Make Your Trip Lively with Nightlife around Charing Cross Pubs, London

If you’re staying in the Charing Cross area, central London’s vibrant metropolitan nightlife is all on your doorstep. Whether you’re on holiday, attending a course or an interview or just making the most of the fantastic shopping on and around the Strand and Oxford Street, you owe it to yourself to have some fun while you’re in town.

Fun in Soho

You don’t have to walk far from your Charing Cross hotel to find the world famous nightlife of ‘swinging Soho’. You’re unlikely to bump into Terence Stamp or Julie Christie, and to be honest Carnaby Street lost its allure some time ago, but the thriving media community between Oxford Street, Regent Street and Charing Cross Road means its still very much the place to be for the city’s young bohemians, and a city centre magnet for the hipper tourist as a result. It’s not even expensive to have a fantastic night out in Soho. Check out the Prince Charles cinema just off Leicester Square for an incredible range of recent releases at prices that belie its West End address. Then wander among watering holes ranging from slick cocktail bars to traditional pubs like The Bear and Staff with its range of real ales and ‘old-London’ atmosphere. Finish up in Chinatown at Wardour Street’s Wong Kei, once notorious for hilariously rude table service and still offering great food at impressive prices.

Try a Shoreditch pub crawl

If Soho has whetted your appetite for mingling with creatives and artistic types, you’ll want to investigate the drinking potential of Shoreditch and Hoxton. This vibrant area of East London, easily accessible via Old Street tube, is famous for its role in the cultural life of the city, and is a great place to see London street art. Among the trendy art galleries and cutting-edge new media companies, there’s a wealth of friendly pubs and bars along Old Street and in the streets on either side. Charlie Wright’s music lounge in Pitfield Street is a favourite for student nights London, and the Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen is the area’s most popular gig venue among those with their fingers on the musical pulse. Between Great Eastern Street and Shoreditch High Street is a warren of smaller streets and lanes littered with cool pubs and bars and definitely worth a wander. 

Explore Covent Garden

Back at base, you’ll find you’re also a stone’s throw from historic Covent Garden, famous for its Opera House and permanent market. If opera’s not really your bag, don’t despair. There’s a wealth of theatres in the area, from the crowd-pleasing Fortune Theatre to the cutting-edge Donmar Warehouse, and once you’ve fed your mind, the opportunities for stylish eating and drinking in this quarter are second-to-none. Experience the original Victoriana of the Sherlock Holmes or the chic modernity of the lobby bar at One Aldwych. Samuel Pepys loved the atmospheric, underground Gordon’s Wine Bar, or try locals’ favourite hideaway the Cork and Bottle for a taste of real London nightlife. You can’t really go wrong.

Visit Camden

The area around Camden High Street and the famous Camden Lock market is world famous for its role in the UK’s musical history. The thriving music venues and bustling bars of the area made it rightly pivotal to the Brit-pop movement, and it’s still a great place to hang out, hear bands established or obscure, and hob-nob at the bar with local musicians. Don’t forget to visit the famous Dublin Castle on Parkway for the authentic local vibe and a chance to discover the next big thing.