What To Do In London, England - London Pubs

London Pubs are special. They can be a place to grab a quick pint on the way home from work. A place to have a quiet coffee or cup of tea while reading the newspaper. Have a works meeting or staff party. Celebrate a stag night or hen party. Have a relaxed lunch or dinner. Gather together enjoy a sporting event. Enjoy a Sunday roast on a cold winter’s day. Spend a leisurely day at the weekend enjoying the summer sun in the beer garden. These are just a few of the things to do in London Pubs.

Pubs act as a hub for residents and visitors to London alike. Often in London it’s much easier to arrange to meet in a pub rather than travel across London to someone’s house or hotel. Most London pubs are places where anyone can visit and not feel out of place. It’s fine to just pop in and have a drink, while waiting for friends or family to arrive.

Cask beer (real ale) should NOT be warm. Ideally it should be ‘cellar’ cool, which basically means similar to the cool temperatures of the cellar it is stored in. If cask beers are chilled too much the flavours are masked. The beer should also have a frothy head when poured. If it doesn't, it could be past it's best and another beer should be requested.

The great thing about London Pubs is it’s easy to find one. When areas of London were being built, It was a common practice for the building company to have a pub built first, quite often on a corner, and then the erection of the other buildings continued afterwards. This gave the workers somewhere to drink when they received their wages. Quite crafty if the pub was also run by the same building company as much of the money they paid to the workers came back to them through the pubs. All this building led to a lot of pubs. In addition to these, many traditional coffee houses and gin palaces were converted into pubs. The interior of many traditional pubs will give an indication to these origins.

London pubs are, nowadays, one of the best places to get proper British food at a good price. Many of them have favourites such as fish and chips, and steak and ale pie on their menu. These meals go well with a pint, so the pub is the perfect place to serve them. Pubs are also more relaxed as a rule than most restaurants and so are better for informal eating.

Pubs are traditionally known primarily for serving beer, and a good London pub will serve a varied choice of traditional cask ales. These are the beers you see on the bar with long hand pumps. If you’ve never tried a cask beer before, you’re in for a treat. There a huge variety of different cask beers with many different flavours brewed in the UK, many of which get served in London pubs as regular or guest beers.

It is not unusual for a pub in London to host regular comedy nights, have bands playing live, and some even have theatre events. If there is a sporting event on, Pubs are a good place to watch it being shown on TV screens.

Of all the things to do in London, spending time in the pub is something everyone can enjoy. London pubs have a healthy balance of regular and visiting drinkers. This makes them comfortable for locals drinking at a pub on a regular basis and for visitors and tourists on a one off visit. Enjoy!