The Best Beer Gardens in Islington and East London: A Local’s Guide for 2026
Islington has the walled, wisteria-heavy classics. East London has the canalside breweries and the pizza-slinging locals. This is the honest, walked-and-drunk version of where to actually go this summer — Barnsbury to Hackney Wick, with the places worth the trip and the ones that aren’t.
There is a particular kind of London afternoon that only works in a beer garden. The sun is out, you have nowhere to be until evening, and someone says “shall we just stay here?” — and you do, for five hours. North and East London are unusually rich in places where that afternoon is possible. The trick is knowing which ones reward the commitment and which ones you’ll be queuing forty minutes for a warm pint and a long wait at a single grim toilet.
This is our 2026 guide to the best beer gardens in Islington, Hackney and the wider East London area — Barnsbury and Canonbury through to Dalston, Stoke Newington, Hackney Wick, Clapton, Homerton, Haggerston and Hoxton. The best beer gardens in Islington and East London right now are The Albion in Barnsbury, Crate Brewery in Hackney Wick, The Canonbury Tavern in Canonbury, The Spurstowe Arms (now also in Clapton), and The Scolt Head in De Beauvoir — but the full list below is where the useful detail lives.
A note on how this was put together: these are places we drink in, not a scrape of every pub with three benches out front. We’ve prioritised gardens that are genuinely good to spend an afternoon in — proper space, decent beer, a reason to stay — over technically-has-outdoor-seatin
The best beer gardens in Islington
1. The Albion, Barnsbury — the one to send everyone to first
If you only go to one beer garden in Islington this year, make it this one. The Albion is a Georgian pub on a quiet Barnsbury street with a wisteria-covered walled garden running to over 450 square metres — genuinely one of the prettiest pub gardens in London, not just N1. The French windows in the restaurant area open onto a wisteria-filled English country garden, long celebrated as one of Islington’s finest. In full bloom in late spring it does, honestly, give the city’s better parks a run for their money.
The food is properly good gastropub cooking — beer-battered haddock, a serious Sunday roast — though the honest caveat is that it’s priced like it knows how nice the garden is, and on a busy weekend service can run junior and stretched. Go for a long weekday lunch if you can; weekends you’ll want to book the garden well ahead. Come for the setting, stay because you won’t want to leave.
Address: 10 Thornhill Road, Barnsbury, N1 1HW. Book ahead for garden tables, especially weekends.
2. The Canonbury Tavern, Canonbury — the grand old walled garden
Dating back to the early 1700s, the Canonbury Tavern has one of the largest and best-kept walled gardens in this part of London, sitting handsomely on Canonbury Place. A regular haunt of former local resident George Orwell, this was one of three pubs said to have inspired his essay ‘The Moon Under Water’ on the criteria for the perfect London watering hole. There’s an outdoor bar and a seafood shack, so on a good day you genuinely need never go inside.
One important practical point that catches people out: the garden closes at 9.30pm, with last table bookings at 8.30pm — so this is an afternoon-into-early-evening place, not a late one. Plan around that and it’s close to perfect. Get there for a long lunch, work through the afternoon, and leave before the garden shuts rather than being herded.
Address: 21 Canonbury Place, Canonbury, N1 2NS. Garden closes 9.30pm — go early.
3. The Drapers Arms, Barnsbury — the grown-up neighbourhood choice
A proper Barnsbury gastropub with a quiet rear garden, far enough off the main roads that there’s barely any traffic noise — just trees and a weekly-changing menu of seasonal plates. This is the one for a relaxed lunch with people you actually want to talk to, rather than a rowdy session. The kitchen is ambitious and the wine list is taken seriously (by the glass, carafe and bottle).
The honest note: this is a restaurant-with-a-garden more than a drink-all-day beer garden, and it’s the pricier end of the list. Come for a long, civilised lunch that drifts into the afternoon, order something off the changing menu, and don’t expect a cheap round.
Address: 10 Thornhill Road / 44 Barnsbury Street, Barnsbury, N1. Booking sensible at weekends.
4. Earl of Essex, Islington — for people who actually care about the beer
Tucked on Danbury Street near the canal, the Earl of Essex is the pick on this list for serious beer drinkers — an in-house brewery, a board of constantly rotating taps, and a small but genuinely pleasant garden to drink it in. It doesn’t have the sweeping looks of The Albion, but the beer is the best of any garden on the Islington stretch and it stays relaxed even when busier pubs nearby are chaos.
