The best Southsea pubs for a pint by the sea

Southsea is the coastal district of Portsmouth where the pub scene centres on Albert Road and Palmerston Road, and it carries a more nightlife-focused atmosphere than the historic streets of Old Portsmouth. Albert Road and the streets around Palmerston Road hold the highest concentration of pubs and bars, and weekends draw the biggest crowds, especially near the coast on a warm afternoon. There are 38 pubs listed across Southsea, so the choice is wide enough to suit whatever mood you are in.

For a proper session, The Vaults on Albert Road is hard to beat. It is a lively Fuller's pub and restaurant spread over three floors with four bars, a wide range of cask real ale and craft lager, and a diner-style pub menu. It is family-friendly, with assistance dogs welcome, big-screen sport, board games, baby changing and a real fire. Food is served Monday to Thursday 12:00 to 23:00, Friday and Saturday 12:00 to 00:00 and Sunday 12:00 to 22:00, with a new summer menu and a pizza menu alongside private events upstairs. A few doors down, The Fat Fox keeps things traditional with real ales, quality bottled ciders and homemade pub grub, while its Atrium Bar looks over Albert Road with cocktails and real ciders. The place is best known for its stage, which has hosted the likes of Bastille, George Ezra and Sleaford Mods, and it still takes part in Southsea Fest and Icebreaker each year. Sport is well covered too, with Sky and BT Sport across five HD screens and three 90-inch projectors.

If you want to be closer to the water, The Jolly Sailor is a seafront landmark with a large contemporary bar and terraces looking out over the common. The kitchen works from fresh ingredients cooked to order, with a Sunday menu that runs to roast rib eye of beef and lamb shank, and live music at the weekends ranges from soul and R&B to a ten-piece blues band, with jazz on Sunday afternoons from around 5pm. For something more low-key, The Hole in the Wall on Great Southsea Street is a traditional local run by Jonathan and Kerry, with a constantly changing selection of cask-conditioned real ales and a retro sweet shop set up by their children. It has picked up the Portsmouth and South East Hampshire CAMRA Pub of the Year title seven times and sits in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide, so the beer is the real draw here.

Round the other end of the district, The King Street Tavern is an 18th-century pub that has turned itself into a smokehouse, pairing low-and-slow BBQ meats with a punchy selection of craft beers, world whiskies and gins. It is a family-run spot that has been going for nearly five years, and its roast dinners are a big part of the appeal. And if you are after a reliable, no-fuss pint, The Lord Palmerston on Palmerston Road is the Wetherspoon of the area, named after the Viscount who built the fortifications now known as Palmerston's Folly. It opens early and closes late, with a licensed outdoor deck and step-free access.

Between them, that covers the main bases: a big-room session at The Vaults, a gig-pub pint at The Fat Fox, a seafront terrace at The Jolly Sailor, a proper cask ale at The Hole in the Wall, BBQ and craft beer at The King Street Tavern, and an easy-going Wetherspoon at The Lord Palmerston. With 38 pubs in the district, you could easily make a night of it and still have plenty left to explore.