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The Best Pubs in Launceston to Relax in This Weekend
Charm, character, and craft brews await. Wrap up your week in style at one of the best pubs in Launceston.
Launceston is a city that understands the art of a good pub: old rooms, generous plates, local beer, live music when the mood strikes and enough easy charm to turn one drink into a full afternoon. The Plough Inn in Launceston CBD, The Royal Oak Hotel near City Park and Clarendon Arms in Evandale are all excellent places to begin, each offering a different version of northern Tasmanian hospitality.
Across the city and its nearby villages, the best pubs in Launceston range from heritage hotels and revived CBD locals to craft beer bars, family-friendly beer gardens and country watering holes worth the short drive. Order the parmy, find the sunny table or cosiest corner, call it research.
Northern Public House
Northern Public House takes classic pub habits and sends them through a brighter, more modern CBD filter. Open since late 2023, it covers the essentials well: cold beers, cocktails, lamb sliders, popcorn cauliflower, chicken parmis and hefty steak sandwiches. The rooftop is the move when the weather behaves, while live music and happy hours keep the week nicely social.
124 George Street, Launceston
The Plough Inn
A Launceston social fixture since 1831, The Plough Inn has history in its walls and fresh energy in the room. The recent renovation has sharpened the old pub into something more layered, with sleek bars, a wine lounge, a rooftop deck with a retractable roof and several spaces for drinking, dining and settling in. It still feels like a local, just one that has learned how to dress for lunch, dinner and a weekend platter without losing its city-pub soul.
170 Brisbane Street, Launceston
The Royal Oak Hotel
For fantastic live music, thoughtful pub food and a solid dose of Tasmanian character, make for Royal Oak Hotel, a City Park-adjacent classic with plenty of life left in its old bones. First opened in 1850 and recently reinvigorated with care, this Launceston favourite pairs warm hospitality with a seasonal bistro-style menu, sundown cocktails and The Oak Shed, a band room dedicated to local and Australian talent. Come early for oysters, lamb shoulder or a very good parmi, then head upstairs for the rooftop courtyard and settle in for the night.
14 Brisbane Street, Launceston
Brady’s Tavern at Penny Royal
Set inside Launceston’s historic Penny Royal Precinct, Brady’s Tavern is made for easy afternoons after a wander through the city’s most playful old-world pocket. This traditional English-style pub keeps things relaxed with wood-fired pizzas, parmis, platters and pints, plus a drinks list full of Tasmanian beer, wine and spirits. Take a seat in the courtyard, order something golden and cheesy, and let the surrounding stonework, greenery and Penny Royal charm do the rest.
Penny Royal Adventures, 5/1 Bridge Road, Launceston
The Clarendon Arms
Twenty minutes from Launceston in historic Evandale, The Clarendon Arms has the bones of an 1847 country pub and the polish of somewhere much more considered. Since Lydia Nettlefold’s 2017 revival, its old rooms have taken on a country-manor mood, with fires, stained glass, intimate dining spaces and a red-brick beer garden shaded by plane trees. The kitchen works with local Tasmanian produce across seasonal British-pub cooking with a twist, backed by local craft beer, boutique gin, whisky and wine. Book lunch, order whatever pie or cassoulet is on special, then let Evandale do its slow, dangerous work.
11 Russell Street, Evandale
Sports Garden Hotel
On George Street, Sports Garden Hotel has taken the old sports-bar brief and given it a bright, family-friendly reset. The renovated bar keeps the screens humming with Fox Sports, while the taps run from classic draught to craft beer and local Tasmanian pours. Food comes in generous, share-friendly form, from burgers and schnitzels to wings, chips and hearty pub plates. Outside, the undercover beer garden is all astroturf, greenery, big tables and room for kids to colour and play, making it an easy Launceston pub for lunch, dinner or a low-effort catch-up.
23 George Street, Launceston
Du Cane Brewery & Dining Hall
Named for the Du Cane Range and made for post-trail appetites, Du Cane Brewing & Dining Hall gives Launceston its first true brewpub: big, social, outdoorsy and wonderfully unfussy. Beer is brewed on Elizabeth Street by Will Horan, with cans named like walking notes, from Resting at Pinestone Creek to Hut to Hut Walk. Order a tasting paddle, get around the wood-fired pizza oven, and settle into a dining hall that feels built for muddy boots, family lunches and one more round.
60/64 Elizabeth Street, Launceston
Reggie
Reggie is what happens when Launceston swaps its sensible shoes for platforms and orders another round. This retro-leaning laneway bar brings ’70s disco mood without tipping into costume party, mixing craft cocktails, post-work wines, trivia nights and Saturday DJs with just enough glitter in the bloodstream. Settle in outside with a Peach Negroni, keep one eye on the events calendar, and don’t be surprised if a quick drink turns into a dance floor detour.
63 Brisbane Street, Launceston
Saint John Craft Beer
If craft beer is your thing, then this pub-like bar will be your new happy place. With 17 local (and beyond) beers on tap, and over 100 in bottles and cans, you’d best take your keen decision-making skills along to Saint John Craft Beer Bar. Non-beer drinkers needn’t worry, with a solid selection of craft cider, wines and cocktails also on offer. Beer’s natural allies are covered too, with juicy burgers, tacos and Tasmanian cheese plates putting the state’s best small producers to very good use.
133 St John Street, Launceston
Rosevears Hotel
Twenty minutes from Launceston, Rosevears Hotel is your reward for following the Tamar River and pretending the drive was the point all along. The views are big, the pub has history in its bones, and the menu knows exactly what it’s doing: Tassie Pacific oysters, scallop Mornay, wood-fired pizzas, scotch fillet, housemade gnocchi and enough local cheese to make another glass of vino sound completely reasonable. Kids are covered too, which feels merciful.
215 Rosevears Drive, Rosevears
If you enjoyed our guide to the best pubs in Launceston and its surrounds, make yourself comfortable and read on to discover the best bars and restaurants in this charming city.
