The Ultimate Pub Crawl
of North Laine
Ahh, North Laine – the epicentre of Brighton's most eclectic independent shops, quirky cafés, thrift stores and street art. But that's not what you're interested in.
With a huge selection of pubs to choose between, North Laine is an absolute hub for entertainment and very good beer. Here’s where we’d go if we were you.
Pub crawl in Profile:
📍 Location: North Laine, Brighton & HovE
🍻 Total no. of pubs: Eight (but up to ten)
🧭 Total Walking Time: 16 minutes
🗺️ Total Distance: 0.7 miles
🗓️ Last updated: Feb 2024
pub 1: Evening Star
After arriving at Brighton train station, head approximately two minutes down the road and avoid the temptation to walk into pubs like The Grand Central, Railway Bell and Queen’s Head.
Instead, head past them all and into The Evening Star on your left-hand side.
Offering an unbelievable choice of craft beer, lager and cask ale, this pub has more than 22 drinks on tap. In other words, it's the ideal place to kickstart your pub crawl with a pint of whatever-the-heck-you-fancy IPA.
Pub 2: The Pond
Once you’ve finished making your way through the 22 taps at The Evening Star, head out of the pub, turn left and then left again. Cross over the road, down a small flight of stairs and carry on down Gloucester Road.
Within a matter of minutes, The Pond should have magically appeared on your right-hand side. Head in, and try not to get too wet – it is a pond, after all.
Once you’re inside, make the most of their incredibly craft beer selection. We typically go for an UnBarred Brewery offering ourselves but whatever you pick is bound to be delicious.
Pub 3: the prince albert
After drying off from your quick dip in The Pond, venture further down Gloucester Road before taking a left at Kemp Street.
Follow this road to the end and, within moments, you should see Banksy’s infamous ‘Kissing Coppers’ artwork appear on the wall of a beautifully coloured building. This means you’ve arrived.
Head past the wide array of picnic benches out the front and into The Prince Albert itself. Grab yourself a pint then, while you’re in the artsy spirit, take a look around the place. There’s always a ton of cool stuff to see.
Pub 4: The foundry
From The Prince Albert, take a right out of the pub and you should see another pub – The Lord Nelson Inn – appear shortly afterwards on your right.
We’ve left this pub out of our list but, if the minute and a half’s walk has completely done you in, pop in for a swift one, then carry onwards with your journey.
Find Trafalgar Lane, walk down it, cross the road and you should find yourself at the end of Foundry Street.
Approximately halfway down this street, you’ll soon find the aptly named The Foundry pub. I’m sure you’ll know exactly what to do when you get there… 🍻
Pub 5: the Heart and Hand
Prepare yourselves for another incredibly long two-minute walk (or stumble at this point). After making your way to the end of Foundry Street, take a right down North Road and you’ll soon make it to The Heart and Hand.
If you’re pub crawling with a dog, you will probably need to skip this one as the pub has a house cat which does not take kindly to being licked or bothered. It also doesn’t like dogs much.
However, if you don’t have a dog, head in, find a seat and grab yourselves a nice pint of Hand Brew Co’s latest creations. Our most recent favourite? It’s got to be David Shrigley’s Toadlicker Grapefruit Pale Ale, if only for the artwork alone.
Pub 6: the White Rabbit
With just three pubs to go, it’s time to get stuck into North Laine’s arguably best street (in our opinion anyway).
After yet another two-minute walk, you’ll head past a wide variety of vintage clothes shops, tattoo parlours and, if you’re lucky, market stalls, before making it to The White Rabbit. You’ll also pass by another gem of a North Laine pub along your way, so stop off at The Dorset if you’re keen to extend your pub crawl even further!
Once you arrive at The White Rabbit, you’ll be greeted with all the usual Laine offerings so, if you have the PUBBL app, will be able to use it to get various discounts! Not too shabby.
Pub 7: the basketmakers arms
What’s that, I hear? You want another two-minute walk? OK – we’ve got you.
Head past the alluring pizza scents of Fatto a Mano and back on to Gloucester Road. After walking exactly 446 feet, you’ll arrive at the doorstep of The Basketmakers Arms – one of Brighton’s only two Fuller’s pubs.
Now fair warning. With a huge selection of beers available, fab pub grub, nick-nacks on the wall and plenty of board games, you will find it hard to leave as soon as you step foot inside – especially when you’re already seven pints deep.
Pub 8: North laine brewhouse
No North Laine pub crawl would be complete without finishing at a pub with ‘North Laine’ in its actual name. Plus, once you’re here, you’ll be completely spoilt for choice.
While North Laine Brewhouse mainly serve Laine beers (hello more PUBBL points!), they also do a huge range of other guest beers and other drinks.
They also have shuffleboard, interactive darts and various other games available if you fancy it. Or alternatively, you could end your night by reviewing the pubs you’ve been to and voting for your favourite using our specially designed form.
We know what we’d do if we were you, but we are slightly biased… 👀