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- Gold Star PubsWhat makes a great pub? Hopefully all the pubs in this guide are ones you want to return to, but Gold Star pubs are the ones I believe are the very best. They’ll have well kept and tasty beer and a decent choice of other drinks as well. They’ll have atmosphere and character, and a bit of personality. They may have a bit of history (I love a heritage pub!) but there are modern bars on the list as well. The staff are genuinely friendly and attentive but don’t overdo it and are happy for you you to have a quiet drink on your own or a noisy drink with friends. All these things usually come together when there is a manager or licensee who really cares about the pub and its customers. It’s all subjective of course and you won’t agree with all my choices, but hopefully I’ll have pointed you to to at least a few stunning pubs.
- Ambience
- Interesting & Curious Pubs
- Distinctive & Unusual PubsThese are pubs with quirky architecture or interiors, pubs with collections of odd objects and pubs that are just eccentric. Also pubs that are hard to find or in remote locations.
- Community-Owned Pubs
- Heritage PubsThese pubs have interiors that have remained little changed since they were built. Some are basic rural pubs with flagstone floors and settles. Some are elaborate and lavishly decorated Victorian pubs with rich tiling and glasswork. Others have stylish art deco bar counters and furniture. All are listed in Camra’s National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors.
- Kings, Characters & Crooks
- Pubs in Film and TV
- Literary Pubs
- Haunted Pubs
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- Historic Pubs
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- Pub Architecture
- Victorian Gin PalacesPubs come in an impressive range of architectural styles, from ancient half timbered, local stone and thatched through Victorian gin palaces to 20th century styles like Arts & Crafts, Art Deco and Mock Tudor. Also included are pubs converted from grand old buildings like banks, offices and cinemas.
- Arts & Crafts Pubs
- Art Deco Pubs
- Mock Tudor Pubs
- Timber-framed Pubs
- Local Stone Pubs
- Thatched Pubs
- Heritage Pubs
- Grade 1 Listed
- Grade 2* Listed
- Grade 2 Listed
- Category A Listed
- Category B Listed
- Category C Listed
- Pub Artistry
- Pub Architecture
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- Counties & Regions
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- England: North
- Cumbria
- Greater Manchester
- Lancashire
- Lake DistrictThe Lake District is a region and national park in Cumbria in northwest England. It’s famous for its mountains and fells (hills) and glacial lakes. Most older pubs are built from local slate and almost always whitewashed. They are found in both village centres and on isolated moorland. By contrast pubs built to serve Victorian tourists are often in a Gothic style that seems at odds with the local genre.
- Merseyside
- North York Moors & Coast
- North Yorkshire
- Northumberland
- South Yorkshire
- Tyne & Wear
- West Yorkshire
- Yorkshire (All)
- Yorkshire DalesThe Yorkshire Dales is a scenic upland area covering the northwest of the county and a small part of Cumbria. Most older pubs are built from the pale grey mountain limestone typical of the area. Remoter pubs are often whitewashed, unlike the local farms and cottages. Like the Lake District and Snowdonia many pubs were built by the Victorians for the emerging tourist industry.
- England: North
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- England: Midlands
- Black Country
- Cambridgeshire
- Derbyshire
- Herefordshire
- Lincolnshire
- Norfolk
- Nottinghamshire
- Peak DistrictThe wonderfully scenic Peak District National Park is divided into two regions. In the White Peak to the south the pubs are of limestone in picturesque villages while in the Dark Peak to the north the pubs are gritstone in small hamlets or isolated on moorland. The park is mostly in Derbyshire, but extends into Staffordshire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester and South and West Yorkshire.
- Shropshire
- Suffolk
- West Midlands
- Worcestershire
- England: Midlands
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- England: South
- Cornwall
- CotswoldsThe Cotswolds are known for picturesque villages of golden stone cottages. The medieval wealth of the region came from sheep and allowed the early use of local limestone to develop a distinctive building style. There are many pubs in this style in an area that includes parts of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire.
