I went in search of Britain’s best country pubs – here are my 20 favourites

A great country pub is one of life’s great pleasures, particularly at this time of year when it is paired with an autumnal country walk. From cosy gastropubs to atmospheric inns with roaring fires, here are 20 not to miss as the days get cooler and shorter… Cawdor Tavern, Cawdor, Nairn, Highlands Oak-panelled walls and log-burning stoves help create a Highlands atmosphere in what used to be a workshop in the grounds of Cawdor Castle, made famous by Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Converted into a pub in the 60s, the Tavern has built a fine reputation for its food, and the beer isn’t bad, either. The public bar is a cosy spot to sample cask ales from the Cromarty Brewery, just across the Moray Firth, chased down with a single malt. Drovers Inn, Inverarnan, Perthshire On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. Just a little way up the glen, the grand stone walls of the Drovers Inn have stood here since 1705. It is mostly a hotel, but one with the feel of a hunting lodge, and has a small public bar stuffed with stuffed animals – among them a bear that lurches at you from the gloom. There are Innis & Gunn beers on the bar, and you might be tempted by the extensive list of whiskies for a dram beside the open fire. Shorts The Gun, Ridsdale, Northumberland On the fringes of Northumberland National Park, The Gun was rescued from closure in 2020 by the local community which – backed by a campaign that included crime writers Ian Rankin and Ann Cleeves – raised more than £200,000 to get it back into trading shape. A social hub for the village, with a library and internet café as well as a bar serving home-cooked food and locally brewed ales, it is also, thanks to its four rooms upstairs, a comfortable getaway. Birch Hall Inn, Beck Hole, North Yorkshire Tucked into a crevice in the North York Moors, Birch Hall Inn is hard to get to (if you don’t want to drive), but worth the walk. There is nothing quite like it. Largely unaltered for at least a century, it comprises the Big Bar, only big in comparison to the Small Bar, the two separated by a tiny shop selling sweets from jars. Grade II listed and simply furnished, with flagstone floors and an open fire, there is a specially brewed house ale on the bar and pork pies for the peckish, while outside there is a beer garden with views over the Murk Esk river. Stone Trough Inn, Kirkham Abbey, North Yorkshire This rustically named inn makes the most of its location amid the rolling, wooded landscape of the Howardian Hills above the village of Kirkham Abbey. The stone walls, beamed ceilings and open fireplaces of the original building have recently been supplemented by a glazed sun terrace with fine views over the Derwent Valley. Not surprisingly, the pub has become a popular wedding venue, but you don’t have to get married to enjoy the traditional menu, washed down with a Yorkshire ale or two. Drunken Duck Inn, Barngates, Cumbria The Drunken Duck offers a peaceful respite from the teeming tourist hordes of nearby Ambleside, up on a hill with beautiful views over Lakeland – there are tables on the grass across the road if you want to get even closer to the scenery. The pub itself has a country house feel. There are a dozen lovely rooms to stay in and food is taken seriously, with game on the menu for the autumn. Sadly, its on-site brewery closed last year, but beer still has a big part to play, with a choice of Cumbrian ales on the bar. The Drunken Duck Inn, in Barngates, Cumbria (Photo: Drunken Duck Inn) Shibden Mill Inn, Shibden, West Yorkshire A serial award-winner set among the gorgeous greenery of the Shibden Valley, north of Halifax, the Shibden Mill was a working mill from the 17th century before being converted into a pub in 1890. Later renovations have uncovered oak beams to add to the character. The pretty garden is probably the nicest spot to dine and swig an ale or sample the extensive wine list. There is a wood-fired pizza oven, too, and if the weather holds fair, outdoor live music sessions. And if it’s a romantic stay you are after, the pub has 11 boutique rooms. Royal Oak, Hurdlow, Derbyshire Just off both the Tissington and High Peak Trails, the Royal Oak is fully geared up to serve walkers and cyclists exploring the Peak District. Overnight guests can bed down in the bunk barn or pitch a tent in the pub’s family friendly campsite. You can also simply drop by for a pint of local ale and lounge in front of an open fire, or if the weather is fine, venture into the spacious beer garden, refuelling with some hearty classic pub food. The Tollemache Arms, Harrington, Northamptonshire Winner of the Great British Pub of the Year title in 2024, the Tolly’s thatched roof betrays its roots in the 17th century, but it is thoroughly modern in keeping up with the demands of today’s customers – and there are twice as many of them now that a covered dining area has been added outdoors. Ingredients are locally sourced, and with the building owned by Wells & Co, the draught beers come from the state-of-the-art Brewpoint brewery in Bedford. For those who like to improve themselves, there are regular “Sip & Paint” art classes. Dovey Valley Hotel, Cemmaes Road, Powys Dr Beeching did for Cemmaes Road railway station 60 years ago, but the pub and hotel built for weary steam travellers a century before that has somehow not only survived but is flourishing following a sympathetic refurbishment that highlights the historic features of this Grade II listed building. You can’t get a room here any more, and the food menu doesn’t extend further than a pork pie, but there is good cask beer on the pumps, including from Conwy Brewery, and that’s surely all you need. The Dovey Valley Hotel in Powys The Nag’s Head, Abercych, Pembrokeshire In a quiet spot along the Cych Valley near