The Pre-Drink: London

London is packed full of amazing bars and pubs, but the city isn’t known for its cheap drinking. In fact a night out in London is pretty much guaranteed to set you back a sizeable chunk of your budget, although you will undoubtedly have a great time.

A pint of beer or large wine is normally around £5, a cocktail can be anything from £6 up to around £10.

One way to make your money stretch further is finding one of the many happy hours in the city. These tend to run for several hours from around 5 or 6 pm until around 7 or 8, sometimes later. You’ll usually find two for one on beers or cocktails around this time.

With around 400,000 students in London you’ll always be able to find a good student bar in London. So if you want to experience London’s party scene like a local, you’ll have to find some great places where your beer tokens (as Brits call money) will go further.

Wetherspoons Pubs

The Wetherspoons pub chain are well known for their crazy cheap drinks prices. A pint of ale or lager can be found for less than £2 in some places (yes really). The trade off? They can be a soulless place to drink, and they can often be full of, well, interesting characters. Especially outside of Central London.

The Metropolitan Bar just outside Baker Street station, The Montagu Pyke in Charing Cross Road (Soho), The Crosse Keys (9 Gracechurch Street near Bank), The Lord Moon of the Mall (Trafalgar Square) and The Sir John Oldcastle (29-35 Farringdon Road) are some of the most popular spots to get an amazingly cheap beer or wine.

‘Spoons (as you should call them if you want to sound like a local) also do a great line in cheap food. For around £8 you can get a beer and a burger, which is usually reliably decent.

You’ll find students, travellers, all day drinkers and out of towners flock to pretty much every branch of Wetherspoons. So if in doubt search ‘Wetherspoons’ in your Google Maps.

 

The Chandos

Just between Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden at 29 St Martins Lane you’ll find this incredibly cheap pub serving its own brand of drinks. You won’t find Jack Daniels, Heineken or any other recognisable brand, just Samuel Smiths branded beverages.

It’s decent quality, much cheaper than other pubs (except ‘Spoons) and a very authentic London pub in the heart of the city.

Samuel Smith also have several other traveller and student friendly pubs around London, including The Angel (61 St Giles High Street, Covent Garden), The John Snow (39 Broadwick Street, Soho) and The Captain Kidd (Wapping High Street). The last one is a fantastic location next to the river, perfect in the summer.

 

Peckham Levels

If you are brave enough to venture away from Central London you’ll find this complex in an old multi story car park just rewards. Peckham is very much an up and coming area with a vibrant student population, and the Levels is one of the major haunts down this way.

Why come here? Cool club nights, some of the best street food in the city, fashion and art students aplenty, oh, and the views from Peckham Levels are Instagram gold.

And a bonus. The Peckham Plex shows the latest blockbuster movies for just £5 every day! It’s worth the trip down south.

 

Tapping The Admiral

Camden is famous for its buzzing music scene and students and travellers flock here for a night out every day of the week. Most drinking establishments in the area charge tourist trap prices, but this gem at 77 Castle Road has long happy hours (12pm til 7pm every day) and beers from £3.50.

When you’re in Camden you’ll likely end up pub crawling through a never ending selection of bars and pubs. The appeal is normally seeing live music or comedy, so keep your ear to the ground about what’s happening in the area and go with the crowd.

 

The Red Lion

Trendy Shoreditch is a magnet for students and travellers because of it’s top quality nightlife. You’ll find cool bars, late night clubs and cutting edge venues around every corner. This stalwart at 41 Hoxton Street is always popular, mainly because of its roof terrace and low prices. It doesn’t have the best views, but in the summer months soaking up the sun on the roof with a cool drink is one of the pleasures of the area.

It’s kinda cheap too, so a great place to start your drinking before heading to more expensive venues like Cargo, XOYO or The Queen of Hoxton.

 

Old Blue Last

While we’re in Shoreditch, the Old Blue Last at 38 Great Eastern Street has to be on your must visit list. This pub has a rep as the venue for up and coming live music, with the Arctic Monkeys one of the most famous ‘before they were famous’ guests.

Its free to get in and the drinks are reasonably priced, so therefore its normally very popular and rammed. Of course that also means that the clientele tend to be young, studenty or out of towners.

A night out in Shoreditch will normally include a pitstop in The Old Blue Last at some point, although by that point you might not remember it.

 

Tamesis Dock

If you’re heading to Vauxhall you’re probably heading to one of the big clubs like Fire or Union. The area is historically a popular gay hangout, but these days you’ll find everyone is welcome.

Tamesis Dock is an unusual venue. An old Dutch barge now permanently moored on the Albert Embankment, it offers a great place to start your visit to Vauxhall. Drinks are very reasonable at around £4 a pint, or £4.50 for a spirit and mixer.

The river location makes for great views towards Big Ben and the new high rises of the South Bank. Tamesis Dock hosts DJs and live music most nights of the week and usually attracts a cool pre-clubbing clientele.

 

South Kensington

South Kensington isn’t the cheapest place to drink, but if you’re a student you’ll be able to get in to the Imperial College Union Bar (Prince Consort Road). Drinks are student cheap (of course) and you’ll get to mingle with some of the rising brightest minds in medical science.

But what if you’re not a student?

The Queens Arms at 30 Queens Gate Mews is tucked away behind Imperial College and is a favourite haunt of students. It’s not the cheapest pint in London, but is a reliable haunt for a refreshing tipple before or after visiting the museums.

 

Insiders Tips

Keep your eyes peeled for those happy hour drinks and you’ll usually be able to find fellow travellers and students. Soho, Camden and Shoreditch all have so many pubs and bars that you’ll easily be able to find half price drinks at some point in the day.

Download the DUSK app which is a great way to find the happy hours (and also get a few free drinks). And keep an eye on the free Time Out Magazine, which you’ll find in all hotels and hostels, to stay up to date with great drinks deals.