Sober-Friendly London: Alcohol-Free Days and Nights Out That Are Worth It
Here's the thing nobody tells you when you stop drinking: London doesn't get smaller. It gets bigger. Kelly and I have spent years hunting down days and nights out in the city that are brilliant without a drop of booze, and this is the guide we wish we'd had at the start. Every place below is somewhere we've actually been and written about, with the Worth It score we gave it (where we gave one) and exactly what we found on the sober side of the menu.
If you're new here, here's why you won't find any booze on this blog. Short version: I'm sober, Kelly just isn't that into it, and skipping the bar bill leaves a lot more room in the budget for the moments that are truly worth it.
The quick list
The Magician's Table, The Vaults: 10/10, sober-friendly 5/5
The Murdér Express, Pedley Street Station: 9/10 (review goes live on 29 October)
Sherlock at The Lost Estate: some of the best alcohol-free cocktails we've ever had
Jonny's birthday blowout: alcohol-free cocktails in a blitz-era bar
Sober nights out in London
The Magician's Table at The Vaults: 10/10
If you only do one thing on this list, make it this. The Magician's Table is an immersive close-up magic show under the arches at Waterloo, staged as a memorial for a legendary magician. You start in the bar with magicians wandering about doing tricks, and I grabbed a mocktail. Then several more, because they were great. Nobody blinked at me ordering them, and I never once felt like I was missing out.
Sober-friendly: 5/5. Food was popcorn only, so eat beforehand. The website asks you to arrive about an hour early for the magic in the bar. Tickets usually start at around £69 each, but we got ours on Central Tickets for £5 each. Five pounds.
Come Alive! The Greatest Showman Circus at Earls Court: 9/10
I'd never seen The Greatest Showman, which turned out to be a bonus. At Come Alive! at the Empress Museum, the bars are as theatrical as the show, including a round bar under a glittering dome that looks like a giant birdcage. There's a choice of alcohol-free cocktails, so we tried one of each (research, obviously), then moved on to regular soft drinks.
Our ringside seats were about £125 each, and seats further back were only about £10 less. Venue food is simple circus fare (hotdogs, chicken strips, churros), so if you have intolerances like mine, eat first. Get there an hour early and give the pre-show museum the time it deserves. The one point we dropped was purely for the price.
The Murdér Express at Pedley Street Station: 9/10
A murder mystery dining train that never leaves a railway arch in Bethnal Green. Our full review of The Murdér Express goes live on 29 October, so if that link isn't working yet, check back then. The sober bit: drinks aren't included in the ticket, you order them by scanning a QR code once you've checked in, and non-alcoholic drinks are on offer. There's a wine pairing too, which we cheerfully swerved.
We warmed up beforehand with alcohol-free mojitos and a strawberry hot chocolate at Caffè Concerto on Regent Street. The cast are extremely interactive (they picked on me, obviously), the three-course dinner was light, and we got cheap tickets on the Central Tickets app.
Sherlock at The Lost Estate
For our second anniversary we went to The Great Murder Mystery, a Sherlock Holmes adventure at The Lost Estate. We had some of the best alcohol-free cocktails we've ever had, and instead of the usual champagne sorbet at dessert, they made a special sober version for me. That kind of thoughtful touch is exactly what makes a sober night out feel like a treat rather than a compromise.
Sober days out in London
A sober bar crawl, then Spirited Away on stage
Who says a bar crawl needs booze? On our Spirited day in London, we ducked into The Escapologist in Covent Garden, with its hidden room behind a painting. The mocktails were delicious, inventive and incredibly affordable. Then we went through an unmarked door in Soho and down to Bar Lina, an intimate cocktail bar serving small plates with each round, which went perfectly with our non-alcoholic drinks. It all built up to the stage adaptation of Spirited Away, performed in Japanese with English subtitles, and it was a true Worth It Moment.
Formula E, Roseblood mocktails and KOD
After a day at Formula E London, we unwound at Roseblood, an outdoor terrace pop-up cocktail bar at the Pan Pacific London on Liverpool Street, with two mocktails. They were on the pricier side but felt worth the splurge. Heads up: it was a pop-up that ran only until the end of September, so check it's on before you go. Then all-you-can-eat steak at KOD.
Jonny's birthday blowout
My birthday took in a cat cafe in Marylebone, Seven Dials Market and historical drinks in a blitz-era bar, where we stuck to alcohol-free cocktails. Kelly even got hers in a ceramic Winston Churchill mug. The drinks were inventive and the mood was electric.
Hamilton, with CA Japanese Pancakes first
Theatre is one of the easiest sober nights out going, because the show is the point. Before Hamilton, we had crème brûlée style soufflé pancakes at CA Japanese Pancakes, a sweet pre-game that beats a pre-theatre pint any day. We sat in the second row thanks to some handy vouchers. It was great fun, even if it didn't quite hit the life-changing mark for us.
Our sober night out tips
Check what your ticket includes. Plenty of dinner shows don't include drinks, so you only pay for what you actually order.
Ask for the alcohol-free menu. More bars have one than you'd think, and if they don't, the bar staff can usually make something up.
Skip the drinks pairing. It's an easy saving, and you can put the money towards better seats.
Arrive early. Lots of immersive shows put on pre-show entertainment, and it's far more fun with a clear head.
Eat first if the food looks limited, and use any dietary form the venue sends you.
Check apps like Central Tickets for last-minute deals. Some of our best nights have cost a fiver.
Plan your journey home. Sober means you can drive, but if you're on the train, check the last one before the night starts.
Was it worth it?
Every single one. Sober London is magic tricks that break your brain, circus acts flying over your head, murder on a train that never moves and mocktails that put a lot of cocktails to shame. If you've got a sober-friendly London favourite we haven't tried yet, tell us in the comments. We're always looking for the next one.
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