Beer gardens in the city centre

Angel Microbrewery

Small, but perfectly formed, the beer garden at the Angel is a cosy social space out the back where you’ll end up chatting to people and making new friends. This pub is known for many things including great music (there’s even a live room upstairs called The Chapel), great food and great beers, some brewed on site, and tables out the front in the summer months.

7 Stoney St, Nottingham NG1 1LG The Angel

Binks Yard

Not so much a beer garden as a massive open outdoor space by the Nottingham Canal where you’ll discover some seriously big events. Nottingham Pride is even taking place there in late July (migrating from its usual base across most of Hockley). Binks also run regular DJ and sports events and have what they claim is the largest outdoor screen in the East Midlands – why not see for yourself?

The Island Quarter, 1 The Great Northern Close NG2 3JL Binks Yard

Canalhouse

Boasting one of the largest outdoor areas in the city and right next to the canal too, the Canalhouse is a proper classic Castle Rock pub with more types of beer on offer each day than most of us will get to experience in a lifetime. There are usually boats moored up inside the pub too, really, it’s true!

48-52 Canal St, Nottingham NG1 7EH The Canalhouse

The Dragon

This pub is one of Nottingham’s hidden gems which those who know about it visit regularly. The Dragon beer garden out the back catches the end-of-the-day sun beautifully and contains almost as many seats as the interior of the pub itself. They also have the Racing Room, which is almost certainly the biggest Scalextric track you will have the opportunity to play on in real life.

67 Long Row West NG1 6JE The Dragon

Junkyard and The Kilpin Beer Cafe

Two pubs that share two beer gardens – it’s a beautiful thing. Out the front, there’s a snazzy hidden courtyard with four or five tables. Out the back, there are another four or five tables in a yard adjoined to both pubs (which as you may suspect are under the same ownership). The Kilpin is more of a sports bar and is named after Herbert Kilpin, Nottingham-born founder of AC Milan. Junkyard is a craft beer specialist with more lines than an old-school barcode.

10-12 Bridlesmith Walk, Nottingham NG1 2HB Junkyard | The Kilpin

Rescue Rooms

One of the best live music venues in Nottingham, Rescue Rooms boasts an outside courtyard with tables and chairs aplenty. The outside space truly comes alive during some of the festivals and gigs that take place at this venue, but it’s also a decent place to soak up some sun and catch up with friends in the quieter times. Monday to Saturday from 4-8pm is also ‘Happy Hour’ (yes, we know that’s a lot more than an hour) with many pints reduced to £3.

Masonic Place, Goldsmith Street NG1 5LB Rescue Rooms

The Sir John Borlase Warren

For many years people have described this place as having the finest 'secret' beer garden in Nottingham. It’s an outside rooftop terrace that can’t help but attract the sun. Local brewery Lincoln Green took over the site in 2015 and has breathed new life into the pub with an impressive range of cask ales, craft beers, gins and whiskies.

1 Ilkeston Rd, Nottingham NG7 3GD The Sir John Borlase Warren

Six Barrel Drafthouse (Victoria)

A busy pub sitting in the shadow of Nottingham’s Victoria Centre and sister to the bar with the same name in Hockley. Their ample roof terrace is accessed via the spiral staircase and the graffiti on the side was a bespoke design by Beavertown Brewery Creative Director Nick Dwyer.

14 Mansfield Road NG1 3GX Six Barrels Victoria

Vat & Fiddle

It’s the tap bar of Nottingham’s beloved Castle Rock Brewery, so the beers here are about as fresh as they come. They have two outdoor areas, one at the front of the pub and one at the back. If you want to see this place at its best check out their annual Yard Party event which takes place each year in May where they fill the whole brewery yard with revellers and fine beers.

12 Queensbridge Road NG2 1NB Vat & Fiddle

Via Fossa

Right next door to the Canalhouse is another great canalside terrace/ beer garden at Via Fossa. It’s a Greene King pub so you know what to expect from their food and drink offering. In the summer months, you often find live DJs playing outside and there’s plenty of seating for you to watch the barges and the world go by.

44 Canal Street NG1 7EH Via Fossa