The Parcel Yard

A Fuller's pub set in the old 1852 Great Northern Railway parcel sorting office above King's Cross station. The Parcel Yard isn't the easiest to find — you need to be inside the station and head up the stairs towards the back. Once you do, you'll find a double-height atrium with original features from its freight-handling days, plus a solid Fuller's lineup including ESB and Bengal Lancer. Platform 9 3/4 is nearby for any Harry Potter fans on the crawl, but there isn't much time to lose. Prince Charles visited once, apparently. We were not there for that.

The Parcel Yard opens at 8am, which makes it the earliest start on the Circle Line and the obvious launchpad. It sits in the restored Victorian parcel office above King's Cross — the old Great Northern Railway mail depot, built in 1852 and converted into a Fuller's pub in 2012. Two floors, multiple drinking areas, original industrial features, and a view down onto the station concourse through a double-height atrium. Prince Charles came for the opening. Get a proper breakfast here and take your time — you have twenty-six pubs ahead of you, and the pace picks up fast after this one.