Here are the answers to a few questions we frequently get asked by visitors to the United Kingdom. If we've missed anything out, let us know.
You can buy an alcoholic drink in the UK if you're over the age of 18. One word of advice - if you look young, you may be asked for identification - your passport should do the trick. Some pubs run identity card schemes, but if you're a visitor you probably won't have one of these cards.
What may be somewhat confusing to some visitors is the fact that some pubs, clubs and bars operate their own minimum age limit which is above the minimum legal age. This can be 21, 23 or 25 and is entirely down to the discretion of the management. If they refuse to allow you in, don't argue, it won't get you anywhere other than chucked out into the street. There are plenty of other places to go. Admittance to any establishment is at the discretion of the management - if they don't want you in the place, there's no legal obligation for them to let you in.
It is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to buy an alcoholic drink or for anyone to knowingly purchase a drink for someone underage. It is also against the law for anyone running licensed premises (or their employees) to sell a drink to someone underage. There is an exception: it is NOT an offence to buy a drink for a 16 or 17 year old in conjunction with a table meal in a restaurant as long as the meal IS NOT IN THE BAR AREA. Similarly, a 16 or 17 year old can purchase a drink in a restaurant with a table meal under these restrictions.
Some pubs allow families in for meals and some don't. Some even have areas where children can play, but they still require parents to supervise their offspring.
The Visit Britain web site has more information.
Pub opening and closing times are down to the licence that applies to the establishment, although most pubs stick to a pretty standard schedule. See below for late-night drinking.
‘Normal’ times are as follows for England and Wales. Scotland is slightly different, it has had more liberal opening times for some time and as a consequence there’s less of a pattern. We expect the same will happen in England and Wales over time.
opening |
closing |
|
Monday to Saturday |
11.00am |
11.00pm |
Sunday |
12.00pm |
10.30pm |
Pubs usually call ‘last orders’ ten minutes before closing time and this is often indicated by ringing a bell. It’s merely a warning and you can continue to drink until closing time. When time is called – by ringing the bell again or calling ‘Time, please, ladies and gents’ – that’s it: drink sales are closed; you can’t buy booze to take home at this point either. What follows next is ‘drinking-up time’, when the pub will allow you up to twenty minutes to finish your drink. Some pubs do this more aggressively than others. But, if you find a more relaxed one, they will often let you finish up at your own pace. ‘Lock-ins’ (drinking beyond the times allowed by the pub’s licence) are illegal, even with the new laws, but they do happen in some instances. If you find yourself locked in a pub after last orders and still getting a drink you may count yourself lucky, but be warned: you could get into trouble with the law.
The Visit Britain web site has more information.
The law changed in 2005 to allow pubs to apply for a licence to serve outside ‘normal’ hours, theoretically at any time in a 24-hour period. This means pubs can now open at the hours they would like to rather than the rather restrictive 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. they had to previously (except where licence extensions had been permitted). However, not every pub’s application has been successful and, even when they are successful, it is often difficult to find out which pubs do have late opening hours. And in any case sometimes pubs will close when the landlord feels like it.
As the pub trade is still getting to grips with the new laws, we are finding that pubs tend to cluster late-night opening at the end of the week, primarily Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. This often means they’re open just a few extra hours, say to 1 or 2 a.m. on those nights, or even just until midnight in a lot of pubs.
There are alternative places to go for a late-night drink, but they are more likely to be clubs and bars than pubs, and there are a few things to consider before trying getting into one:
- Most of these establishments have gentlemen on the door for the express purpose of keeping pissed, aggressive or unwanted punters from entering. If you are too drunk, you won’t get in.
- Some places charge an entry fee around closing time. Most clubs charge to get in, for instance, but many will often let you in for free if you arrive earlier.
- Clubs and bars tend to have music, often making it difficult to have a conversation – if that’s what you wanted to do.
Some are obviously better than others for this sort of thing, but the venues can be variable.
If you do indulge in a late night drink, make sure you can get home – check our Getting there and back again section for more information.
Pubs are usually pretty relaxed and informal places, so there are not too many rules, but visitors do sometimes get caught out, so here are a few pointers.
Generally you order your drink from the bar and take it to where your friends are sitting/standing. You often order food from the bar too, although food will usually be brought to you after ordering. Ask the person behind the bar about ordering food. One common exception is when you're sitting down and eating - you may be able to ask the waiter/waitress for more drink, while you eat.
When you go to the bar to order a drink and if there's a group of you, don't all go together, there won't be room. One or two of you should go and order the drinks and bring them back.
Don't order drinks one by one, the person behind the bar can usually handle more than that. And a word of advice, when you order a round of drinks that includes Guinness, order the Guinness first!
If there are lots of other people standing at the bar drinking, ask someone to let you to the bar in to order get a drink, don't push in. When you've got your drink(s) leave the bar, don't stay where you are as it will annoy the people who let you in. If people are queuing to order drinks, wait your turn. A good way to start a fight in a pub is to try and push to the head of a queue two minutes before closing time. If the staff have seen you waiting, they'll serve you.
You usually pay for the drink when you order. If you're using a debit/credit card then you can probably run a tab - often there's a minimum order amount of £5 or £10 - not difficult to achieve in London- but you'll have to leave your card behind the bar for security. Some places add a surcharge to your drinks bill to cover bank charges.
In pubs, you rarely tip at the bar, even when the bar staff give you your change on a platter - this is a cheap ploy to extract more money from customers, who are usually already paying exorbitant prices for the drink.
However, if you feel someone in the pub has provided exceptional service you can offer to buy him or her a drink. Sometimes, he or she will actually take the drink (and drink it with you), but more often than not will take money equivalent to the price of a drink - this is acceptable.
A few pubs provide table service for drinks, especially if they do food, and where you get this, it's OK to tip good service (around 10% - 12.5%).
It's actually illegal to drink on the street in most places, unless an area outside the pub is part of, or owned by, the pub. Borough councils are very sensitive about this, so, if you are asked to stay inside a particular area by the staff or even to move indoors, please do so. If you don't, the pub could possibly lose its licence.
Don't worry if this all sounds bewildering. If you're not sure about something, just ask someone who works in the pub. As long as you respect the other people around you, you'll get on fine.
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