Cenarth Falls, The Nag’s Head occupies a prettily converted smithy with log fires, flagstone floors and oak beams, decorated with all manner of distracting bric-a-brac, from beer bottles to medical instruments. Across the road, a large and peaceful waterside beer garden follows the course of the river. Local ales are likely to include options from Mantle Brewery in nearby Cardigan, while the food menu features Welsh lamb and beef. Frogmill Inn, Shipton Oliffe, Gloucestershire They say there has been a mill on this site since before the Bayeux Tapestry had a stitch on, but the traditional honey-coloured Cotswold stones of the Frogmill have housed a pub since only the 16th century. Today, it is owned by Brakspear, part of the former brewer’s upmarket Honeycomb estate – if you’re looking for a glamorous and characterful place to stay, this is it. The rambling buildings include a bar, restaurant and private dining rooms, plus 28 boutique bedrooms, and they sit among expansive grounds that feature firepits and beehives. Seymour Arms, Witham Friary, Somerset If you’ve ever wondered what life used to be like in rural England back in the 50s, a trip to the Seymour Arms will give you a fair idea. In the same family since 1943, this elegantly simple ivy-clad pub is split into two plainly furnished rooms either side of a stone-flagged hallway. Service in the main bar is through a hatch and, as this is Somerset, the local ciders are the staple pint. Ales are poured straight from the stillage. In the other room you will find bar billiards and table skittles, and there is a beer garden out the back, too. Black River Inn, Black Torrington, Devon On the edge of the remote village of Black Torrington, this friendly community hub has become a destination for food lovers who have the environment in mind. Everything on the “Devonshire tapas” menu is cooked over fire on a hearth fuelled by sustainable wood and charcoal, with 95 per cent local ingredients, some of which are grown in the pub’s own greenhouse. The well-kept cask ales are brewed nearby, too. Leftovers, if there are any, are sold to villagers, and even the beer dregs are kept and given to regulars as a lure for their slug traps. The Shepherd & Dog in Fulking, West Sussex (Photo: Shepherd and Dog, Fulking) Square & Compass, Worth Matravers, Dorset Probably the country’s best-known unspoilt gem, this 18th-century throwback on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast has, astonishingly, been in the same family for 120 years. Not much has changed since, and the Square & Compass is one of the few pubs to have appeared in every issue of Camra’s Good Beer Guide. There is no bar counter – ales and home-made ciders are served straight from the cellar through a hatch at the back, and the food menu is restricted to pies and pasties. The lavatories are outside, and next door you can inspect more old relics in the on-site fossil museum. The Harrow Inn, Steep, Hampshire Dating back to the 16th century and run by the same family since 1932, The Harrow is something of a living museum, earning a top rating in the Campaign for Real Ale’s national heritage listing. There are two rooms, one with ancient beams and a brick fireplace extending almost its whole length, as well as a courtyard garden. Two local ales are served straight from casks. The brief food menu includes ploughman’s lunches, which the pub has a bit of a reputation for. When you’re done, don’t waste time looking for the lavatories – they’re over the road. The Shepherd & Dog, Fulking, West Sussex Nestled in a tight fold of the South Downs by Devil’s Dyke, The Shepherd & Dog probably got its name from the sheep washing that used to go on in the river that runs through the charming leafy beer garden. Originally a row of 17th-century cottages, it became a pub in the early 19th century and is now a popular stop-off for walkers and diners from nearby Brighton. Inside, where the low beams are a hazard for the lofty, the bar specialises in beers from independent Sussex brewers, both in cask and craft keg. The Royal Standard of England, Forty Green, Buckinghamshire One of several pubs laying claim to being the oldest in Britain, The Royal Standard certainly looks the part, its half-timbered walls bent with age and its rooms full of candlelit nooks and crannies decorated with ancient treasures including the odd human skull. It has often been used as a film and TV set, but the best thing is that it has never stopped being a proper pub, with up to half a dozen cask ales plus craft beers and a tempting traditional food menu to sustain you as you drink in all that history. The Viper in Mill Green, Essex (Photo: Karen Denney) The Viper, Mill Green, Essex After a three-year closure, this Grade II listed pub hidden in the woods reopened at the end of 2022 following rebuilding and renovations that have preserved fascinating aspects of its history, including the taproom, with its serving hatch and rare example of a pitch-penny bench – an ancient pub game built into the furniture. Beer is taken seriously here, with five handpumps pouring cask ales, including from Essex brewer Mighty Oak, and two beer festivals staged every year. Those of a nervous disposition may wish to be warned of the possibility of Morris dancers. The Gunton Arms, Thorpe Market, Norfolk The Gunton Arms stands in the middle of a 1,000-acre deer park and, yes, of course there is venison on the menu, fresh as you like and cooked over an open fire – along with seafood landed on the north Norfolk coast only a few miles away. Bought and lavishly refurbished by art dealer Ivor Braka in 2009, this Grade II listed country house doubles as an art gallery and sculpture park, featuring works by Lucian Freud, Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Paula Rego and Frank Auerbach. There is a great choice of local ales, including from Lacons in Great Yarmouth.