Nightlife in Buxton

Forget the pretenders, The Ale Stop on Chapel Street was Buxton’s original micropub. As you can expect, the beer and ale selection is banging. It’s got a great community atmosphere because it hosts a popular folk night on the first Monday of the month, as well as regular gigs and a DJ booth spinning the micropub’s excellent vinyl collection.

The Royal Oak Inn is the cosiest of establishments in the nearby hamlet of Hurdlow. It boasts bags of character thanks to the inn’s exposed timber beams and roaring open fires. There’s a great selection of ales as well as some of the best eating in the area. It’s a pretty typical gastropub menu, just made to the highest of standards. It’s a big call, but the Sunday roast at the Royal Oak Inn might well be the best in the business.

If you like an old-timey pub, The Knights Table on Leek Road is rather wonderful. It’s just a 10-minute drive from our Buxton hotel. As far as pubs go, The Knights Table has some of the best views in the area. You can just sit back and soak up the countryside while sipping on something special from the bar. The food is tasty too and comes in huge portions. The steak and ale pie is fit for a king, let alone a knight. 

You may have sampled some of the excellent ales from our local Buxton Brewery. It’s fast made a name for itself as one of the best modern breweries in the UK. The Buxton Tap House is the tap of Buxton Brewery. It serves all of your favourites from the brewery and has a cellar full of the rare limited release ales that have established Buxton Brewery as one to watch in the ale world. There are 18 beers on draft, 16 on keg and a couple on cask, plus fridges full of beers from around the world, although it’d be a shame not to sample the local stuff.

The Old Sun Inn is a 17th-century pub near the bottom of the High Street. It enjoys an excellent ale selection and is one of our favourite places for just popping in for a drink. As you can expect from its age, The Old Sun Inn has loads of character. Food-wise, it’s tasty and well-portioned. Our top tip is to try the pies; they’re packed full of filling and flavour.

Among the most popular pubs in Buxton is The Railway. You’ll find it just beneath the arches of the viaduct. It’s beautifully decorated and has the friendliest staff in town. It serves tasty food and has a great drinks selection. It’s all very reasonably priced. The Railway just ticks all the boxes.

Lastly, if you’re wondering where Buxton’s Wetherspoons is, it’s called The Wye Bridge House. It overlooks Ashwood Park and has a couple of huge beer gardens, meaning there’s nowhere better to go for a beverage on a sunny day. You know what to expect from a Wetherspoons – a big and cheap drinks selection, the fastest pub grub in town and a lively atmosphere.

Monk is one of the best places to grab a drink in Buxton. It’s a cocktail bar next to the Pump Room and opposite The Dome, which are two of our top activities in Buxton. Monk has a menu of creative cocktails at more than reasonable prices, all in a stylish setting with a stellar location. And the staff are lovely. What more could you ask for? Well, they also host comedy nights, tap takeovers and whisky tasting sessions.

Other honourable mentions go to Gilbert’s, which is a stylish bar and eatery on High Street with an excellent Sunday roast and a well-stocked selection of top-shelf spirits, Level 2, which is a popular nightclub with great music, sound and lighting, and The Vault, which is a local favourite pub on the High Street with free entry and DJs until late on the weekend.