Nightlife in Newbury

Smack, bang in the middle of Newbury town centre is where we’ll begin our mini pub crawl. It’s here, on Bartholomew Street, where you’ll find one of our favourite watering holes in the area. The Newbury is a multi-award winning pub with an excellent selection of drinks, including an array of ales and shelves upon shelves of spirits. The food is very good, and the overall setting is stylish yet rustic. The sharing boards are a sight to behold, perfect for soaking up whatever your group is guzzling.

The Lock Stock & Barrel is a lovely Fuller’s pub overlooking the Kennet & Avon Canal in the heart of town. The setting is a delight, they do a lovely pint of London Pride, and the Sunday roast is one of our favourites in Newbury. When the weather’s warm and the sun is shining, if you’re able to snag one of the canalside tables, there are few better pubs in Newbury to kill a couple of hours.

Next up is an absolute belter. The Catherine Wheel is a rustic Pieminister pub. If you haven’t heard of Pieminister before, it’s a pie company that began life in Bristol. You can now eat their pies in 50 pubs, eight restaurants, and six cafes around the country. Their popularity has something to do with their creative fillings, big flavours, simple sides and great prices. Pie, mash and peas? That’s proper pub food. Enjoy it in the enclosed patio area when the weather’s warm, or grab a seat inside the rustic pub and wash it down with something from The Catherine Wheel’s excellent selection of ales. They do things simple here; take your pick from 34 beers and ciders, all pints are priced the same, unless they’re over 6% abv, when you pay a 30p premium. It’s also a gin palace, with more than 100 different bottles to sample.

Last on our list of drinking dens is Berkshire’s first micropub. The Cow and Cask is only a couple of years old but it's earned its reputation as a good place for a great pint. First and foremost, this place is tiny. It’s hidden just off the Market Street in Inches Yard and we doubt it could fit much more than 25 people inside – and that’s standing! However, it’s worth a visit as the ales are outstanding. It’s a small selection of gravity-dispensed beers and ciders that are well kept and very drinkable.

If you’re looking for somewhere to grab a drink on your way down to Newbury Racecourse, one of your top options when it comes to Newbury entertainment, then be sure to call into The Old London Apprentice. It’s the nearest pub to the racecourse and has long been associated with the racing community. The food’s cheap and simple, the drinks are simple and cheap, everyone’s welcome and the atmosphere is absolutely buzzing on race days.

In terms of Newbury’s flashier nightlife options in the town centre, the Slug and Lettuce is a popular choice. It’s on Wharf Street, right in the heart of Newbury’s market square. It’s a stylish bar with lovely views of the canal, decent food served from breakfast through to dinner, and a jam-packed bar of different drinks to choose from. It’s one of your best options for cocktails in Newbury and gets especially busy on the weekends, so you can expect a good atmosphere.

While it may look like your friendly neighbourhood English pub from the outside, at its heart The Monument is a rock bar. On Thursdays, it holds a popular open mic night, while on the weekends it books bands from the local area and further afield. The beer selection is good, there’s also a dedicated pool room, and – if you’re lucky – a resident dog at the bar. It’s all about cheap drinks, good music, and better craic.

It’s a relatively new addition to Newbury town centre, but Zinc has quickly become your number one option in terms of nightclubs in Newbury. It’s easy to find, on the corner of the Kennet Shopping Centre. It’s only open Thursday through to Saturday, and you’ll likely need to queue to get in, but it’s worth the wait. Inside there are two rooms. The main stage offers the best of RnB, with some house and dance anthems thrown in for good measure. It has lasers, booths and a well-stocked bar.

Zinc’s other option is the Disco Room. No prizes for guessing what kind of music you’ll find in there. As you’d probably expect, there’s a classic colour changing dance floor, and mirrored walls and ceilings. While some discotheques make do with a single mirror ball, Zinc is a bit extra. There are dozens of them hanging from the ceiling. The policy is ‘if you can’t sing it, we won’t play it’. It’s our favourite of the two rooms, and always offers fun nights out. Zinc is open until 3am so you can stay until the early hours before the ten-minute stumble back to your room’s king-size bed at our Newbury Town Centre (London Road) hotel.