156 Best Bars in England

This quirky entertainment complex in a former warehouse near the river just north of the city center bills itself as a cultural theme park of the future. Expect live music and makers' workshops, as well as on-site artists' studios and a garden. There's now a Rollerdome with skating sessions and classes.

Owned by the Invisible Wind Factory, this eccentric outdoor venue (with heaters) hosts live music accompanied by food from its barbecue. It also has a vintage boutique and an art gallery.

The capacious Kings Arms, popular with students and fairly quiet during the day, carries excellent local brews as well as inexpensive pub food.

Charles Dickens and his contemporaries drank here, but today's enthusiastic clientele make sure this intimate and eternally popular pub avoids the pitfalls of feeling too old-timey. One interesting feature: for private chats at the bar, you can close a delicate etched-glass "snob screen" to the bar staff, opening it only when you fancy another pint.

A deliciously camp vibe, toned bar staff, and a friendly atmosphere make this one of Soho's most popular LGBTQ+ bars. The crowd is mostly male, but women are very welcome. Head to the quieter upstairs lounge bar for a more laid-back mood, or dance the night away at Ku Klub in the basement. There's a second branch around the corner on Lisle Street, near Chinatown and Leicester Square.

Europe's largest indoor arena by capacity hosts shows by major rock and pop stars, as well as large-scale sporting events.

This handsome, unspoiled Victorian pub specializes in craft beers brewed by local firm Manchester Marble and offers a famous cheese board.

If you find yourself craving a drink at 11 am, this traditional London pub, dating back to 1638 (although the name was changed in 1890), is for you. The early opening hour is not because it caters to alcoholics but for the Borough Market stallholders, who have already put in several hours by opening time (in fact, the pub is actually also open weekdays from 6 am to 9 am for this very reason although it doesn't start serving alcohol until 11 am). The S-shape Victorian-era bar, with its walls and ceiling covered in pump badges and beer mats, is packed when the market is busy but calms down during off-peak hours. There are 12 real ales on draught, and decent pub grub using seasonal produce from the market is served in the restaurant upstairs. The pub also provided the location for the Third Hand Book Emporium in the movie version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Fans of real ales are drawn to this tavern, which has been in business since the late 18th century. Today, it's a Greene King pub, serving a good range of drinks and decent pub food.

With a solid claim to being the oldest pub on the Thames, this deeply atmospheric riverside inn dates back to the mid-16th century (although it was rebuilt in the 17th) and comes with exposed beams, mullioned windows, open fires, and nautical design touches. You can sit outside on the heated-deck jetty that overlooks the Mayflower's original mooring. When the ship sailed for America in 1620, it was here that Captain Christopher Jones took on the 65 passengers who became some of the original Pilgrims before proceeding to Southampton and then Plymouth (Jones is buried in the nearby church of St. Mary's in Rotherhithe; legend has it that he moored here to avoid paying taxes farther down the river). The Mayflower, formerly known as The Spread Eagle, is also the only pub licensed to sell U.S. and U.K. postage stamps (inquire at the bar), a tradition dating back to the 1800s when time-pressed sailors were able to order a pint and a postage stamp at the same time.

This cocktail and rum bar proudly flies the flag for rock and roll, with the old-school vinyl soundtrack and dive style to match.

This lively Gay Village bar has an outstanding selection of beers from around the world, in addition to good wine and cocktail lists. The tapas nibbles are delicious and surprisingly inexpensive.

Across the street from the British Museum in Bloomsbury, this friendly and classy Victorian pub makes an ideal resting place after the rigors of the culture trail. Karl Marx unwound here after a hard day in the British Museum Library. If he visited today, he could spend his kapital on its excellent selection of craft beers and spirits.

Once host to the likes of Tina Turner, Jimi Hendrix, and the Rolling Stones, this iconic 1960s venue has reopened but retains many of its original features, including vintage wooden paneling and a sprung dance floor, which contrast with newer additions such as a disco ceiling lighting installation. In addition to live music and a full bar, it hosts a street food hall and a creative college in music, games, and computing.

