UK’s best beer garden hotspots revealed for 2026

In the build-up to beer garden season, the top hotspots in the UK for alfresco drinking have been identified in new research. But which areas make the top 10 for 2026? Find out here.

The ranking, put together by Heineken-owned Beavertown which has breweries based in both Tottenham Hale and Enfield, assessed the number of beer gardens, sunshine hours and average ratings of pubs with outdoor areas across the UK’s biggest cities and towns.

Where to go

According to the data, London tops the list with a perfect score of 10/10. The capital has been revealed to lead largely due to the volume of beer gardens on offer, with 547 in total.

The 2026 analysis looked at how sunshine hours between March and September reach more than 1,195 and indicated that, for Brits, there will be plenty of opportunity to make the most of the city’s venues. With more outdoor drinking options than anywhere else in the country, the data showed that the average rating of pubs with beer gardens sits at 4.25/5. Across the capital, the brewery outlined that Beavertown favourites include: The Old Thameside Inn, Clissold Park Tavern and The Royal Inn on the Park.

Best of the rest

Assessing the rest of the top hotspots, the research also showed that on the coast, Brighton ranks in second place with a score of 9.70/10. According to the analysis, the seaside city ties with nearby Eastbourne with the highest number of sunshine hours – at 1,469. In fact, Brighton offers 63 beer gardens to choose from, which carry an average rating of 4.28.

Bristol rounds off the top three, with a score of 9.39/10. With 183 beer gardens, Bristol has been recognised by the research to offer the second-highest number of venues in the study. Added to this, Bristol pubs with beer gardens have an average rating of 4.29/5 and receive 1284 total sunshine hours between March and September.

Cities such as Bath, Exeter, Oxford, and Sheffield were also identified as other metropolitan hotspots, each scoring solidly on average pub ratings, the analysis has shown. Plus, Bath and Exeter have the highest ratings in the study at 4.34 and 4.35, respectively.

Other seaside favourites shown to be popular include: Eastbourne, Portsmouth and Poole which each also emerge on the list as hidden gems. Eastbourne records 1,469 sunshine hours between March and September, while Poole offers visitors 1,388 hours and Portsmouth follows with 1364 hours.

Top 10

The top 10 for 2026 are:: London, Brighton, Bristol, Bath, Exeter, Eastbourne, Oxford, Portsmouth, Poole and Sheffield.

Other areas of merit, but which did not make the top 10 but were also shown to have placed well. include: York, Leeds, Plymouth, Southampton, Bournemouth, Norwich and Edinburgh.

Last year, db revealed London’s top 10 beer gardens for summer sipping. Additionally, the best locations for beer gardens last year was identified by db in research led by credit experts Aqua which also took into account the average price of a pint.