ENGLAND'S BEST PUBS
The General Tarleton, Yorkshire Dales
Chef Tommy Banks, one of Yorkshire’s favourite foodie sons, is renowned for his award-winning restaurant the Black Swan at Oldstead, but he’s no stranger to pubs. Actually, the Black Swan originally operated as a pub, with Banks working behind the bar at his family’s establishment before moving into the kitchen. In 2023, he opened the Abbey Inn in Byland, and he has just started a hospitality arm focused on reviving other pubs across the UK. The first project is the eight-bedroom General Tarleton in Ferrensby village, near Harrogate. The cuisine is exceptional, with refined versions of traditional pub dishes made with local produce – the perfect fuel for riverside strolls and into Nidd Gorge, a scenic local area.
Bat and Ball Inn, Oxfordshire Countryside
Dogs lounge by the fireplace and dog collars at the bar at this charming pub in the village of Cuddesdon, best known for its clergy college. It was opened at the start of the year by the proprietors of Lamb Inn in nearby Little Milton, and the culinary team at both locations cut their teeth at two-Michelin-star Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons down the road. This pub is the more relaxed option – it even features a dartboard – and menu items elevate classic pub food and dial them up with carefully sourced local ingredients. The five bedrooms have walls painted in rich autumnal shades to match the nearby landscape, which is sandwiched between the Cotswolds and Chilterns.
Kings Arms Inn, Lake District
This family-owned pub, which reopened at the end of August, is at the heart of the Lakeland village of Hawkshead, around the corner from the Beatrix Potter gallery and Hawkshead Grammar School Museum, where the poet Wordsworth etched his name into his desk. It’s rich in history in oak beams and slate floors at the King’s Arms too, which dates back to the 17th century. Behind the dark-wood panelled bar is a roster of local beers including Coniston Old Man Ale and Cumbrian Ales Loweswater Gold, while the menu focuses on classics with Cumberland scotch eggs and beef wellington. The perfect meal to be enjoying after a hike up nearby Latterbarrow fell.
The Wellington at Boscastle, Cornwall
Known affectionately as The Welly, this centuries-old coaching inn overlooks Boscastle harbour on Cornwall’s dramatic north coast. St Austell Brewery recently invested heavily doing it up, and the results are evident in the snug dining areas, snugs and stained glass panelling. The best rooms are the two in the pub’s turret with freestanding baths, but all 14 come with local art on the walls and ordnance survey maps and a South West Coast Path national trail book for walks. The path runs right outside: heading west to Tintagel Castle, legendary birthplace of King Arthur according to legend, or east towards Pentargon waterfall. After a coastal hike, there’s pints of local ale by the fire and plates of fish and chips to look forward to, made with fresh local fish in ale batter.
The Woolpack Inn, Hampshire
Recently renovated by renowned designer Nina Campbell, this country pub is the centre of life in the small village of Totford in peaceful Candover Valley. It is surrounded by fields and woodlands, so chef Luke Stradling has plenty of local produce to draw on – complemented by the pub’s sizeable vegetable garden, right now filled with pumpkin, celeriac and winter leaves. In addition to providing almost all the vegetables on the menu, the team also donates 20% of the harvest to local charities and homeless shelters. Upstairs, eight bedrooms are named after game birds, but fly fishing is the local star draw – angling for trout in the famous chalk stream of the River Itchen.
Fleur de Lys Inn, Dorset
Pub and restaurant firm Chickpea has nailed the contemporary inns with accommodation formula – excellent cuisine, friendly bar and keen prices for overnighters. The newest member to the fold is the Fleur de Lys, a historic inn in the village of Cranbourne. The novelist Thomas Hardy was a frequent visitor here and references it in Tess of the D’Urbervilles. The renovation reflects its period charm: hops drape over the large open fireplace, candles flicker on tables and, upstairs, the nine bedrooms are decorated in muted colours. Trails loop around Cranborne Manor, with dishes such as Brixham sea bass, venison chop and sticky toffee pudding to look forward to back at the pub afterwards.
Penny Bun Inn, North Yorkshire
Inspired by a fungus found in local woods, Penny Bun is a departure from your traditional boozer. With its clay-plastered walls and palette of earthy browns, the style is minimalist than traditional pub fixtures. Between Ilkley and Otley in the Yorkshire Dales, the recently opened pub is part of Denton Reserve, a 1,012-hectare estate undergoing a sustainably led transformation, focusing on carbon capture and sustainable agriculture. It supplies many of the ingredients found on the menu at the Penny Bun, such as pork croquette salad or gnocchi with roasted garden beetroots. The serene decor particularly suits the five rooms (the best room comes with a standalone tub), with plush beds to sink into after hikes on Ilkley Moor, just steps away.
The Ship, Norfolk
Recently, The Peyton sisters rebooted this seaside inn with nine beamed bedrooms in the village of Brancaster. The cooking here has a light Mediterranean touch, and while menus have one eye on the sea (less than a mile’s walk away), local game is the highlight in autumn. For Sunday lunch, expect roasted venison served with foraged mushrooms instead of the usual chicken or beef, while in the front bar settle in by the fire and tuck into a pork roll or monkfish with a pint of Moon Gazer Ale. Outside, Norfolk’s big skies look particularly stunning at this time of year – watch for flocks of migrating pink-footed geese – and walks cut through dunes and marshes.
Leicester Arms Inn, Kent
Across the road from the entrance to medieval Penshurst Place and Gardens, this Grade II-listed pub is more attractive than ever after a major renovation last year. It’s easy to see why it scooped Kent’s county prize at the 2025 National Bar and Pub Awards: there are plush armchairs by the fire in the bar, real Kentish ales from nearby Larkins, and cut-above cooking in the dining room. The menu highlights local produce, with lamb scotch egg and oysters from Whitstable, while the 11 botanically named bedrooms are decorated in a classic style. Four of them come with clawfoot tubs for soaking after walks after a ramble around the Penshurst Estate past River Medway, lakes and giant oak trees.
The Swan, West Sussex
The lengthy renovation of this Grade II-listed coaching inn in Fittleworth on the edge of the South Downs was well worth it. Original features from its medieval origins mix with modern comfort in the bar, restaurant and 12 beautifully designed rooms – though it remains “proudly old fashioned”, says the owner. Dining in the wood-panelled, art-adorned dining room draw on local seasonal ingredients (wild mushrooms and fresh plum pudding on our visit) and generous breakfasts are served in a barn in the pretty gardens. The old visitor books are interesting: notable guests include JMW Turner, John Constable and Rudyard Kipling. There’s plenty to do nearby, from antique shopping in local villages to walks on the downs, Petworth House and Arundel Castle.
The Nevill Arms, Leicestershire Countryside
With its picturesque villages, pretty market towns and rolling countryside, the Welland valley is in a region sometimes referred to as the Notswolds (similar to the Cotswolds but more affordable). Nevill Arms in the village of Medbourne was refurbished in 2023, with 10 bedrooms (some with four-poster beds) spread between the inn and former stables – and soon they’ll add a stone cottage next door too. Culinarily, beef, pork and lamb are sourced from the owner’s farm, while in the inky blue-painted bar there’s a rotating line up of Langton Brewery beers on tap – the most popular of which is an amber bitter, Inclined Plane, named after the canal lift at nearby Foxton Locks.
New Inn, Lancashire
New owners Ben and Lauren Sandiford took on the running of this seven-room inn in April. Ben brought his chef experience to the kitchen, which now produces elevated comfort dishes (shepherd's pie with mash and ewe’s cheese crumb or beef pudding) to be eaten in the beamed dining room beside the log burner. The bar attracts locals sipping on
