Explore the city, London experiences,
November 01 2024
Forget flashy neon-lit cocktail bars and shops playing novelty Christmas songs on repeat. Instead, embrace the jolly season in these festive London pubs. The best ones serve delicious roasts, keep the fire roaring and bring their own traditional festive sparkle. We’ve picked our favourite Christmas pubs in London for wassailing with pint glasses and laughing over terrible cracker jokes.
If Buddy the Elf was a pub, then The Churchill Arms at Christmas would be it. Twinkling fairy lights and spruce trees wrap its exterior to create a vision of Christmas joy Santa would be proud of. Inside, wartime memorabilia adorns the walls, and there are plenty of oak tables and comfy leather seats where you can enjoy a pint of real ale or a glass of something sparkly.
Apparently, Winston Churchill’s grandparents were regular visitors to this pub, which explains the pub name and decor. If you’re hungry, this was the first London pub in London to serve Thai food, so the menu is more pad Thai than turkey roast. But if there was ever a pub to shake off your inner Scrooge, this is it.
The service, the food, the drinks, the handsome interiors, the festive vibe… it’s all here – plus Christmas trees for sale in the garden. And if you’re hoping to tuck into a traditional roast this December, then The Avalon delivers. With meals served in a gorgeous dining room, the menu focuses on quality, sourcing local produce and British meat.
Choose from burgers and pizzas or classic roasts with all the trimmings – and the vegetarian and vegan dishes go beyond the bog-standard dry nut roast. The pumpkin and sage tortellini and chestnut and parsnip wellington are good enough to tempt even the most ardent meat eater. If you don’t fancy spending hours on Christmas day defrosting a turkey, then check out the fixed price three-course Christmas Day menu which, of course, includes the classic turkey roast.
Like a vision on a Georgian-themed Christmas card, The Holly Bush is a charming festive gem – one of the best Christmassy pubs in London. This is the place to head if you’ve just done a brisk winter’s walk around Hampstead Heath, and you fancy a pint in a historic tavern. Inside, there’s a large oak bar and a crackling fireplace where you can sit and get warm over a cask ale pint.
At the back of the pub and upstairs, there are welcoming wood-panelled dining rooms where you can enjoy classic roasts with giant Yorkshires that take a bit of juggling to keep on the plate! There’s room here for larger groups too, so it’s great if there are a few of you and you’ve booked ahead.
In the battle for the most Christmassy pub in London, this black and white Tudor pub on Bruton Street ranks high. Every stained-glass window sparkles with white fairy lights, and you can see from the outside that this place is cosy. Inside, there’s only room for around 50 people, but what it lacks in space it makes up for in cosiness, with soft leather seating in booths and historic posters on the walls.
The Coach and Horses dates back to 1770 and is one of the oldest pubs in the area, so you definitely get the Dickensian Christmas feeling here. Plus, its festive menu has pies and a festive buffet for larger Christmas get-togethers.
These best Christmas pubs are all easy to get to by public transport, or, even better, find a nearby Thistle Hotel such as Thistle Marble Arch, which is a short stroll to the Coach and Horses pub in Mayfair. Or Thistle Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens hotel near The Churchill Arms.
