There is no national closing time in England. Every pub, bar and shop has its own licence, so one pub shuts at eleven while the bar across the road pours until three. Buying alcohol needs an age of 18, and although drinking outdoors is not in itself criminal, an officer in central London can order you to stop and surrender what you are holding.
This page covers England, and London in particular. Scotland has different licensing law and a stricter drink-drive limit, and Wales and Northern Ireland differ in places too. Where the rule is UK-wide we say so.
Most of what follows is the sort of thing nobody tells a visitor: the drinking-up time after last orders, the four things a licensed venue must provide by law, and the difference between a public place where you can drink and one where an officer can stop you. If you want the social side rather than the legal side, our guide to pub etiquette explains ordering at the bar, rounds and tipping.
The rules that affect a visitor
- Legal age to buy
- 18. Expect to be asked for identification if you look younger than about 25
- Age 16 or 17
- Beer, wine or cider is permitted with a table meal in adult company. Buying it is not
- Closing time
- Set by each premises licence. Many pubs 23:00, plenty of bars much later
- Free tap water
- Licensed premises must provide it on request where it is reasonably available
- Street drinking
- Not an offence by itself. Refusing an officer's request to stop is
- On TfL
- No drinking and no open containers on buses, trams, trains or in stations
- Drink-drive limit
- 35 µg per 100 ml of breath in England. Scotland is stricter
Why every pub closes at a different time
The Licensing Act 2003 replaced fixed national hours with individual permissions. Anyone selling alcohol needs a premises licence issued by the borough, and it is that document which fixes the hours during which alcohol may be sold at the address. In London the council is your borough, and Westminster alone licenses thousands of venues.
In practice you will find:
- Traditional pubs closing at 23:00 on weekdays, often midnight on Friday and Saturday.
- Bars in Soho and Shoreditch licensed until 01:00, 03:00 or later.
- Pubs in quieter residential areas closing earlier, sometimes at 22:30 on a Sunday.
- Hotel bars serving residents after the public licence ends.
"Last orders" is the call, usually rung on a bell, that the bar is about to stop serving. After that comes drinking-up time, a period of twenty minutes or so to finish what you have. It is not a legal entitlement in the old sense but it is universal practice, and staff will start collecting glasses.
Councils can also make an early morning restriction order prohibiting alcohol sales in all or part of their area between midnight and 06:00, where they consider it appropriate. Check the venue's own website for closing times rather than assuming, and our guide to London nightlife covers which areas run late. Be wary of a late bar with no visible drinks list, which is one of the traps described in our page on common tourist scams.
The age rules, precisely
Below the age of 18, buying alcohol or trying to buy it is an offence, and so is an adult buying it on that person's behalf. Knowingly drinking it on licensed premises is an offence for the under-18 as well.
One exception exists and it is narrower than most people assume. Someone of 16 or 17 is allowed beer, wine or cider on licensed premises provided the drink is taken with a table meal and an adult of 18 or over is at the meal too. Every element has to be satisfied. Buying it remains impossible, and spirits are outside the exception altogether.
Children of any age may be in a pub if the licence allows, which many do until a set time in the evening, and many London pubs welcome families for lunch.
On identification, every licensed premises must operate an age-verification policy. It has to oblige anyone who looks younger than 18, or than whatever higher age the venue has chosen, to show identification bearing a photograph, a date of birth and either a holographic mark or an ultraviolet feature. Digital identification may be accepted where the policy provides for it. "Challenge 25" signs are shop policy rather than law, but the underlying requirement is legal, and a foreign driving licence will often be refused. For most visitors a passport is the document that always works.
Carry photographic identification for a night out even if you are obviously over 25. Many Soho and Shoreditch door policies ask everyone, regardless of age, and a hotel photocopy is not accepted. Decide before you go out whether you are willing to carry the passport itself.
Four things a licensed venue owes you
These are mandatory conditions attached to every premises licence in England and Wales, and most visitors have no idea they exist.
- Free tap water. Where it can reasonably be supplied, a venue has to give you tap water for nothing when you ask. No purchase is required and asking raises no eyebrows. Our page on tap water and refill points covers the wider network.
- Smaller measures. Where the venue sells draught beer or cider, gin, rum, vodka, whisky or still wine by the glass, it must make available a half pint, a 25 ml or 35 ml spirit measure, and a 125 ml glass of wine, must list those measures in its menu or price list, and must make customers aware of them when they do not specify a size.
- No irresponsible promotions. Drinking games, unlimited drinks for a fixed sum in a set period and promotions that encourage rapid drinking are prohibited.
- No dispensing into the mouth. A rule aimed at a particular kind of party trick, but a genuine condition.
Selling alcohol below the cost of duty plus VAT is also banned, which is why you will not find genuinely cheap supermarket spirits.
What you order, and what you get
British measures confuse visitors more than the law does.
| You ask for | You get |
|---|---|
| A pint | 568 ml of draught beer or cider |
| A half | Half a pint, about 284 ml. Must be available where draught is sold |
| A third | About 189 ml. Common in craft beer bars, not in traditional pubs |
| A single spirit | 25 ml or 35 ml, depending on the venue's standard measure |
| A double | Twice whatever that venue's single is, so 50 ml or 70 ml |
| A small glass of wine | 125 ml, which must be available. 175 ml and 250 ml are the usual sizes |
Because the single measure is not standardised nationally, a gin and tonic in one bar can contain 40% more spirit than the same order next door. If you are watching your intake or your budget, ask which measure the bar uses.
Cocktail bars and craft beer places list strengths by ABV on the menu. Our guides to cocktail bars, craft beer and brewery taprooms and drinking without alcohol cover the different kinds of venue.
