Travel / bristol getaways
Ten country pubs near Bristol to escape to this summer
If I had to dream up the perfect pub, it would be old and preferably rural; there would be oak beams, log fires, a whiff of woodsmoke and Sunday roast. I like the idea of a gastropub but I also like a proper boozer (a meeting of the two is ideal).
A beer garden is a big plus (dogs, kids, views). And let’s add rooms. Stay the night and you can work your way through a roster of ales (ciders, whiskies or, in my case, wines) without having an argument about who’s going to drive home.
A bed-and-breakfast visit also provides another much-needed income stream for the hard-hit hospitality sector – and many are really going for it.
is needed now More than ever
Here are my top ten pubs with rooms within a two-hour drive of Bristol:
The Swan, Wedmore, Somerset
Distance from Bristol: 22 miles (40 mins).
The sweet scent of jasmine fills the lawned garden in summer – photo: The Swan
This was the first of the five hostelries that now make up the Stay Original family – a company that specialises in taking on run-down inns with history and sprucing them up with style.
The bar is down-to-earth village pub (dark wood, rustic furniture, real ales), the restaurant spills out onto a lawned garden (in winter, patio heating and fire pits on the terrace; in the summer, the sweet scent of jasmine).
‘The rooms are lush’ – photo: The Swan
The menu is big on local produce (meat from Buxton butcher, veg and free-range eggs from Edcombe or Fenton Farms) and the rooms are lush (antique furniture, pops of colour on grey décor, roll-top tubs or wet rooms, the odd quirk – one features a collection of Beatles album covers).
• B&B from £75 per night
The Methuen Arms, Corsham, Wiltshire
Distance from Bristol: 38 miles (40 mins).
‘History, style and atmosphere’ – photo: The Methuen Arms
It’s not the only attractive pub in Corsham, but the Butcombe Brewery inn has got history, style and atmosphere and it’s the best place to eat in town (think posh pub food, kitchen-garden produce and Butcombe ales). The rooms are country-house style (wallpapers, scatter cushions and ‘vintage Cotswold’).
And Corsham is a lovely place to visit: a pedestrianised high street, a market on Tuesdays and the occasional peacock (they are prone to wander from the magnificent grounds at Corsham Court)..
• Doubles from £130 a night B&B.
The Lamb Inn, Sandford, Devon.
Distance from Bristol: 81 miles (1 hr 40 mins).
Expect power showers, comfy king-size beds and under-floor heating at the Lamb Inn in Sandford – photo: The Lamb Inn
This old-fashioned freehouse in Sandford near Crediton combines an unpretentious village pub with seven light, contemporary rooms (expect power showers, comfy king-size beds and under-floor heating).
First though, get stuck into the cask ales, local ciders, and The Lamb’s award-winning food: a regular menu of chargrilled or vegetarian dishes, ‘seasonal feasts’ and Sunday lunches all prepared with quality ingredients at reasonable prices (main courses around £12-14). Mmm, parsnip sticky toffee pudding.
• Doubles from £65 (excluding breakfast).
Felin Fach Griffin, Brecon, Powys
Distance from Bristol: 71 miles (1 hr, 30 mins).
The family-run dining-pub is situated on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park – photo: Felin Fach Griffin
On the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park, the Griffin is part of the family-run ‘eat-drink-sleep’ group: consisting of one other pub, one hotel (the latter two in Cornwall) and this Welsh ‘dining pub’ – the founding member. The aim here is to offer high quality, seasonal food with local provenance, a welcoming neighbourhood pub and a good night’s sleep.
Expect big cushions on lived-in sofas, wood fires, country furniture, local ales and Sunday Sleepovers – photo: Felin Fach Griffin
Expect big cushions on lived-in sofas, wood fires, country furniture, local ales and Sunday sleepovers. The rooms tend towards the New England style with painted tongue and groove, pale floral wallpapers, Welsh blankets, books and Radio 4 (no TVs). Hay-on-Wye and the Black Mountains are on the doorstep.
Rooms tend towards the New England style – photo: Felin Fach Griffin
• B&B in a double room from £152.50.
The Bull Hotel, Fairford, Gloucestershire
Distance from Bristol: 58 miles (1hr 6 mins).
The 15th century Cotswold coaching inn has a rich history – photo: The Bull Hotel
A 15th century Cotswold coaching inn with monastic roots, the Bull has got it all: history, craft ales, comfy rooms, good food and a great location on the market-town’s high street.
The bar-restaurant is a clever mix of medieval and country-modern: painted panelling, cow-hide rugs on wood floors, original stonework and open fires (love the big flowery mural on one chimney breast and the giant bulls head over another). The menu majors on hearty English-Italian. Upstairs, snuggle under a feather-and-down duvet in one of 21 stylish rooms.
• Doubles from £70 (excluding breakfast).
The Rockpoint, Lyme Regis
Distance from Bristol: 72 miles (1 hr, 40 mins).
