ENGLAND
General Tarleton Inn, Yorkshire Dales
Chef Tommy Banks, one of Yorkshire’s favourite foodie sons, is best known for his award-winning restaurant the Black Swan at Oldstead, and he also has deep pub roots. In fact, the Black Swan started out as one, with Banks working behind the bar at his family’s establishment before moving into the kitchen. Recently, 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 the Nidd Gorge, a local beauty spot.
The Bat and Ball, Oxfordshire Countryside
Dogs lounge by the fireplace and clergy at the bar at this quaint inn in the village of Cuddesdon, best known for its clergy college. It launched at the start of the year by the owners of Lamb Inn in nearby Little Milton, and the chefs at both locations gained experience at the esteemed Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons down the road. This pub is the more relaxed option – it even features a dartboard – and dishes take typical pub fare and dial them up with carefully sourced local ingredients. The five bedrooms have walls painted in deep fall colors to match the surrounding countryside, which is sandwiched between the Cotswolds and Chilterns.
Kings Arms Inn, Lake District
This family-owned pub, which relaunched at the end of August, is at the center of the Lakeland village of Hawkshead, just a short walk from Beatrix Potter Gallery and Hawkshead Grammar School Museum, where a young William Wordsworth carved his name into his desk. It’s rich in history in the oak beams and slate floors at the King’s Arms too, which dates back to the 17th century. At the dark-wood bar is a selection of regional ales including Coniston Old Man Ale and Cumbrian Ales Loweswater Gold, while the menu focuses on classics with Cumberland scotch eggs and beef wellington. Just the thing to be tucking into after a hike up nearby Latterbarrow fell.
The Wellington at Boscastle, Cornwall
Known affectionately as The Welly, this historic coaching house overlooks Boscastle Harbor on the rugged north Cornwall coast. St Austell Brewery recently invested heavily renovating it, and the results are evident in the cosy dining rooms, snugs and stained glass panelling. The best rooms are the turret suites with freestanding baths, but every room come with local art on the walls and ordnance survey maps and guidebooks for the coast path for walks. The path runs right outside: west to Tintagel Castle, legendary birthplace of King Arthur as per myth, or round past Pentargon waterfall. Post-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.
Woolpack Inn, Hampshire
Fresh from a makeover by influential interior designer Nina Campbell, this rural inn 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 abundant regional ingredients to draw on – complemented by the pub’s large kitchen garden, right now filled with pumpkin, celeriac and winter leaves. As well as supplying almost all the vegetables on the menu, staff also contribute 20% of the harvest to community charities and shelters. Upstairs, eight guest rooms are themed after game birds, but it’s fly fishing the local star draw – casting for trout in the famous chalk stream of the River Itchen.
Fleur de Lys Inn, Dorset Countryside
Hospitality group Chickpea has nailed the modern country pubs with rooms formula – great food, friendly bar and competitive rates for overnighters. The newest member to the fold is Fleur de Lys, a 17th-century inn in the village of Cranbourne. Author Thomas Hardy was a frequent visitor here and references it in Tess of the D’Urbervilles. The revamp reflects its period charm: hops hang over the large open fireplace, candles flicker on tables and, upstairs, the nine bedrooms are decorated in muted colours. Trails loop around Cranborne Estate, with dishes such as Brixham bass, venison chop and sticky toffee pudding to look forward to back at the pub afterwards.
The Penny Bun, North Yorkshire
Inspired by a fungus found in local woods, the Penny Bun is a break from conventional pubs. With its clay-plastered walls and palette of earthy browns, the look is more wabi-sabi minimalism than brass beer pumps. Located between Ilkley and Otley in the Yorkshire Dales, the recently opened pub is part of Denton Reserve, a 1,012-hectare estate undergoing an eco-friendly overhaul, 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 calming aesthetic particularly suits the five rooms (the best room comes with a standalone tub), with deep beds to sink into after hikes on Ilkley Moor, right outside the front door.
Ship Inn, Norfolk
Recently, The Peyton sisters revitalized this historic coastal inn with nine rustic rooms in the village of Brancaster. The cooking here has a light Mediterranean touch, and while menus have one eye on the sea (a short walk from the coast), game from local estates is the highlight in autumn. For Sunday lunch, expect whole pot-roasted venison shoulders served with foraged mushrooms instead of the usual chicken or beef, while in the front bar relax by the fireplace and tuck into a pork roll or monkfish scampi with a pint of Moon Gazer Ale. Outside, Norfolk’s big skies look especially arresting at this time of year – look out for flocks of migrating pink-footed geese – and walks cut through dunes and salt marshes.
The Leicester Arms, Kent
Opposite from the entrance to medieval Penshurst Place and Gardens, this Grade II-listed pub is more attractive than ever after a £1.2m revamp last year. No wonder it won 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 focuses on local produce, with lamb scotch egg and oysters from Whitstable, while 11 nature-themed rooms are decorated in an attractive heritage style. Four rooms come with rolltop baths for post-walk soaks after a stroll around the Penshurst Estate past River Medway, lakes and giant oak trees.
The Swan, West Sussex
The lengthy renovation of this historic inn in Fittleworth on the edge of the South Downs was well worth it. Original features from its 14th-century roots mix with stylish comfort in the bar, restaurant and 12 beautifully designed rooms – though it remains traditional, says owner Angus Davies. Meals served in the wood-panelled, art-adorned dining room draw on seasonal local produce (foraged ceps and plum pudding on our visit) and generous breakfasts are served in a barn in the gardens. The old visitor books are interesting: notable guests include JMW Turner, John Constable and Rudyard Kipling. Nearby activities abound, from browsing antiques in local villages to downland walks, Petworth House and Arundel Castle.
The Nevill Arms, Leicestershire Countryside
With its honeyed hamlets, charming towns and rolling countryside, the Welland valley is in a region sometimes referred to as the Notswolds (similar to the Cotswolds but more affordable). The Nevill Arms in the village of Medbourne was revamped in 2023, with 10 bedrooms (including four-posters) spread between the inn and former stables – and next year they’ll add a stone cottage next door too. On the food front, meats 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 favorite of which is an amber ale, Inclined Plane, named after the canal lift at nearby Foxton Locks.
New Inn Yealand, Lancashire
New owners Ben and Lauren Sandiford assumed the running of this seven-bedroom village inn in April. Ben brought his chef experience to the kitchen, which now turns out elevated comfort dishes (shepherd’s pie with mashed potatoes and cheese or beef and ale suet pudding) to be eaten in the rustic dining area beside the log burner. The bar is filled with locals sipping on
