The Mayflower Pub

You're sitting on the South Bank in Rotherhithe, nursing a pint and watching the Thames slip past your table — this is the kind of London that doesn't need Instagram to feel special. The Mayflower's been here since the 1600s, and it shows in the wonky wooden beams, low ceilings that'll catch you out if you're tall, and the genuine sense that centuries of drinkers have warmed these same stools. The terrace is the real drawcard, especially on decent weather days when you've got proper river views and the kind of easy-going crowd that's here because they live locally, not because they read about it online.