The feel is moody, Prohibition-era 1920s Chicago at this fabulously low-lit, tin-tiled-ceiling speakeasy and basement jazz cocktail bar in Shoreditch. Book a table or chance it on the door at this no-standing venue, where live jazz and swing bands nightly keep things lively.

This Northern Quarter craft beer bar is operated by Yorkshire-based brewery Northern Monk, ensuring there will always be a stellar range of beers from the cask and keg. What the industrial-style, bare brick space lacks in coziness it more than makes up for with its constantly rotating beers, pop-up kitchens, and regular events.

While you're in Bury St. Edmunds, pop in for a pint of the local Greene King ale at the Nutshell, which claims to be Britain's smallest pub—measuring just 16 feet by 7½ feet.

Housed in an Art Deco venue, the 3,500-seat venue (known by locals as just "the Apollo") showcases live rock and comedy acts before a mixed-age crowd.

The best up-and-coming and medium-to-big-name music acts from around the world consistently play at this 2,000-capacity club. It's a converted 1930s Art Deco movie theater, with a balcony (the only area with seats) overlooking the grungy dance floor.

Surrounded by a large terrace with cabanas, this unique pub occupies a 16th-century oasthouse (where brewers roasted hops) that was brought here, brick by brick, from Kent. The emphasis is on craft beers and ales, accompanied by playful food such as Northern poutine with Lancashire cheese.

This boutique hotel with quirky rooms in an old Georgian town house is a lively place to spend the evening and sample fun cocktails, whether in its paneled bar with wall murals or its funky Victorian walled garden.

The spacious and high-domed Old Joint Stock serves good ales and pies in an old bank. The attached theater presents a steady stream of good plays and comedy gigs.

A collection of nine buildings around a central courtyard off busy Goodramgate, with half-timbered structures at the rear dating from the 16th-century, the Old White Swan is known for its good pub lunches and resident ghosts.

The scuffed carpet and peeling paintwork only add to the atmosphere at this tiny basement jazz bar, one of London's leading music venues. There's live music every night of the week, with tickets usually just £10. It's a phenomenal bargain given the level of talent that regularly performs, from international acts in town for the London Jazz Festival each November to the weekly free Beats in the Bar nights, where students from nearby Trinity Laban Conservatoire try out new material in a low-pressure environment. Walk-ins are always welcome, but if you're planning a weekend visit, it's a good idea to reserve a table a few days ahead of time.

Built in 1370 on Roman foundations, the Parrot is an atmospheric old pub known for its ever-changing selection of real ales. They also do good food; Sunday lunch here is particularly popular.

One of Brighton's foremost venues, in an Art Deco building east of Brighton Pier, Patterns is the latest incarnation of a string of popular nightclubs that have occupied this spot. Expect to hear live acts during the week, including a regular local slot (this being Brighton, the quality is generally quite high), and techno and house on the weekend. You can also come during the day on Saturday for a bottomless brunch.

Locals pack the tiny rooms of this photogenic Victorian throwback with a green-tile exterior.

This ultrahip bar on Steine Street feels like a glamorous speakeasy. Cocktails are a specialty, and the bar staff certainly know what they're doing (try the salted caramel espresso martini). It's extremely popular with the cooler brand of local partygoer, and it's fabulously good fun to boot. There's a second branch in Hove, too.

In a bucolic spot on the edge of the wide expanse of Richmond Green, The Prince's Head is every bit the charming London boozer. Part of the Fuller's chain that has outposts all over the city, the pub is comfortingly familiar with its traditional wood-paneled interior and pub grub food menu. Two elements set the pub apart: first, there's the outside terrace, which seamlessly blends into the street, making it a prime spot to soak up the neighborhood buzz during warmer months. Second, there is the pub's supporting role in the hit TV show Ted Lasso, where it plays Ted's local pub (The Crown and Anchor in the show), turning it into a worthy pilgrimage for fans of the show and the fictional A.F.C. Richmond.