Doncaster named as one of best places in Britain to get a cheap pint

Whether it’s a crisp lager or a smooth pale ale, the pint is a British staple.

But with pub prices steadily rising, many drinkers are starting to feel the squeeze.

So where in the UK can you still enjoy a decent draught without paying London-level prices?

To find out, Braw Scottish Tours analysed the average cost of a domestic 0.5-litre draught beer in pubs and restaurants across 80 UK cities.

The results show where your money goes furthest, and where a night out can quickly become expensive.

Burnley tops the ranking, with the average pint costing just £3.00.

That’s less than half the price of a pint in some southern cities and makes the East Lancashire town the clear winner for affordability.

For context, a beer in Burnley is £3.75 cheaper than Oxford, the most expensive city in the study.

Close behind are Doncaster, which took second spot, and Kingston upon Hull, both averaging £3.25 per pint.

These places show that you don’t need to compromise on pub culture to keep costs low, offering prices well below the national norm and far cheaper than major cities like Manchester or Birmingham.

At £3.50, Sunderland, Blackburn, and Blackpool round out the top tier.

Even Blackpool, a major tourist destination, avoids inflated prices, undercutting many similarly busy cities by £1.50 to £3 per pint.

Cities like Northampton and Preston sit at £4.00, marking the point where prices start to edge closer to the UK average. These locations remain noticeably cheaper than large southern and university cities, making them a solid middle ground for an affordable night out.

Swindon (£4.20) and places such as Rotherham, Sheffield, Wigan, and Bradford (£4.24) continue the trend, showing that much of the North and Midlands still delivers good value compared with the South East.

A large group of cities, including Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham, and York, now sit at £5.00 per pint. While not the most expensive in the UK, these prices are a noticeable step up from the cheapest areas, adding up quickly over a few rounds.

Further down the list, cities such as Manchester, Cambridge, and Norwich average £5.50, pushing closer to the high-cost end of the scale.

At the bottom of the rankings are the UK’s priciest places for a pint. Reading, Bristol, Edinburgh, and Southampton all average £6.00, while Brighton, Westminster, and London climb to £6.50.

Oxford ranks as the most expensive city, with the average pint costing £6.75, more than double the price of a beer in Burnley. For drinkers, that difference can turn a casual pub visit into a costly evening.

The full list of the cheapest UK cities for beer:

1 Burnley £3.00

2 Doncaster £3.25

2 Kingston upon Hull £3.25

4 Sunderland £3.50

4 Blackburn £3.50

4 Blackpool £3.50

7 Northampton £4.00

7 Preston £4.00

9 Swindon £4.20

10 Rotherham £4.24

10 Sheffield £4.24

10 Wigan £4.24

10 Bradford £4.24

14 Walsall £4.25

15 Dundee £4.30

16 Luton £4.50

16 Maidstone £4.50

16 Middlesbrough £4.50

16 Nottingham £4.50

16 Southend-on-Sea £4.50

16 Swansea £4.50

16 Wolverhampton £4.50

16 Chesterfield £4.50

24 Portsmouth £4.70

25 Milton Keynes £4.75

25 Telford £4.75

25 Bedford £4.75

25 Dudley £4.75

25 Leicester £4.75

30 Gloucester £4.80

31 Glasgow £4.90

32 Newcastle upon Tyne £5.00

32 Newport £5.00

32 Oldham £5.00

32 Plymouth £5.00

32 Rochdale £5.00

32 Slough £5.00

32 Stoke-on-Trent £5.00

32 Warrington £5.00

32 Worcester £5.00

32 York £5.00

32 Aberdeen £5.00

32 Birmingham £5.00

32 Bournemouth £5.00

32 Cardiff £5.00

32 Cheltenham £5.00

32 Colchester £5.00

32 Coventry £5.00

32 Crawley £5.00

32 Derby £5.00

32 Hastings £5.00

32 Ipswich £5.00

32 Leeds £5.00

32 Liverpool £5.00

55 Croydon £5.25

56 Manchester £5.50

56 Norwich £5.50

56 Peterborough £5.50

56 Poole £5.50

56 Stockport £5.50

56 Watford £5.50

56 Bolton £5.50

56 Cambridge £5.50

56 Chelmsford £5.50

56 Exeter £5.50

66 Eastbourne £5.60

67 Reading £6.00

67 Southampton £6.00

67 Sutton £6.00

67 Worthing £6.00

67 Basildon £6.00

67 Basingstoke £6.00

67 Bristol £6.00

67 Edinburgh £6.00

75 Woking £6.25

76 Bexley £6.50

76 Brighton £6.50

76 City of Westminster £6.50

76 London £6.50

80 Oxford £6.75