The best pubs in Borough

This Victorian boozer has a thoroughly charming look, with a gorgeous bar at the centre of the room. The pub is run by Sussex’s Harvey’s brewery so you’ll find all their ales poured at the bar (and in excellent condition). The crowd is the friendly, local sort making it hard not to settle in for a session.

If you’re looking for old-man pub vibes, enter the Lord Clyde. It’s one of the area’s most historic boozers and it honours field marshall Clyde and his Crimean War heroism through armed forces’ photography and memorabilia. You probably won’t have a battle at the bar, though, since the pub is off the beaten track.

Beloved pubs getting turned into blocks of flats is a depressingly common narrative in London. So it’s heartening that Borough’s The Gladstone, having been condemned to the property developer’s wrecking ball in late 2016, reopened six months later, having been declared an asset of community value and taken on by a new team. It's now one of central London's few Indian 'desi pubs' – run by a brother and sister team and with a great Anglo-Indian menu, including Sunday roasts. 

The George's story goes a long way back and it’s a story, alright – ‘The Canterbury Tales’ began on this very spot, Shakespeare put on his plays in the courtyard and Dickens is said to have propped up the bar. Nowadays, it’s still low-ceilinged inside, but it’s the large, umbrella-filled courtyard that draws in the punters.

Trundle around the backstreets of Borough and your reward will be The Libertine, a ramshackle but totally charming pub with pizza, a dartboard and surprisingly big crowds. 

Just around the back of Guy’s Hospital, The Miller is a fun-time find on Snowfields, a pub hosting weekly improv comedy, an annual cider festival and daily £5 deals on its burgers. A wide range of craft beer by the bottle or can is in stock, which suits the young crowd that drifts across from the Guy’s Campus of King’s College.

For old-school drinking in a historic part of town, head to the Boot & Flogger, one in the Davy’s wine bar family. It oozes character – from its candlelit underground cave to its atmospheric and creaking ground floor bar, where wooden partitions offer privacy with your glass of Pinot.

Right by Borough Market, the Wheatsheaf is a busy destination for drinking. Expect Young’s beers on the bar, and a range of comfort grub (if you haven’t already filled up in the market). The best bit about the pub, though, is its small beer garden fitted with heaters to help you withstand the seasons.