Go when you want to actually pay attention to what you’re drinking, not just sit somewhere pretty. The garden’s modest, so on the first warm Saturday of the year you’ll want to arrive early to claim a table.
Address: 25 Danbury Street, Islington, N1 8LE. Small garden — come early on hot days.
5. The Alwyne Castle, Highbury — the reliable big garden near the station
A laid-back Highbury pub with one of the larger, more easygoing beer gardens in the area, a short walk from Highbury & Islington station. This is the dependable group choice — space for a big table, craft beers and real ales, a seasonal kitchen that does a bit more than standard pub fare. It doesn’t try to be the prettiest or the most foodie place on the list, and that’s exactly its appeal.
This is where you go when there are eight of you, someone’s running late off the train, and you just need somewhere good that’ll have room. Reliable rather than romantic — and on a busy summer Sunday, reliable is worth a lot.
Address: 83 St Paul’s Road, Highbury, N1 2LY. Good for groups; near Highbury & Islington station.
The best beer gardens in East London
6. Crate Brewery, Hackney Wick — the canalside one worth the trip
If Islington’s gardens are about walled-in calm, Hackney Wick is the opposite, and Crate is its flagship. Set in a former print works right on the River Lea, Crate is especially popular thanks to its expansive canalside beer garden — long tables and benches by the water, the brewery’s own beers, and stone-baked pizzas with toppings that range from straightforward to gleefully unorthodox. On a sunny day, with party boats drifting past and street art on every wall, it is one of the best places in London to lose an afternoon.
The honest caveat is real: it’s a victim of its own success. On weekends you often can’t get a table, the bar can run several deep, and pizza waits can stretch toward forty minutes — and the toilets are a long-running weak point. Go on a weekday afternoon, or get there early on a weekend before the crowd lands, and it’s superb. Turn up at 4pm on a hot Saturday and you’ll spend the visit queuing.
Address: Unit 7, Queen’s Yard, White Post Lane, Hackney Wick, E9 5EN. Weekday or early-weekend only. Dog-friendly.
7. The Spurstowe Arms — Dalston and now Clapton — the meme’d local that earns it
For years the Spurstowe was Dalston’s most photographed pub, with an expansive beer garden close to London Fields and the celebrated Dough Hands pizza residency in the kitchen. The news for 2026, and the kind of thing a local guide should actually tell you: the Spurstowe team took over the much-loved Clapton boozer The Elderfield at the end of 2025, so there’s now a second outpost in E5. The team has said it’s committed to respecting The Elderfield’s existing community and mixed crowd rather than simply transplanting the Dalston scene wholesale.
The Dalston original remains a brilliant garden for people-watching, though it no longer takes bookings, so get down early at weekends or you’ll be elbowing through the crowd. The Clapton site is the one to watch this year — same instincts, less of the Tab-and-tote-bag crush, at least for now.
Address: Spurstowe Arms, 68 Greenwood Road, Dalston, E8 1AB. New site: the former Elderfield, Lower Clapton, E5. Dalston is walk-ins only.
8. The Scolt Head, De Beauvoir — the wedge-shaped garden in the calm bit
On the long, slightly samey roads of De Beauvoir Town, the Scolt Head is the island of charm. It’s a pub first and a kitchen second — good food, but it remains a proper pub — with a wedge-shaped beer garden to take your nibbles and tipples into when the weather cooperates. Sibling-run, genuinely warm, with a Sunday lunch so popular you won’t get a dining table without booking, and quirky touches like Tuesday swing dancing.
The honest line: the beer and wine choice is a little limited — a few draught ales and a smallish wine list — but it’s all good stuff. Come for the atmosphere and the cooking rather than a sprawling tap list, and order one of their superior scotch eggs if you don’t want a full meal. It sits in the quiet between Islington and Hackney, which is precisely the point.
Address: 107A Culford Road, De Beauvoir, N1 4HT. Book for Sunday lunch.
9. The Talbot, De Beauvoir / Dalston — the 150-year-old all-rounder
Five minutes from Dalston Junction, the Talbot is a historic De Beauvoir pub that’s been serving the area for over 150 years, independently run, with a sunny balcony and a courtyard — useful, because it gives you a choice of outdoor spots depending on where the sun is. Strong, good-value Sunday roasts (the pork belly gets singled out repeatedly), a decent beer selection and a genuinely friendly team.
The caveat from regulars is that drinks can feel a touch pricey for what they are, and the wine at the lower end isn’t its strength. But for an independently run pub with proper outdoor space this close to Dalston Junction, it’s an easy, dependable yes.
