30 featuring the Finest UK Taverns for an Autumn Getaway with Superb Cuisine

ENGLAND'S BEST PUBS

General Tarleton Inn, North Yorkshire

Chef Tommy Banks, a celebrated Yorkshire chef, is best known for his award-winning restaurant the Black Swan at Oldstead, but he’s no stranger to pubs. In fact, 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 recently launched a hospitality arm dedicated to restoring other pubs across the UK. The first project is the eight-bedroom General Tarleton in the village of Ferrensby, near Harrogate. Food, naturally, is top notch, with polished takes on pub classics made with local produce – the perfect fuel for riverside strolls and into the Nidd Gorge, a scenic local area.

The Bat and Ball, Oxfordshire

Dogs lounge by the fireplace and clergy 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 the Lamb Inn in nearby Little Milton, and the culinary team at both locations gained experience at the esteemed Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons down the road. The Bat and Ball is the more casual of the pair – there’s even a dart board – and menu items elevate classic pub food and dial them up with carefully sourced local ingredients. Five guest rooms have walls painted in rich autumnal shades to match the nearby landscape, which is nestled between the Cotswolds and Chilterns.

King’s Arms, Lake District

This family-owned pub, which relaunched at the end of August, is at the center of the Lakeland village of Hawkshead, around the corner from Beatrix Potter Gallery and the Hawkshead Grammar School museum, where the poet Wordsworth etched his name into his desk. There’s plenty of 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 roster of local beers including Coniston Old Man Ale and Cumbrian Ales Loweswater Gold, while the food leans towards classic with Cumberland scotch eggs and beef wellington. The perfect meal to be tucking into after a stomp up nearby Latterbarrow fell.

Wellington Hotel, Cornish Coast

Affectionately called The Welly, this centuries-old coaching inn overlooks Boscastle Harbor on the rugged north Cornwall coast. A local brewery recently invested heavily doing it up, and the results are evident in the snug dining areas, snugs and stained-glass windows. The pick of the bedrooms are the turret suites with freestanding baths, but all 14 come with local art on the walls and OS maps and a South West Coast Path national trail book for walks. The trail passes nearby: heading west to Tintagel Castle, 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 Countryside

Recently renovated by influential interior designer Nina Campbell, this rural inn is the social hub in the small village of Totford in the tranquil Candover valley. It is surrounded by fields and woodlands, so head chef Luke Stradling has plenty of local produce to draw on – supplemented by the pub’s large kitchen garden, currently growing 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 homeless shelters. Upstairs, eight bedrooms are named 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

Pub and restaurant firm Chickpea has nailed the modern country pubs with rooms 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 regular guest here and makes reference to it in Tess of the D’Urbervilles. The revamp reflects its period charm: hops hang over the large open fireplace, candles glow on tables and, upstairs, the nine bedrooms are decorated in subdued tones. Trails loop around Cranborne Manor, with dishes such as Brixham bass, venison chop and 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 earthen walls and earth-toned palette, the style is minimalist than brass beer pumps. Between Ilkley and Otley in the Yorkshire Dales, the new inn is part of the Denton Reserve, a 1,012-hectare estate undergoing a sustainably led transformation, shifting to carbon sequestering and regenerative farming. It supplies many of the ingredients found on the menu at the Penny Bun, such as Tamworth pork croquette salad or beetroot gnocchi. The calming aesthetic particularly suits the five bedrooms (the best room comes with a standalone tub), with plush beds to sink into after walks across Ilkley Moor, right outside the front door.

Ship Inn, Norfolk

This summer, The Peyton sisters revitalized this historic coastal inn with nine beamed bedrooms in the village of Brancaster. The cooking here has Mediterranean influences, and while menus have one eye on the sea (less than a mile’s walk away), 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 settle in by the fire and tuck into a pork roll or monkfish with a pint of local ale. Outside, the vast skies look particularly stunning at this time of year – watch for flocks of migrating pink-footed geese – and trails cut through dunes and salt marshes.

Leicester Arms Inn, Kent Countryside

Opposite from the entrance to Penshurst Place, this historic pub is looking prettier than ever after a major renovation 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 superior cuisine in the dining room. The menu focuses on local produce, with lamb scotch egg and Whitstable oysters, while the 11 botanically named bedrooms are decorated in a classic style. Four of them come with rolltop baths for post-walk soaks after a ramble around the Penshurst Estate past River Medway, lakes and giant oak trees.

Swan Inn, Sussex Countryside

The two-and-a-half year refurbishment of this Grade II-listed coaching inn in Fittleworth on the South Downs was worth the wait. Original features from its medieval origins mix with stylish comfort in the bar, restaurant and 12 elegant rooms – though it remains “proudly old fashioned”, says the owner. Meals served in the wood-panelled, art-adorned dining room utilize local seasonal ingredients (foraged ceps and fresh plum pudding on our visit) and lavish breakfasts are served in a barn in the pretty gardens. Historic guestbooks are fascinating: notable guests include JMW Turner, John Constable and Rudyard Kipling. Nearby activities abound, from browsing antiques in local villages to walks on the downs, Petworth House and Arundel Castle.

Nevill Arms Inn, Leicestershire Countryside

With its honeyed hamlets, pretty market towns and rolling countryside, Welland Valley is in a part of the country sometimes referred to as the Notswolds (similar to the Cotswolds but without the price tag). Nevill Arms in the village of Medbourne was refurbished in 2023, with 10 bedrooms (some with four-poster beds) spread between the inn and its converted stables – and soon they’ll add a three-bedroom stone cottage next door too. On the food front, beef, pork and lamb are sourced from the owner’s farm, while in the blue bar there’s a rotating line up of Langton Brewery beers on tap – the most popular of which is an amber ale, Inclined Plane, named after the canal lift at nearby Foxton Locks.

New Inn Yealand, Lancashire Countryside

New owners Ben and Lauren Sandiford assumed the running of this seven-bedroom village inn in April. Ben applied his culinary skills to the kitchen, which now turns out classy comfort food (shepherd’s pie with mash and ewe’s cheese crumb or beef pudding) to be eaten in the rustic dining area beside the fireplace. The bar attracts locals sipping on