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By Root 1234 0

Evening Standard, Time Out London, Where London, and In London, that will tell you who’s playing where and when, from theater presentations to jazz clubs to hot danceterias. To find your comfort level, read between the lines in the listings. Tatler, the monthly, super-stylish magazine about England’s blue-blood set, is the insider’s bible for the hottest places to go. Although many clubs are for underthirties, many others make for a popular night out for all ages and types. Check out www.londontown.com, www.allinlondon.co.uk, or www.viewlondon.co.uk.

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Bloomsbury | Holborn | The City | Clerkenwell | The East End | Chelsea | Knightsbridge | Mayfair | Notting Hill | Regent’s Park | Hampstead | Primrose Hill | Southbank | Covent Garden | Soho | The Thames Upstream

BLOOMSBURY

The Lamb.

Charles Dickens and his contemporaries drank here, but today’s enthusiastic clientele make sure this intimate and eternally popular pub avoids the pitfalls of feeling too old-fashioned. For private chats at the bar, you can close the delicate etched-glass “snob screen” to the bar staff, opening it only when you fancy another pint. | 94 Lamb’s Conduit St., Bloomsbury | WC1N 3LZ | 020/7405–0713 | Russell Sq.

Museum Tavern.

Across the street from the British Museum, this friendly and classy Victorian pub makes an ideal resting place after the rigors of the culture trail. Karl Marx unwound here after a hard day in the Library. He could have spent his Kapital on any of seven well-kept beers available on tap. | 49 Great Russell St., Bloomsbury | WC1B 3BA | 020/7242–8987 | Tottenham Court Rd.

The Queen’s Larder.

The royal name of this tiny pub comes from Queen Charlotte, who is said to have stored food here for her “mad” husband, George III, when he was being treated nearby. The interior preserves its antique feel, with dark wood and old posters, but it gets very “today” when jammed with tourists and office workers. In good weather, you might prefer to grab one of the seats outdoors. | 1 Queen’s Sq., Bloomsbury | WC1N 3AR | 020/7837–5627 | www.queenslarder.co.uk | Russel Sq.

HOLBORN

Princess Louise.

This fine, popular pub has over-the-top Victorian interior-glazed tiles and intricately engraved glass screens that divide the bar area into cozy little annexes. It’s not all show, either: There’s a good selection of excellent-value Yorkshire real ales. | 208 High Holborn, Holborn | WC1V 7BW | 020/7405–8816 | Holborn.

THE CITY

Fodor’s Choice | Black Friar.

A step from Blackfriars Tube stop, this spectacular pub has an Arts-and-Crafts interior that is entertainingly, satirically ecclesiastical, with inlaid mother-of-pearl, wood carvings, stained glass, and marble pillars all over the place. In spite of the finely lettered temperance tracts on view just below the reliefs of monks, fairies, and friars, there is a nice group of ales on tap from independent brewers. | 174 Queen Victoria St., The City | EC4V 4EG | 020/7236–5474 | Blackfriars.

Viaduct Tavern.

Queen Victoria opened the nearby Holborn Viaduct in 1869, and this eponymous pub honored the waterway by serving its first pint the same year. Much of the Victorian decoration is still extant, with gilded mirrors, carved wood, and engraved glass. The Viaduct Tavern’s haunted reputation stems from its proximity to the former Newgate Gaol, which once stood on the site (in fact, ex-prison cells in the basement can be seen with a free tour before or after the lunchtime rush and before 5 pm). There are usually three or four ales on tap; lunch is also served. | 126 Newgate St., The City | EC1A 7AA | 020/600–1863 | Closed weekends | St. Paul’s.

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese.

Yes, it’s full of tourists, but it’s also an extremely historic pub (it dates from 1667, the year after the Great Fire of London), and it deserves a visit for its sawdust-covered floors, low wood-beam ceilings, and the 14th-century crypt of Whitefriars’ monastery under the cellar bar. This was the most