I read in the guidebook that pubs close down at 11pm?!! <BR>Does anyone know of any good bar/pub places that stay open past that in London?<BR><BR>Also recommendation on best place to have English desserts?

The 11pm closing time is imposed by the government - a permit is required to stay open longer but its hard to say which ones have a license without actually going to one and asking - but the hours are being extended to 1am for one day in early June for the Jubilee. see http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp.../drinking_dc_1

Kathleen,<BR><BR>There are bars and clubs (discos) that stay open later. You should have no problem finding places in London.

I know I know it's madness. It actually dates back to the First World War, when the Government passed this law to make sure that the factory workers got a good night's sleep!<BR><BR>There is talk of a Bill going to Parliament very soon to get this overturned, but in the meantime...<BR><BR>you'll find that most "Pubs" will stop seving at 11pm. However, there are many bars and cluns that stay open beyond that. You'll find some in Soho, and particularly in Shoreditch and Farringdon, where there are few residents to complain about the noise, so they are granted late licences. Buy a copy of Time Out magazine for the lowdown of where to go.

Yup - that's right Kathleen. All of us Londoners are tucked up in bed by 11.15pm every night, ready to start the next (work) day fresh faced & bushy-tailed . . . ha ha ha!!!<BR><BR>Second the suggestion to get TimeOut the week you're here; they have a late night London section with 'late bars' listed.<BR><BR>Just be sure you're inside said late bars before 11pm, when the queue forms outside & they start charging cover!<BR><BR>And: save your caloric intake for the beer, it's difficult to get a likable pudding in London IMHO ; )<BR>HTH!

Actually, I love the early closing times. We just go out earlier in the evening, but then you get a full night's sleep, and are ready to hit the pub again the next day!

Thanks for the tips. I'm going there in two weeks, so won't be there for the Jubilee. I'm used to NY bars where things are open pretty much 24/7.<BR><BR>hmm...there has to be good pudding from London. ^^ <BR>

Yes, all the pubs do close at 11pm. My husband and I were just there in February. Beware too, that a lot of pubs stop serving food at 5pm and don't open until late on Sunday...noon or so. We wanted to eat most of our meals in Pubs since we were there for only three days and were a little frustrated on Sunday because we had tickets reserved at the Tower of London and had to be done that tour to catch our Sunday matinee (the play Buddy at The Strand Theatre). We could not find a Pub/decent restaurant that was open prior to noon so we were a little bummed. We had a great time though and absolutely love London - it was my second time there and my husband's first!! <BR><BR>Make sure that you pick up a recent "Walking Tours of London" brochure (I found a stand of them outside of the Underground station at Heathrow Airport) and try one of the great tours. We did the "Along the Thames Pub Crawl" which was excellent - full of history, sights and wonderful bitters and a "Jack the Ripper" tour that was neat. Enjoy!

Funny story. Many years ago on my first trip to London, I made it to a pub in Earl's Court, was making rapid adjustments - no ice cubes, warm beer - when at about 10;45 I heard this bell ringing. I assumed that it must be someone's birthday or something. It was "last call." <BR><BR>A fellow patron then initiated a conversation and let me know that the pub was closing, but there were private clubs in the area. As I recall, I returned to my room two days later.