The Best Bars and Pubs in Greenwich, London

The home of Meantime beers, the Greenwich Union has six of its own home-brewed beers on tap, plus a huge range of international craft ales by the bottle. The food is a modern take on pub grub, and there’s a midsize beer garden for sunny days, plus a tiny terrace out front that’s proven to be popular Greenwich weekend real estate. All in all, this one of Greenwich’s best boozers.

One of the Young’s chain of proper pubs across London, Richard I is a classy Saturday afternoon affair where you can order burgers, fish and chips and enjoy craft ales away from the tourist-heavy Greenwich Market. Perfect for parents or first dates, it’s casual, cosy and has a lovely conservatory and pub garden.

Taking things up a notch in Greenwich is the Old Brewery, a classy craft beer pub decked out in maritime memorabilia with a food menu that puts a fine dining twist on pub classics. It’s perfectly located, with a large, sunny terrace that looks over the Thames and famous Greenwich clipper ship the Cutty Sark.

The Ashburnham Triangle is perhaps the nicest residential part of Greenwich, full of Georgian and Victorian terraces and mansion houses overlooking the huge park and the river below. The Ashburnham Arms caters to its local residents, with rugby and cricket screened regularly, a huge kids menu and plenty of room for toddlers to rampage around at the weekend.

There’s been a pub here at the Cutty Sark, right on the Thames, for hundreds of years. It’s an old-fashioned Georgian pub, rather than a hipster hangout, spread across three floors and overlooking the river. There’s decent pub grub, Sunday lunches and a range of draught beers.

Davy’s Wine Vaults has been a Greenwich institution since 1870, and serves up a whopping 600 wines from around the world. There’s a cute terrace out the front, and their Sunday roast or weekend brunch will help to soak up the plonk.

The Trafalgar Tavern is a Georgian landmark and local institution. Not much has changed over the years; it’s a community-focused pub that’s also very popular with tourists, mainly for views over the river from its floor-to-ceiling Regency windows. Guests have been enjoying whitebait fresh from the Thames for hundreds of years, and you still can, washed down with a local pint. Inside, you’ll find plenty of naval and maritime relics, plus wooden floorboards and gorgeous high ceilings.

A homely local pub that allegedly served a pint to Frank Sinatra, this neighbourhood favourite is loved for its live music nights. It also featured in an Only Fools and Horses spin-off, so you’re guaranteed a proper London pub experience here.

Grace Beard contributed additional reporting to this article.

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