Three London Pubs you must visit

If 2020 were a normal year then London would have upwards of 30 million visitors taking advantage of its world-class museums, glorious parks and historical sites. As it is not a normal year tourists are hardly anywhere to be seen but when they do start to return, I encourage them to avoid mediocre chain pubs and head to these three hostelries — all of which are in central London.

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese

Practically very pub in the two long streets between Trafalgar Square and St Paul’s Cathedral claims to have been frequented by Charles Dickens. It is incredible that he managed to get any writing done. As this pub was mentioned in A Tale of Two Cities I think we can believe them.

There has been a pub on this patch of land since 1538 and when you walk inside the four-storey building and discover the number of bars and hidden spaces you’ll feel as if you were back in the London of old.

The Porterhouse

Situated close to Covent Garden, The Porterhouse is another large pub with many bars to choose from and what must be the biggest beer list in the city. If you’re looking for an Icelandic beer brewed by a craft brewery in Reykjavik or a Belgian beer brewed by monks in Antwerp then you come here.

The Churchill Arms

Always a difficult pub to get into because it’s so popular, The Churchill Arms is just off High Street Kensington and to get there you will have to navigate many Instagrammers taking photos of the gorgeous flower arrangements that cover the pub.

Once inside, you’ll find a great pub with a quality Thai restaurant attached to it. A lot of pubs are doing this and it makes a chance from standard British pub food.

When you do come to London, even if you don’t get to go to one of these pubs I implore you to avoid chain pubs and seek out the places with few tourists and more Londoners. It might be the highlight of your trip.