- Devon
- Dorset
- East Sussex
- Essex
- Gloucestershire
- Greater London
- Hampshire
- Hertfordshire
- Oxfordshire
- Somerset
- Sussex (E & W)
- West Sussex
- Wiltshire
- England: South
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- Towns & Villages
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- Towns A - B
- Aldwych, Greater London
- Ambleside, Cumbria
- Amersham, Buckinghamshire
- Appletreewick, North Yorkshire
- Arncliffe, North Yorkshire
- Askrigg, North Yorkshire
- Aysgarth, North Yorkshire
- Balls Cross, West Sussex
- Barley, Lancashire
- Beck Hole, North Yorkshire
- Beckhampton, Wiltshire
- Belfast
- Belgravia, Greater London
- Bethnal Green, Greater London
- Bingley, West Yorkshire
- Birkenhead, Merseyside
- Birmingham, West Midlands
- Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire
- Blackfriars, Greater London
- Bloomsbury, Greater London
- Boot, Cumbria
- Borough, Greater London
- Boscastle, Cornwall
- Boston, Lincolnshire
- Bradford, West Yorkshire
- Branscombe, Devon
- Bransgore, Hampshire
- Brent Eleigh, Suffolk
- Bretforton, Worcestershire
- Brierley Hill, West Midlands
- Brighton, East Sussex
- Broads Green, Essex
- Broadway, Worcestershire
- Broadwell, Gloucestershire
- Bucks Green, West Sussex
- Buntingford, Hertfordshire
- Burnley, Lancashire
- Burnsall, North Yorkshire
- Towns A - B
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- Towns C - F
- Carbost, Isle of Skye
- Carlisle, Cumbria
- Charing Cross, Greater London
- City of London
- Clerkenwell, Greater London
- Clovelly, Devon
- Corfe Castle, Dorset
- Cottered, Hertfordshire
- Crantock, Cornwall
- Croft, Lincolnshire
- Dacre, Cumbria
- Derby, Derbyshire
- Dilwyn, Herefordshire
- Doncaster, South Yorkshire
- Dudley, West Midlands
- Edale, Derbyshire
- Edinburgh
- Elterwater, Cumbria
- Etal, Northumberland
- Farringdon, Greater London
- Faulkland, Somerset
- Fitzrovia, Greater London
- Fleet Street, Greater London
- Ford, Gloucestershire
- Fulbeck, Lincolnshire
- Towns C - F
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- Towns G - H
- Glasgow
- Glencoe, Highland
- Gracechurch Street, Greater London
- Grassington, North Yorkshire
- Great Langdale, Cumbria
- Great Tew, Oxfordshire
- Gunnerside, North Yorkshire
- Hackney, Greater London
- Halifax, West Yorkshire
- Hardraw, North Yorkshire
- Harrogate, North Yorkshire
- Haworth, West Yorkshire
- Helston, Cornwall
- Henley, Oxfordshire
- High Roding, Essex
- Holborn, Greater London
- Holy Island, Northumberland
- Holywell Bay, Cornwall
- Honeystreet, Wiltshire
- Horncastle, Lincolnshire
- Horns Cross, Devon
- Hubberholme, North Yorkshire
- Huish Episcopi, Somerset
- Towns G - H
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- Towns K - M
- Keighley, West Yorkshire
- Keswick, Cumbria
- Kettlewell, North Yorkshire
- Kirk Ireton, Derbyshire
- Kirkstone Pass, Cumbria
- Knaresborough, North Yorkshire
- Lacock, Wiltshire
- Langley Lower Green, Essex
- Laxfield, Suffolk
- Lechlade, Gloucestershire
- Leeds, West Yorkshire
- Lindisfarne, Northumberland
- Little Longstone, Derbyshire
- Little Stretton, Shropshire
- Littley Green, Essex
- Litton, Derbyshire
- Litton, North Yorkshire
- Liverpool, MerseysideLiverpool has probably the highest proportion of heritage pubs of any UK city, including two of the finest, the Vines and the Philharmonic. But if history’s not your thing it has plenty of cracking boozers as well, many with top class ales.
