Thirty of the Top British Taverns for an Fall Retreat with Fantastic Food

ENGLAND

General Tarleton Inn, North Yorkshire

Chef Tommy Banks, one of Yorkshire’s favourite foodie sons, is renowned for the Michelin-starred restaurant the Black Swan at Oldstead, and he also has deep pub roots. Actually, the Black Swan originally operated as a pub, with Banks serving drinks at his family’s establishment before moving into the kitchen. In 2023, he launched 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. Food, naturally, is top notch, with polished takes on pub classics made with local produce – ideal sustenance for walks along the river and into Nidd Gorge, a local beauty spot.

The Bat and Ball, Oxfordshire

Dogs lounge by the fireplace and dog collars at the bar at this charming pub in the village of Cuddesdon, best known for its clergy college. It launched 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 two-Michelin-star Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons down the road. This pub is the more relaxed option – there’s even a dart board – and dishes take typical pub fare and dial them up with premium local produce. The five bedrooms have walls painted in deep fall colors to match the nearby landscape, which is sandwiched between the Cotswolds and Chilterns.

Kings Arms Inn, Lakeland

This independently run inn, which relaunched at the end of August, is at the heart of the Lakeland village of Hawkshead, just a short walk from Beatrix Potter Gallery and the Hawkshead Grammar School museum, where a young William Wordsworth carved his name into his desk. It’s rich in history in oak beams and slate floors at the King’s Arms too, which dates back to the 17th century. Behind the dark-wood panelled bar is a roster of local beers including Coniston Old Man Ale and Cumbrian Ales Loweswater Gold, while the menu focuses on classics with Cumberland scotch eggs and beef wellington. The perfect meal to be enjoying after a hike up nearby Latterbarrow fell.

Wellington Hotel, Cornish Coast

Known affectionately as The Welly, this historic coaching house overlooks Boscastle harbour on the rugged north Cornwall coast. St Austell Brewery recently splashed millions renovating it, and it shows in the cosy dining rooms, intimate corners and stained-glass windows. The pick of the bedrooms are the turret suites with standalone tubs, but every room come with local art on the walls and ordnance survey maps and a South West Coast Path national trail book for walks. The path runs right outside: heading west to Tintagel Castle, birthplace of King Arthur as per myth, or east towards Pentargon waterfall. After a coastal hike, there’s pints of local ale by the fire and servings of fish and chips to look forward to, made with fresh local fish in Gem Ale batter.

Woolpack Inn, Hampshire Countryside

Recently renovated by renowned designer Nina Campbell, this country pub is the centre of life 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 – complemented by the pub’s large kitchen garden, currently growing pumpkin, celeriac and winter leaves. In addition to providing almost all the vegetables on the menu, the team also donates 20% of the harvest to local charities and shelters. Upstairs, eight bedrooms are themed after game birds, but it’s fly fishing the local main attraction – angling for trout in the famous chalk stream of the River Itchen.

Fleur de Lys Inn, Dorset

Pub and restaurant firm Chickpea has mastered the modern country pubs with rooms formula – great food, welcoming bar and keen prices for overnighters. The latest addition to the fold is Fleur de Lys, a 17th-century 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 renovation reflects its historical character: hops hang over the large open fireplace, candles flicker on tables and, upstairs, nine rooms are decorated in subdued tones. Walking routes loop around Cranborne Estate, with dishes such as Brixham sea bass, venison chop and sticky toffee pudding to look forward to back at the pub afterwards.

Penny Bun Inn, North Yorkshire

Inspired by a fungus found in local woods, Penny Bun is a departure from your traditional boozer. With its clay-plastered walls and earth-toned palette, the look is more wabi-sabi minimalism than traditional pub fixtures. Located between Ilkley and Otley in the Yorkshire Dales, the recently opened pub is part of Denton Reserve, a 1,012-hectare estate undergoing a sustainably led transformation, shifting to carbon sequestering and regenerative farming. It provides 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 plum one comes with a freestanding bath), with deep beds to sink into after walks across Ilkley Moor, just steps away.

Ship Inn, Norfolk Coast

Recently, The Peyton sisters revitalized this historic coastal inn with nine rustic rooms 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), local game is the highlight in autumn. On Sundays, expect whole pot-roasted venison shoulders served with local wild mushrooms instead of traditional meats, while in the bar relax by the fireplace and tuck into a mangalitza pork sausage roll or monkfish scampi with a pint of Moon Gazer Ale. Outside, Norfolk’s big skies look particularly stunning at this time of year – look out for flocks of migrating pink-footed geese – and walks cut through dunes and marshes.

Leicester Arms Inn, Kent Countryside

Across the road from the entrance to medieval Penshurst Place and Gardens, this historic pub is more attractive than ever after a major renovation last year. No wonder it won Kent’s county prize at the national awards: there are plush armchairs by the fire in the bar, authentic Kent ales from nearby Larkins, and cut-above cooking in the dining room. The menu focuses on local produce, with Kent lamb scotch egg and Whitstable oysters, while the 11 botanically named bedrooms are decorated in an attractive heritage style. Four rooms come with clawfoot tubs for post-walk soaks after a stroll around the Penshurst Estate past River Medway, lakes and ancient oaks.

Swan Inn, 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 “proudly old fashioned”, says the owner. Dining in the wood-panelled, painting-lined dining room utilize local seasonal ingredients (wild mushrooms and fresh plum pudding on our visit) and generous breakfasts are served in the barn in the gardens. Historic guestbooks are interesting: famous visitors include JMW Turner, John Constable and Rudyard Kipling. There’s plenty to do nearby, from antique shopping in local villages to downland walks, Petworth House and Arundel castle.

Nevill Arms Inn, Leicestershire Countryside

With its honeyed hamlets, charming towns and rolling countryside, Welland Valley is in a region sometimes referred to as the Notswolds (like the Cotswolds but without the price tag). The Nevill Arms in the village of Medbourne was revamped in 2023, with 10 rooms (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. Culinarily, beef, pork and lamb 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-room inn in April. Ben applied his culinary skills 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 beamed dining room beside the log burner. The bar attracts locals sipping on