BATH.

Just off the centre of Bath. Curl up by an open fire of find a quiet table at the far end - 100 feet or so away - and you'll be content! The staff are efficient and pleasant. You won't have to wait for your pint. This can be a very busy pub at any time of day but it's spacious and open with a quiet side bar for bar billiards. The huge bar is something from bygone years being both old in feel and in decor. At the rear of the pub there is a large covered courtyard complete with plenty of heating where you can eat and drink. Regular beers on tap though they change often Directors; Smiles Best, Holly Hops; Abbey Bellringer; London Pride; Courage Best; Bath - Barnstormer; RCH - Pitchfork (on gravity); Butts - Barbus, Barbus.

The Lion is situated in a narrow passage between shops in the old part of town. The passage is opposite the Guildhall, but requires a little bit of looking. It's well worth it. The small bar on the right of entrance has only four tables to sit at, though it does have some bar stools. The cosy atmosphere is added to by the fresh flowers and candles and it is not intimidating as some pubs can be. In the summer there are tables placed outside in the passage - though not a beer garden as such, sun does reach the seating. Lunch is served here but nothing in the evening. The food is OK, the beer better, well kept and served. Worth seeking out as it's not far from the Old Green Tree.

This is a popular side street free house not far from the main street in Bath. It serving at least five beers (not all strictly real ales) which change daily. On at the time were Hook Norton, Bateman's XXXB. The good thing is that the prices tend to be below average for the area - this is after all a tourist trap. Food is served at lunchtime (no food Sundays). There are steps up into the pub and to the toilets up/down a flight of stairs. Can get very busy on a Saturday night. No accommodation. 

This is one of the Bath Brewery pubs and so serves a complete range of their beers from the strongest to the weakest. You can also order their beer in mini-casks from here. I have to be honest, this pub is a long walk out of town and so you’d be better getting the bus. It is worth it to relax with good, well served ales. As you enter the bar is to the right and you notice that everything is in that light airy pine style to add life to the décor. There are a number of areas, but the best is the bar which has high stools to sit and chat to the bar persons. To the right of the bar is a TV for sport and bench seating round the wall at three square tables. This area can get surprisingly dark at night. Then there is the area to the left as you enter where you can sit at tables and chairs – all light wood of course. The other area just beyond that has sofas and a fire plus the obligatory TV. Flooring is wooden throughout and the walls are a shade of lung cancer yellow/orange (I know, some people like walls that look smoked, and it's traditional). As the ceiling is low there is a smoke filter unit for the hot summers. Food is served here, though not Sunday evening and caters for every taste including vegetarian. Prices are reasonable too. No accommodation, but there are two or three B&B’s along the road a short staggering distance form the pub. Well worth as visit, though you might like to try their other watering hole in the city itself. The pub now has a separate dinning room at the rear of the pub and a large beer garden. The latter a rarity for a pub in Bath.

A former coaching Inn which is a popular weekend venue - mainly with local clientele, but a recent refurbishment means that it will appeal to all. The decor is now more bright pine wood and it is more inviting than in the past. There is a single bar that now extends into a music room where live bands play weekends. A flagstone 'courtyard' leads into the pub entrance on the left hand side. Odds and sods adorn the walls and there are clean bright toilets. Busy at weekends as it carries a guest ale - on this occasion Smiles Exhibition. It is a BASS pub and sells Courage Best Bitter and Directors! Sunday lunch is served as is food throughout the week at lunch and evenings. It provides accommodation, though it was being finished at time of visit so no details. Not far from the station and close to the main shopping street.