Address: Off Mortimer Road, De Beauvoir, N1 (5 minutes from Dalston Junction). Good for Sunday roast.
10. The Spread Eagle, Homerton — the all-vegan one that converts sceptics
The Spread Eagle on Homerton High Street is a quintessentially British corner pub with one significant twist: it’s London’s first fully vegan pub, with everything plant-based and a minimal-waste kitchen working with foragers and local producers to rework pub classics. The outdoor space is more modest than the canalside giants, but as a Homerton local with a genuine point of view it more than earns its place — and the kitchen has the awards to back it up. It won Most Loved Local Bar/pub at the 2018 Time Out Love Awards and took Maverick of the Year at the London Restaurant Awards.
Go even if you’re a committed carnivore — the point of the place is that you don’t notice, and the seasonal kitchen is the draw as much as a pint outside. It’s a local’s local, family- and dog-friendly, not a destination crush.
Address: 224 Homerton High Street, Homerton, E9 6AS. Plant-based throughout.
11. The Anchor & Hope, Clapton — the tiny riverside one for the view
A small Fuller’s pub overlooking an underrated stretch of the River Lea in Upper Clapton, and one of the most quietly charming spots on this list. It’s small but big on atmosphere — draught beer cask or keg, a curated wine list, and large benches where the form is to sit down next to a stranger and end up talking. Jamaican food from Angel’s Delights jerk joint is right on the doorstep, and the courtyard café-bar, The Hatch, runs Friday and Saturday daytimes.
This is not a big-group, big-garden afternoon — it’s a two-or-three-people, slow-pint, watch-the-river kind of place. Manage expectations on size and it’s one of the most pleasant waterside drinks in East London.
Address: 15 High Hill Ferry, Upper Clapton, E5 9HG. Small — best for two or three, not big groups.
12. Howling Hops, Hackney Wick — for the serious tank beer
Worth knowing alongside Crate if you’re doing a Hackney Wick afternoon: Howling Hops serves beer straight from the tanks behind the bar, with a small outdoor beer garden and Mexican food from an in-house kiosk. The garden is more functional than beautiful, but the beer is the reason — this is the Wick stop for people who care more about what’s in the glass than how photogenic the bench is.
The play here is a Hackney Wick crawl: Howling Hops for the tank beer, Crate for the canalside pizza, and the Wick’s other arches in between. Just don’t expect The Albion’s wisteria — this is concrete, canal and very good beer.
Address: Queen’s Yard, White Post Lane, Hackney Wick, E9 5EN. Pair with Crate for a Wick afternoon.
Also worth knowing
A few that didn’t make the main list but are on the radar. The Hackney Tap on Mare Street (the Euston Tap team) has 20-plus taps and an outside patio — excellent beer, but the outdoor space is a patio rather than a true garden. The Five Points Brewery & Taproom near Hackney Central has a big indoor space and an outdoor area that’s great mid-week but a crush on weekend DJ nights. Hackney Church Brew Co. on Bohemia Place has a back garden under the arches and does Sunday roasts — more taproom than beer garden, but a strong shout if you’re already in Hackney Central.
What we left out
We’ve left Crate’s many imitators along the Wick arches off the main list — several are good, but on a hot weekend the whole strip becomes one long queue and Crate and Howling Hops remain the ones worth committing to. We’ve also held back on a couple of much-hyped Dalston spots whose gardens have become more about being seen than being good; when the crowd is the main feature, the pint usually isn’t. And we’ve not included the bigger chain-managed pubs with technically-large gardens — space alone isn’t the point.
The verdict
What links the best of these isn’t size — it’s that each one gives you a reason to stay past the second pint. Islington’s strength is the walled, planted, slightly hidden garden: Barnsbury and Canonbury do this better than almost anywhere in London. East London’s strength is the opposite — canalside, brewery-led, a bit rougher, built for a long social afternoon. The Albion if you want beautiful; Crate if you want the Wick at full tilt; the Spurstowe’s new Clapton site if you want to be slightly ahead of everyone else this summer.
We update this guide through the season as gardens reopen, change hands, and as new ones earn their place — the Spurstowe’s Clapton move is exactly the kind of shift we’ll keep on top of. If you want our weekly steer on where to eat, drink and go across Islington and East London, sign up for the Islington Local Guide newsletter — it goes out every Friday morning, and it’s free.
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Curated by Islington Local Guide your trusted source for events and things to do in Islington, Hackney, Shoreditch, Kings Cross
updated 18th May 2026
