. The pub is a natural end to a long walk on the heath, and its large garden is popular at weekends.

Hampstead village itself has several other old pubs in its steep side streets. Our guide to Hampstead suggests how to spend a day in the area.

Planning a historic pub crawl without regrets

A "pub crawl" means visiting several pubs in one outing, with one drink in each. It is a good way to see several historic interiors in an afternoon, but the distances and the drinks add up. A few rules make it more enjoyable.

• Stay in one area. Fleet Street and Holborn, or Wapping and Rotherhithe, can each be walked in an afternoon. Crossing London between pubs wastes time.
• Have a half. Beer is sold in pints, halves and thirds. A half-pint in each pub lets you see four or five without losing the afternoon.
• Eat properly. Many historic pubs serve full meals. A Sunday roast in an old pub is one of the best things to do in London on a winter Sunday, but book a table.
• Check the day. Some small City pubs keep short hours at weekends because their customers are office workers. Look at each pub's website before you set out.
• Use public transport afterwards. Drinking alcohol is not allowed on TfL buses, trains and stations, so finish your drink before you travel.

If you would rather have a guide, several companies run evening walks that include historic pubs; see our overview of walking tours in London. If you are new to British pubs, read our guide to pub manners and ordering at the bar before your first round.

Food, children and dogs in old pubs

Most of the pubs in this guide serve food, often pub classics such as pies, fish and chips and sausages with mash. Kitchens usually close earlier than the bar, so check the food hours if you plan to eat late. Our guide to traditional British food explains the dishes on a typical menu.

The law on children in pubs is set out by GOV.UK. Under-18s cannot buy alcohol or drink it in a pub, but 16- and 17-year-olds with an adult may drink beer, wine or cider with a meal. Children under 16 may be allowed into a pub with an adult, depending on the pub's own licence and rules. Many historic pubs are small and crowded, and some do not admit children in the evening. Our family guide to London has more ideas for days out with children.

Dogs are welcome in many London pubs, often only in the bar area and not in dining rooms. The Mayflower's rule of dogs downstairs but not in the restaurant is typical.

Frequently asked questions

What is the oldest pub in London?

There is no single agreed answer. Several pubs claim the title in different ways, such as the oldest building, the oldest licence or the oldest riverside site. The Prospect of Whitby says it dates from 1520, Ye Olde Mitre says it was built in 1546, and the George Inn is the last galleried coaching inn in London.

Do I need to book a table at a historic London pub?

Not for a drink. You can walk in and order at the bar. For a meal, especially a Sunday roast or dinner for a group, booking is sensible because the old pubs are small and the best rooms fill quickly.

Can children go into historic pubs in London?

Often yes, with an adult, but it depends on the pub. GOV.UK says under-16s may be allowed into a pub with an adult depending on the conditions of the premises. Many pubs welcome families during the day and become adults-only in the evening.

Which area is best for a historic pub walk?

For first-time visitors, Fleet Street and Holborn give the most history in the shortest distance. If you prefer river views, walk between the riverside pubs of Wapping and Rotherhithe, or visit the George Inn in Southwark with Borough Market.

Sources

• Greene King - The Prospect of Whitby, Wapping (checked September 2026)
• The Mayflower - History (checked September 2026)
• Ye Olde Mitre - History (checked September 2026)
• The Grapes, Limehouse - Welcome (checked September 2026)
• Borough Market - Our story (checked September 2026)
• GOV.UK - Alcohol and young people (checked September 2026)