A 70s wood brick flooring in this big pub with a recessed entrance. It has one room 'L' shaped with steps to the back area. Entrance area has space to the right with the bar ahead and a real fire in the corner. There is bench seating around the walls with wooden tables and stools. To the left is another recessed area which has no fire but a fruit machine and is smaller. There are large jazz pictures on the walls and jazz on CD. There is also a TV. If you are lucky you might see the pub cat, but don't bank on it. The back room has a low ceiling covered in music and its where the jazz in played. Wood panels predominate. Bar is wood with stained glass overhang. Beers on at the time were Abbey Ales Bellringer, Wadworths 6X and Butcombe Bitter. Almost like an estate pub, hence the name. Stained glass lights are everywhere and there is a bell on ceiling close to the bar corner to calling time. Next door is the Abbey Ales brewshop/outlet. No accommodation here but try tourist info on (01225) 477101.

A small 3 roomed pub in the heart of Bath. The lounge has nice seats while the smoke room can get crowded and has stools and small round tables. It also has books and pictures all around the walls which makes is seem more like a snug. A skylight however, gives it a little more 'room'. Another longer room (with a redundant fireplace and pictures on the walls) leads off from it, though it is not easy to get to when busy as you must pass the bar. As such this pub cannot cater for wheelchairs, though recent legislation may change this - but this is an 'old' building and may have a listing on it. The single bar serves all the rooms which in some way back on to it - the lounge part is the bar doorway and smoke room has a small servery. All have low wood and plaster ceilings and wood panelled walls. The dark brown colour though original, makes it a very dark pub even during the day. The smoke room door has glass which slot open, probably for serving beer in ages past. Access is flat, though space is at a premium even when not busy. Guest beers on at the time were: Wickwar BOB, RCH Pitchfork, Wye Valley Black Knight and Oakhill Black Majic Stout. The floors are parquet wood blocks so don't spill your beer here. There is an abundance of handled beer glasses - straight ones not here! The back bar is full with bottles and a fridge. Bar stools could cause a severe case of getting served frustration. Toilets are accessed from the smoke room and have many steps down to basic facilities. Food is served here at lunch only (not Sunday as pub closed) and the back room is smoke free (if that is possible in such a small pub). Oh and you may have to dress to impress some nights. Opening times 11-11pm during Mon-Sat; 7-10.30pm Sun. No accommodation here. Food is served Mon-Sun 12-2.15. 
[not Sun]

Lately this has become popular with the young people who roam the streets on a Saturday night. Its red walls epitomise the dark atmosphere (you can hardly see your pint). The beer however, is not that bad. It's Ash Vine's only pub in these parts. On at the time were Hop and Glory and a couple of guest ales Buttcombe Bitter and Smiles Best. There wasn't much inside to note except the real fire, low beans and wooden floors. It has benches and stools for seating and there is a metal lattice in one part for leaning on. There is an outside drinking area set within a ring road, so great if you don't mind the traffic. Not good for the disabled as many steps needed to be negotiated. Toilets get a little flooded at weekends. Only lunchtime food, no accommodation here. 

This pub is a bit further out of the city and requires a little walk, but nothing that would kill you, besides the walk will burn off the calories you are about to imbibe. A good looking local, like a hotel from the outside, this is apparently the focus of the rugby community in Bath. Inside there is a centre bar that serves two different areas – though they are all one room now. The main room has stools at the bar and is heavy set with pictures on the walls and a large TV for sporting events. There is bench seating round the walls with tables and chairs on – very much a boozer-ish feel to it. They usually have four ales on. On this visit they had Young's Special, Abbey Bellringer on racking, London Pride and 6X. following the main room round takes you to the area where they play darts. There is a gas log effect fire here and a large mirror, plus another TV screen. This area is very 1970’s with stipple effect walls and brass edging to the bar area, which is only a small hatch area to be honest. Seating is at a bare wooden bench and some stools, though chairs sometimes get distributed here. There are some bare floors and some carpeted areas and this theme is carried into the room at the rear down a corridor where there is another ‘fire’ and bench seating with round tables and stools. There is a beer garden for summer, but it has no grass and is enclosed – awnings are available too. Food is served here, but not on a Sunday evening. No accommodation here, but plenty in Bath itself. 