- London Central
- London East
- London South East
- London West
- Low Newton, Northumberland
- Lower Swell, Gloucestershire
- Ludlow, Shropshire
- Luss, Argyll & Bute
- Lyme Regis, Dorset
- Maida Vale, Greater London
- Makeney, Derbyshire
- Malham, North Yorkshire
- ManchesterReckoned by many to be the top beer city in the UK. A cracking mix of classic old pubs and modern pioneering bars. For a more comprehensive guide to Manchester pubs see Matthew Curtis’s 2026 book Manchester’s Best Beer Pubs and Bars.
- Marylebone, Greater London
- Millers Dale, Derbyshire
- Towns K - M
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- Towns N - R
- Nether Wasdale, Cumbria
- Netherton, West Midlands
- Newbiggin, North Yorkshire
- Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear
- Newton, Cambridgeshire
- Norton St Philip, Somerset
- Norwich, NorfolkHolds the annual City of Ale festival to promote around 50 of its best pubs. One of the UK’s top beer cities.
- Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
- Ockbrook, Derbyshire
- Odcombe, Somerset
- Oldwinsford, West Midlands
- Otley, West Yorkshire
- Oxenhope, West Yorkshire
- Oxford, Oxfordshire
- Parwich, Derbyshire
- Pembridge, Herefordshire
- Penrith, Cumbria
- Polperro, Cornwall
- Portsmouth, Hampshire
- Preston, Lancashire
- Ramsholt, Suffolk
- Revesby, Lincolnshire
- Rhydspence, Herefordshire
- Rickling Green, Essex
- Riddlesden, West Yorkshire
- Robin Hood's Bay, North Yorkshire
- Rotherham, South Yorkshire
- Towns N - R
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- Towns S
- Salford, Greater Manchester
- Salisbury, Wiltshire
- Seahouses, Northumberland
- Sedgley, West Midlands
- Settle, North Yorkshire
- Sheffield, South Yorkshire
- Shipley, West Yorkshire
- Shipton-under-Wychwood, Oxfordshire
- Shrewsbury, Shropshire
- Skegness, Lincolnshire
- Skipton, North YorkshireSome top ale pubs, both modern & traditional, including Camra’s best pub in Yorkshire.
- Sligachan, Isle of Skye
- Soho, Greater London
- South Zeal, Devon
- Southsea, Hampshire
- Spitalfields, Greater London
- Spondon, Derbyshire
- St James's, Greater London
- St Kew, Cornwall
- Staithes, North Yorkshire
- Stalybridge, Greater Manchester
- Stanbury, West Yorkshire
- Starbotton, North Yorkshire
- Stilton, Cambridgeshire
- Stockport, Greater ManchesterThe pubs of nearby Manchester may be more famous but Stockport is a top beer town in its own right. A good mix of traditional and modern pubs within a short walk of each other.
- Stourbridge, West Midlands
- Sunderland, Tyne & Wear
- Towns S
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- Towns T - Z
- Tan Hill, North Yorkshire
- Tatham, Lancashire
- Tattershall Thorpe, Lincolnshire
- Threlkeld, Cumbria
- Trebellan, Cornwall
- Tyndrum, Argyll & Bute
- Upper Gornal, West Midlands
- Walsall, West Midlands
- Wansford, Cambridgeshire
- Wardlow Mires, Derbyshire
- Wasdale Head, Cumbria
- Wednesbury, West Midlands
- Wennington, Lancashire
- West Burton, North Yorkshire
- West Lulworth, Dorset
- Westminster, Greater London
- Whitby, North YorkshireHard to reach picturesque seaside town, worth it for its rapidly expanding beer scene.
- Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire
- Widecombe-in-the-Moor, Devon
- Wigan, Greater Manchester
- Winchcombe, Gloucestershire
- Wolverhampton, West Midlands
- Worth Matravers, Dorset
- York, North Yorkshire
- Towns T - Z
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