There’s no getting around that London is expensive. At least when the British Pound is strong, this is one of the most expensive cities in the world for tourists. Some people who are planning their first trip here might be figuring out their budget, and if you are planning to spend a bit of time getting to know the locals in a pub, it helps to know what to expect. Here are some guidelines that should help you plan.
Prices of drinks in London pubs
Beer/ale/bitter/stout
The most popular drink is, of course, beer, and recently the lighter-coloured lagers have passed the traditional ales and bitters as the beers of choice. A pint of beer will usually cost somewhere between £2.50 and £3.50, and half a pint will usually cost exactly half the price. Most pubs have around 6 different beers on tap, and usually each will have its own price, partly due to the tax on alcohol content, meaning higher alcohol beers will cost a bit more than lower alcohol beers.
If you are a price-conscious drinker, it’s a good idea to ask how much each beer is before ordering. This seems very peculiar to people from most other places, but if there are six beers on tap at one place, the prices might be £2.90, £2.95, £2.80, £3.40, £2.70, and £3.50, with imports usually costing more than the local brews. You might find that one of your favorite beers is one of the cheaper ones, so it pays to ask.
Cider
Cider (alcoholic/hard apple cider) is always around the same price, as is the infamous “snakebite”, which is half lager and half cider, and sometimes a shot of black currant syrup for extra flavor and colour. Some pubs won’t serve snakebites because they have been associated with thoughtless binge drinking by many, partly because they go down so easy.
Wine
Wine is always available by the glass or bottle. Don’t expect a wide selection in most places. Usually a decent glass of wine will cost between £3 and £4, with a bottle starting around £12. At some of the more posh places you might have to pay £4+ for a ‘house red’ or white, and the price goes up from there.
Spirits
Cocktails and hard alcohol are also almost always available, but they are handled in an unusual manner. Most pubs have pre-filled chambers below each bottle, which are measured exactly to .025 liters or sometimes a bit more. So you’ll never get a generous pour like you do in most of the US and elsewhere. And usually the shot is sold on its own for a set price, starting around £2.50, and a mixer is sold on its own as well. So a vodka-cranberry would mean buying a small shot of vodka as well as a small can or bottle of cranberry juice. The bartender will mix it for you, but they do tend to be expensive, so they aren’t terribly popular. A shot of a spirit and a mixer will start at around £3 at the cheapest places, and go way up from there. If you go to a proper “bar” instead of a pub, you’ll likely get spirits poured directly from the bottles.
Finding cheaper London pubs
Prices for drinks at London pubs tend to be remarkably similar throughout the area, except for places in some tourist or business districts. Most any pub in the West End (Covent Garden, Leicester Square, SoHo etc.) will charge more than average, and a pint might start around £3.50 or higher. The same is true in The City (business area) or in other posh or touristy districts.
Your best bet is to go away from the fancy hotel districts and away from areas with an abundance of regular foot traffic. You probably don’t have to go more than 3 or 4 blocks if you are headed in the right direction, because affordable pubs for locals are in virtually every neighborhood. Even near the northern part of Hyde Park, you can be close to Oxford Street, which is expensive, or Notting Hill Gate, which can also be expensive, and just in between the two is Bayswater, which is home to dozens of affordable hotels and quite a few friendly local pubs that don’t charge over the odds.
There are also quite a few large chain pubs that advertise drink specials meant to draw in the price-conscious imbiber. Places like this will usually have some pints starting around £2 each, or even below on certain nights of the week, though that tends to be for lesser-known brands of beer that might not be your favorites once you’ve tried them. To find these bargain pubs you’ll usually have to leave the popular tourist areas and head to one of the villages outside the center. It’s unlikely that you’d actually save enough money to make a special trip worthwhile, but at the same time it’s nice to know to look out for special promotional signs out front of pubs, because they will be the cheapest drinks you can find.
Prices on food at London pubs
The majority of pubs do have a kitchen that serves sandwiches and traditional pub food, as well as some more inventive new favorites at some places. Places that serve breakfast usually specialize in the Full English Breakfast, and that can start at around £3 on a special, or £4 or £5 when just part of the menu. You might need to pay as much as £15 for a Full English Breakfast at a pub in a tourist or business zone.
For lunch and dinner, you’ll usually have many options, including such starters as chips/fries or a jacket (baked) potato with some other toppings. Prices for items like this start around £3, and for around £4 you can usually get a simple cheese or tunafish sandwich.
Full meals in pubs, such as fish & chips or shepherd’s pie or bangers & mash, will usually start around £6 in cheaper places, and quite a bit more in some of the pubs in tourist areas. A Sunday roast beef might start over £10 even in a simple place. The food is rarely the cheapest in the neighborhood, but portions tend to be filling, so it tends to be a fairly good value as long as you like whatever it is you ordered.