Very near the cathedral and bath’s, this pub is a single shop front wide, though it has extended itself a long way back. The entrance room is just that, a place to come in and sit by the real fire on the leather sofas or at dark wood tables and chairs. The window also has old bit and bobs in and above it though they don’t seem to have a theme. As you move towards the rear of the pub there are wooden privacy screens with balustrades, like on stairs. Here there are round tables and chairs, which can be a little close. In the middle of the pub is the stairwell which provides access to the toilets downstairs near the kitchen! There are no disabled toilets and access for wheelchairs while possible, would be difficult if the pub was busy. The stars also go up to the sports bar/room where sport is shown on a screen. Moving to the far end of the pub brings you to the bar with high stools at it. Here is where you will find the three ales – Bath Gem, Archers Golden and Hop Back Summer Lightening. All were well kept, though top ups had to be asked for. Prices matched those of many larger cities like £2.20 plus for a pint, but I guess this is tourist territory. Food is served here (limited choices for vegetarians) lunch and evening till 8pm, though not on Sundays. There is no room here for a beer garden though you can lean on the bridge opposite after a drink and watch the river flow by. No accommodation here. A short walk from the station and practically in the city centre.

Another good pub in Bath, the city is full of them, good job it has two universities. In the centre in the main shopping area, this pub is OK, again, small inside, but has a couple of good beers on. Food is served here, but can take a while on occasion so be patient. Disabled access is possible here.

An excellent pub, not quite in the centre of Bath, but well worth the effort to get to - on a busy road there is no parking here and so represents a bit of a walk ‘up’ the town.. They serve the excellent Bellringer from Abbey Ales (you can now buy this on-line from their web site for home delivery). Beers on this visit other than Bellringer were Abbey Black Friar 5%, Batemans XXXB, Black Sheep Bitter and Bass. There is a real fire in separate drinking room with bench seats and tables close together. Alas there are plenty of steps into and around the pub which makes access for the disabled difficult, no disabled toilet either. Toilets for others are through the saloon doors by the entrance. There is a picture shelf around the walls, which holds lots of ‘tat’ you get in some pubs these days. Not a lot of it seems to relate to the pub itself. No food here other than crisps. The Star Inn is one of the cities oldest Hostelries and was first licensed as a public house in 1760 when the entrance was in Guinea Lane. Set amongst the splendour of Bath' world famous architecture the pub provides a welcome escape from the bustle of city life. The building itself is far older than its rather grander neighbours. It was one of two or three buildings on the Vineyards when work begun on the Paragon. The entrance was moved to the front of the building to allow the work force building the Paragon to collect their pay from the paymaster in The Star. A superbly presented example of a Gaskell and Chambers fitted pub. The Star retains many original features including the 19th Century bar fittings and the numbered rooms, compulsory when Licensing Laws required all rooms to be numbered and listed for their purpose. A landlord of yesteryear installed a lift to transport the barrels from the cellar using a lift, which rises through the trap door, set in the floor and still in use today.  It could have been a different story altogether though. In 1942 during the so-called Baedeker raids, the houses directly opposite The Star suffered a direct hit, luckily the pub emerged unscathed. The smaller bar still used by many older regulars, features a long single bench known as "death row" where a complimentary pinch of snuff can still be found in the tins on the ledge above the wall panelling. The pub is now a listed building and appears in The Campaign for Real Ales Inventory of Heritage pubs. The Star has always been famous for its pints of Bass served from a jug and more recently for its pints of Bellringer the award winning best bitter from bath's only brewery Abbey Ales. Food is served only on Friday and Saturday lunchtimes.

An interesting pub but very tiny located down an alleyway, with room for no more than a few tables of people. However, having said that, as it is less publicised than the similarly small Old Green Tree, it is never packed out, and you can have a quiet drink in what feels like someone's front room. There are some high settles next to the bar and stools at the bar. Beer is well kept and there is a good choice of beers