This is a great pub in the summer where on a hot evening you can grab a bbq, bottle of wine and a space on the kerb (because inevitably by the time you get there the tables will have gone). Nice hustle and bustle without having to inhale the pollution, nestled down a cobbled alley way this is a pub you almost won’t find. Drinks are reasonably priced and staff are friendly. Beware of tourist groups who come to visit on walking tours - this is one of the oldest pubs in London and still retains its Dickensian charm - they will fill the bar, take lots of photos which, if drunk, you will try to invade the back of and end up being immortalised in, perched on a German Grandmother’s windowsill for all eternity!

We’re not fussy people, just happened to be in the area on a Sunday night and fancied a decent glass of red wine in nice surroundings. This beautiful old coach inn has suffered from an unsympathetic modernisation, perhaps so the managers can better cater for the crush of rowdy med students who descend on it every night. We sat under the harsh glare of spotlights in an extension. Wine list was terrible - there was only one wine by the glass, and for £3.50 we were served miniature bottles of very poor quality red wine (as if you were being served on a plane). We were served by a surly skinhead who refused to enter into any discussion about the wine (although he did taste it and make a face), and was later seen laughing about us with another customer. We were forced to buy an entire bottle of red to get anything drinkable. The whole experience was so unfriendly and sad that it wrecked our night. We later wrote a letter to the National Trust (who are the leaseholders). It’s a real shame that a place of such historical importance has been turned into a moneymaking pub with no respect for itself.

The best thing about a house party on a Saturday is couch surfers and residents gathering on hungover Sunday and engaging in good chats over copious mugs of tea. The topics of conversation? Anything from the previous night’s housewarming gifts (out of a skip), to is cat the opposite of dog? and of course, best places to go in London.

Gordon’s on Villiers Street was mentioned as a favourite London institution and after visiting the George Inn, pre-party, on Saturday night - I’d put it in the same cateogry. This is just one of those pubs that oozes England and history out of every floorboard and beam - but not in a Shakespeare gift-shop tea towel kind of way.

Tucked away down a little alley off Borough High Street the outside is overflowing with tables perfect for summer drinking. I was attending a party and a room had been hired, so I ducked in to find a glorious little space with beams and wood and tables, a darling little hatch which serves as a bar and plenty of smiley party goers. Friendly staff completed the package - the next sunny day there is I’ll be back, and hopefully outside drinking Pimm’s! There I go, being English again…

Hidden down an alley, not far from London Bridge tube station and Borough Market, the George Inn claims to be the last London 16th-century balconied coaching inn.

What it certainly is, is an old, wooden, multi-roomed pub. Plenty of real ales on tap, including one brewed just for them. There are nooks and crannies everywhere, from stools to tables to benches. There’s a dining room upstairs, and some function rooms. The kitchen serves a good menu.

There are lots of picnic tables in the cobbled courtyard for outside drinking when the weather is good. The men’s toilet is in a small outbuilding across the courtyard.

The George Inn is often very busy, and if the weather’s not good enough to allow people to spill outside you’re likely to find yourself standing. Still, despite being in a busy part of town its location down the alley separates it from traffic and noise. It’s definitely worth a visit.

Hard to find if you haven’t been there before but well worth it. This gorgeous pub is only ruined by the hideous buildings which have sprung up around the courtyard.
Get an outside spot and just look at the historic exterior or cosy up in the quiet side bar where there’s a gas fire burning in winter.
Slightly odd that you can’t buy wine by the glass but even more excuse to dispense with restraint and just buy the bottle.

This Inn was apparently frequented by Charles Dickens. It is said that he even managed to publicise one of his books-The Little Dorrit in the pub.