Good weather weekends were invented for exactly this: a slow morning, a walk with purpose, a pub garden in the sun with something cold and locally brewed. We have been inspecting Britain’s most characterful places to stay for more than 30 years, looking for warmth, personality and the feeling that a place really means it. These 20 pubs have all of that, and something extra: spectacular walking country with trails that lead right up to the bar. The beds are good, too, which is useful if the afternoon gets away from you.
The Inn at Loch Tummel
Strathtummel, Perthshire
Loch Tummel stretches out below the windows, the forest rises behind and Schiehallion – the perfectly conical Munro that appears on half the postcards in Perthshire – is close enough to climb and be back for supper. This is a beautifully restored Highland inn: wool throws, whisky decanters, a guitar propped in the sitting room, real fires. The Scottish breakfasts are serious fuel, and the dinners are creative and locally inspired. Rooms for two from £125 a night, sawdays.co.uk/theinnatlochtummel
The King’s Arms
