17 Best Nightlife in England

This cozy little micropub, set within a 17th-century pump house, offers eight (mostly local) beers on tap. The bar staff is friendly and chatty, and there's a real communal vibe to the place, with most drinkers sharing tables. If you get peckish, there are tasty pub snacks available; try the pork pie with mustard and chutney. If you like the pub furnishings, you can pick some up for yourself at the Waterworks Curios antique shop next door.

Fans of real ales are drawn to the Market 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.

The front patio and wood-paneled bar of this traditional pub next door to Charles Dickens's former residence is invariably crowded, especially after work, but the restaurant to the rear is comfortable and more peaceful. Dishes range from elevated pub classics like burgers with bone marrow crumb or cider-battered fish-and-chips to more sophisticated offerings like venison ragù or celeriac steak. Standards, of both the cooking and the selection of beer and wines, are high. Service is friendly, if occasionally erratic.

Owned by 500 local beer fans as a co-operative, the Bell has regular live music—jazz, blues, and folk—on Mondays, alternating Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and Sundays, as well as a selection of real ales and good food. There's a real fire in winter, and should you need to catch up on your laundry, there's even a launderette.

Inside St. Pancras International's renovated Victorian station, this pub is the perfect place to grab a pint and some superior pub fare.

This popular High Street pub offers well-kept beers, good "pub grub," and a friendly crowd. While the half-timbered building only dates from 1906, a pub has stood on this spot since the 16th century.

You can sample more than 230 whiskies and bourbons at this gorgeous pub with stained-glass windows, cozy back rooms, a spacious beer garden, and a mural of the Peterloo Massacre.

This handsome, trendy pub in the southern suburb of Moseley is full of polished wood tables, colorful cushions, and stained-glass windows. The beer selection is huge, and the high-class pub food is delicious. This place gets rammed to the rafters for the traditional "roasts"—beef, pork, lamb, chicken, or nut—on Sunday at lunchtime.

On the outskirts of the city, this pretty clapboard gastro-pub has an intriguing setup: instead of a bar, the drinks are piled up on a table in the middle of the room and served from there. Along with a good selection of local ales and craft beers, there's also a choice of ciders straight from the barrel and an extensive menu of artisanal gins. The food—from stacked burgers to bonfire pizzas—is great, too. There's live music every Thursday evening starting at 7:30 pm.

This handsome old pub is popular for its excellent range of traditional ales, as well as for its old-school atmosphere that reminds you pubs like this are a dying breed.

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 8:30 am for this very reason). The S-shaped 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.

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

Originally established in 1602 to cater to Dutch sailors, this charming hostelry somehow survived the Great Fire of London to become the little gem it is today. Located at the rear of the Royal Courts of Justice, you can often find barristers and their clients celebrating or drowning their sorrows. Scrumptious pub food is also served.

A tavern for 300 years, this cozy, historic pub has a friendly atmosphere, fine ales, and homemade pub grub.

A traditional English pub, with bunches of hops hanging from the ceiling and a fire crackling in the hearth on a cold winter's day, the Thomas Becket is a convivial kind of place. There is food available, but most people just come for the ale and the atmosphere.