Drinking outdoors: the honest answer
There is no general ban on drinking alcohol in a public place in England. A can in a park on a summer afternoon is not a crime.
What exists instead is the Public Spaces Protection Order, made by a council under section 59 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Where one covers alcohol, a police officer, a police community support officer or an authorised council officer may require you to stop drinking and to surrender what you are carrying. The drinking itself is not the offence; failing to comply without reasonable excuse is.
Central London is covered. Westminster City Council's on-street anti-social behaviour order, made on 17 February 2026 and in force from 25 February 2026 until 25 February 2029 unless extended, applies across the whole City of Westminster and lists street drinking among the behaviours it restricts. That is Soho, Covent Garden's western half, Mayfair, Marylebone, Westminster, Victoria, Pimlico, Paddington and St James's.
Under that order, a person asked to stop must do so and dispose of or surrender the alcohol, must give their name and address if asked, and can be required to leave the restricted area and not return for 24 hours. Breach carries a £100 fixed penalty notice, or on conviction a fine of up to £1,000.
There are exceptions, and they matter. The order does not apply to licensed premises, to club premises, or to the area within the curtilage of licensed premises, which is the legal way of saying that the pavement tables outside a pub are fine.
Other boroughs have their own orders and their own boundaries. Look for the signs, which councils are required to display, and if an officer asks you to stop, stop.
No drinking on the Tube, the bus or the train
Transport for London's Conditions of Carriage are blunt: on buses, trams and trains, in bus and rail stations and on tram platforms, you must not consume alcohol or have an open container of alcohol. TfL's wording adds that you may be prosecuted. The ban has been in place since 1 June 2008.
A sealed bottle in a shopping bag is fine. A can you are drinking is not, and neither is an open bottle you are carrying. Staff do enforce it, particularly late at night.
National Rail services out of London are not covered by TfL's rules, and most train companies allow alcohol, although individual operators impose bans on specific services, particularly around football matches. Our guide to London night buses covers getting home after the Tube stops.
Buying alcohol to take away
Supermarkets, convenience shops and specialist off-licences all sell alcohol, each within the hours on its own licence. Large supermarkets in central London commonly sell from early morning until eleven at night; small shops vary enormously, and some in residential areas stop at 23:00 sharp.
Sunday makes a difference to large shops but not because of alcohol. Shops over 280 square metres may open for only six continuous hours between 10:00 and 18:00 on a Sunday, which is a trading rule rather than a licensing one, and it is covered in our page on bank holidays, Sundays and opening hours.
If you are bringing alcohol into the country, Great Britain's personal allowance is 42 litres of beer and 18 litres of still wine, plus either 4 litres of spirits over 22% or 9 litres of drinks up to 22%, which can be split proportionally. Travellers under 17 have no allowance at all. Our guide to UK customs allowances covers the detail, and our page on smoking and vaping rules covers tobacco.
Drinking and driving
Across England and Wales, and in Northern Ireland too, the limit is 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood, or 107 milligrams per 100 millilitres of urine. Scotland's limits are lower at 22, 50 and 67 respectively, which catches out drivers heading north.
There is no reliable way to convert that into a number of drinks, because it depends on the person, and we are not going to suggest one. The only safe approach is not to drive after drinking at all. In London it is also the easy approach: almost nobody who goes out in the centre drives, and our page on black cabs, minicabs and Uber covers the alternatives.
Being drunk in charge of a vehicle, and being drunk and disorderly in public, are both separate offences. So is selling alcohol to someone who is already drunk, which is why a bar may refuse to serve you.
Frequently asked questions
When do London pubs stop serving?
That varies by address, because the Licensing Act 2003 swept away national hours and gave each premises its own permission. A traditional pub commonly calls last orders at 23:00, or midnight at the weekend, while Soho and Shoreditch bars may hold licences to 01:00, 03:00 or beyond. Allow about twenty minutes of drinking-up time afterwards.
Can you drink alcohol in the street in London?
Drinking in public is not an offence in itself, but much of central London is covered by a Public Spaces Protection Order. In Westminster, in force since 25 February 2026, an officer can require you to stop drinking and surrender the alcohol; refusing carries a £100 fixed penalty or a fine of up to £1,000. Pavement tables belonging to licensed premises are exempt.
Can under-18s go into a London pub?
Children are admitted wherever the licence permits it, and plenty of London pubs are happy to have families at lunchtime. Nobody below 18 may buy alcohol, and an adult buying it for them commits an offence. At 16 or 17, beer, wine or cider is allowed with a table meal in the company of an adult.
Do I need ID to buy a drink in London?
If you look under the age the venue's policy specifies, usually 25, yes. The identification must show a photograph, a date of birth and a holographic mark or ultraviolet feature, and digital identification is accepted where the venue's policy allows. A passport is the document most likely to be accepted from a visitor; a foreign driving licence is often refused.
Can I drink alcohol on the London Underground?
No. Transport for London's Conditions of Carriage prohibit consuming alcohol and carrying an open container on buses, trams and trains, in bus and rail stations and on tram platforms, and warn that you may be prosecuted. A sealed bottle in a bag is fine. National Rail services out of London are governed separately and usually allow alcohol.
Sources
- GOV.UK / Home Office - Alcohol licensing (checked September 2026)
- Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) Order 2010, Schedule (checked September 2026)
- Licensing Act 2003, sections 149 and 150 (checked September 2026)
- GOV.UK - Alcohol and young people: the law (checked September 2026)
- Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, section 63 (checked September 2026)
- Westminster City Council - Public Spaces Protection Orders (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Conditions of Carriage, clauses 2.5 to 2.6 (checked September 2026)
- GOV.UK - The drink-drive limit (checked September 2026)