Everyone asks where to drink. So here are the ten best pubs in the Northern Cotswolds, as we see it. Good beer, good food, and each one with something of its own.
The Falkland Arms, Great Tew
Tucked away in the beautiful village of Great Tew, the Falkland Arms is the cosiest pub in the area. They keep good ales and IPAs, with live music now and again, especially in winter.
The Bull, Charlbury
Our tour local, on the corner of Sheep Street in Charlbury. Reopened in 2023, quickly named a Top 50 Gastropub and, very recently, the number one pub in the UK. It has ancient flagstone floors, low ceilings, open fires and a menu built around open-fire cooking and local produce. A lovely place to start or finish a day out.
The Crown, Church Enstone
In the little hamlet of Church Enstone, just next to Enstone, The Crown is a properly cosy pub, and the front part of the bar is the spot to be. With the open fire going, flagstone tiles underfoot and exposed brick walls, it is warm and welcoming in both summer and winter.
The Chequers, Churchill
A firm favourite, and known locally as the pub where Jeremy Clarkson and his crew like to stop for a drink. The decor inside is really tasteful, there is a lovely cosy beer garden out the back, and the food is reasonably priced but very, very good.
The Kingham Plough, Kingham
In the same hamlet as the Wild Rabbit, but not as posh or as pricey. The food, the decor and the drinks are all excellent, and a lovely place for a three-course meal with the family.
The Royal Oak, Ramsden
Tucked into the pretty hamlet of Ramsden, The Royal Oak has been completely transformed over the past year with a full refit, and it is now a really cosy spot. Ramsden itself is one of our favourite places to drive through, all thatched cottages, Cotswold stone houses and a vintage Land Rover outside every other house. Well off the beaten track, and lovely for it.
The Norman Knight, Whichford
Opened at the start of this year over at Whichford, out towards Shipston. Newly opened rather than newly built, mind - a seventeenth-century pub given a full restoration, and beautifully done.
From the same people as The Crown at Church Enstone and The Kingham Plough, and every bit as good. There is a car meet on the third Thursday of every month, and it is a stop on our Stonebreaker day.
The Feathered Nest, Nether Westcote
This one earns its place on the view alone. Nether Westcote is a tiny hamlet up on the ridge between Stow and Burford, and The Feathered Nest looks out from the top of it across the whole valley - as fine an outlook as you will find from any pub in the Northern Cotswolds, and we would say the finest. The food and the welcome are very good too, but the view is the reason to go. Worth timing for a clear evening and a seat outside.
The Fox, Middle Barton
The newest pub on this list by a good margin, and the newest in this corner of the Northern Cotswolds full stop. It sits in a lovely spot in Middle Barton, with proper outdoor seating for a long summer evening, and it has, with no real competition, the best pub sign anywhere in the Cotswolds.
The head chef has come from Claridge’s, which sets the bar rather high, so the food ought to be very good indeed. We will say it plainly though: it has only just opened and we have not eaten there enough to promise you anything. Everything about it points the right way, and it is the one we are most looking forward to going back to.
The Swan Inn, Swinbrook
This one is all about where it sits. The Swan stands on the banks of the River Windrush in Swinbrook, with the old village cricket field on one side and a big garden running down towards the water. On a quiet afternoon there are few better places to sit in the Northern Cotswolds.
It has links to the Mitford sisters as well, whose graves lie in the churchyard just up the lane.