London's Pubs

London’s pubs are bursting with personality. They have curb appeal. They seem to have more flowers than most gardens, paired with beautiful signage. It’s like they are inviting you in for a pint.

While we were in London I made a hobby of taking photos of the more picturesque pubs that we passed. No I didn’t drink at all of these pubs, but I thought it would be fun to create a stand alone post celebrating British pubs.

Pubs are a big part of the culture in London. They are meeting places, and everyone seems to have a pub that they frequent. When I visit my cousins, who live in Kennington, we always seem to end the night with a pint at the local pub. And the local pub seems just as welcoming as someone’s living room.

One thing that surprised me was how busy the pubs are during the day. Around lunchtime you would see people having pints with their lunch. This photo was taken in the middle of the day.

The most shocking thing was how people spill into the streets with their pints in the evening. I am a bit confused when it comes to this topic since drinking in the street isn’t legal in London, but it is common for people to drink in the area outside of the pubs – they even bring their glass with them (they don’t have to transfer the beer into a plastic cup like we do in America!).

Some pubs had much larger crowds gathered outside on Friday evening. Sometimes the crowd almost totally blocked the road.

Here are some fun facts about London’s pubs. First off, are more than 7,000 pubs in London.

A British pint is 20 ounces, while in America a pint is 16 ounces. In London they also put care into making sure you are served your beer in the specific glass made for that beer.

“Pub” is short for public house.

Most pubs close at 11pm.

Many pubs are very simply named, because so many people were illiterate when the pubs were opened. Instead of giving a pub a fancy name, they would give it a simple name, like “The Bell”, and then put a put a picture of a bell on the sign so that people would understand.

Pubs don’t prominently feature tvs. While in America, we are used to bars bragging about the number of tvs they have, in England, pubs usually have a tv or two, but they are only turned on to show major sporting events. Instead people actually interact with each other!

Aren’t these pubs so pretty? Share any favorite London pubs with us in the comments!