The Rock Point in Lyme Regis is the latest St Austell Ales establishment to get a boutique makeover – photo: The Rock Point
St Austell Ales has been systematically upgrading their portfolio of licensed premises – often performing a tricky balance of maintaining the character of a traditional pub (keeping the locals happy) while jazzing up the rooms to compete with best of the boutique hotels.
The inn has nine rooms all with vi-spring king-size beds – photo: The Rock Point
The latest to get the makeover is the Rock Point in Lyme Regis: a salty seaside inn with views of Lyme Bay. The menu is big on seafood and gastropub classics like steamed mussels or cod and chips (the vegan alternative is banana blossom cooked in an ale and seaweed batter).
In the pub’s nine rooms, you get vi-spring king-size beds, beams, window seats and maritime pictures. If you fancy a night in a St Austell’s inn closer to home, rock up to The Wellington in Horfield.
• Doubles from £90.00.
Artist Residence, South Leigh, Oxfordshire
Distance from Bristol: 73 miles (1hr, 30 mins).
Artist Residence in South Leigh is the older sister of Bristol’s new Artist Residence in Portland Square – photo: Artist Residence
The older sister of Bristol’s new Artist Residence in Portland Square, this country bumpkin, combines converted outbuildings with rooms and the thatched Masons Arms – a playful take on the rustic inn (for Hook Norton beers, No Brainer Cotswold cider, all-day dining and more rooms).
Rooms range from ‘The Rabbit Hole’ to ‘The Barn Suite’ – photo: Artist Residence
Upstairs or down, the look is open fires, beams and a quirky hotch-potch of art, curiosities and vintage (as per the usual Artist Residence style). The food is foraged, picked from the inn’s own kitchen garden or sourced from local farms. Rooms range from small (the Rabbit Hole) to fabulous (the Barn Suite sells for over £350 a night). There is also a Shepherds Hut in the garden.
• From £129 per night (room only).
Pig and Fiddle (and Broad Street Townhouse), Bath
Distance from Bristol: 14 miles (45 mins).
The Pig & Fiddle and its sister, the Townhouse provide everything food, drink and a bed for the night – photo: Pig and Fiddle
A Butcombe two-in-one job, the Pig and Fiddle serves the food and drink and the Townhouse next door provides a bed for the night (plus an additional coffee-and-cocktails café-bar on the ground floor).
The pub is an easy walking distance of the centre – photo: Pig and Fiddle
The sisters occupy a pair of Grade II listed shops, an easy walking distance of the centre (Abbey, Roman Baths, Walcot Street) and while the award-winning Pig and Fiddle is all wood floors, book shelves, ham hock terrine and piggy puddings (add lunch-time Buddha bowls and a beer garden), the Townhouse is very Bath (velvet, gilt, heritage paint), with hints of Parisienne café downstairs and, above, 11 ‘boutique bedrooms’ ranging from Snug (very snug) to Superior.
• Doubles from £85 per night.
The Kings Arms, Montacute, Somerset
Distance from Bristol: 41.5 miles (1 hr, 20 mins).
The Inn nestles beside a ‘masterpiece of Elizabethan Renaissance architecture’, Montacute House – photo: The Kings Arms Inn
A collection of honey-coloured, ham-stone cottages on film-set streets (period dramas obviously), a church, a post-office and, slightly random, a TV/Radio toy museum, this Somerset village huddles around the Grade I listed, ‘masterpiece of Elizabethan Renaissance architecture’, Montacute House – so pretty, so National Trust.
Enjoy views of the village from 18th century mullioned windows – photo: The Kings Arms Inn
At its heart, is the Kings Arms, a family-run, Greene King inn, popular with locals and renowned for its fireside atmosphere and excellent food (venison cottage pie, perhaps, steak and dark ale pie or a halloumi burger). Most of the 15 comfy rooms upstairs have had a recent makeover and some have views of the village from 18th century mullioned windows.
• Doubles from £85
The Bull’s Head, Craswell, Herefordshire
Distance from Bristol: 64miles (1 hr, 25mins).
The pub reopened in November last year under the wing of Wild by Nature – photo: The Bull’s Head
This quaint Black Mountains pub is said to be one of the country’s last drovers’ inns (a drover being a travelling shepherd or cattleman, driving livestock between farm and market). Sadly it closed – for six years. But, under the wing of Wild by Nature (a family of ‘regenerative’ farmers offering farmhouse stays and farm-to-table food), the pub reopened in November last year.
The menu is mostly meaty, but there are plant-based options – photo: The Bull’s Head
Thankfully, the new owners have stayed true to its rustic roots – flagstones, sooty inglenook, hole-in-the-wall-bar etc. The rooms are not quite ready yet (any day soon – and there will be cabins, too) but worth the trip to try the ‘good honest food’. Hogget chops, slow-cooked beef short-rib or beef-dripping chips? The menu is mostly meaty, but there are plant-based options. There’s a garden, too. And nice mountainy views.
• Cabins from £120 a night (room prices, not yet available).
Lesley Gillilan is editor and author of travel blogazine eye-traveller.com – for hotel reviews, destination features and UK city architecture tours.
Main photo: Felin Fach Griffin
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