Best-of list · Pubs
From the 1664 Llandoger Trow to the Coronation Tap cider house, here are the 9 best pubs in Bristol for 2026, all real ale and still pouring.
The short answer
9 ranked rooms follow. How we picked is at the end of this guide.
Bristol is one of the best pub cities in Britain, a place that still runs on cask ale and West Country cider while half the country switched to lager and gin. This list goes from a 1664 timber pub to a cider house that serves its house pour in halves because it is that strong.
Every one of these is a real, currently open Bristol pub. We dropped one boozer whose status was in doubt and kept the nine we could stand behind. Here they are.
The Llandoger Trow has stood on King Street since 1664, a timber-framed Grade II pile that traded as a sailors' pub when Bristol ran on shipping. It closed in 2019, then reopened in 2021 as an alehouse, so the beer list is sharper than the ghost stories suggest. Low beams, crooked floors, real history. Best for a cask pint on King Street before the jazz crowd fills the Old Duke next door.
Full listing & hours →The Coronation Tap in Clifton has poured cider since before 1806, and locals just call it the Corie Tap. The house Exhibition cider is strong enough that they serve it in halves only, which tells you everything. Jazz, funk, and blues bands play Thursdays and Sundays. Best for a half of Exhibition and live music in a low-ceilinged cider house that has not modernized and never will.
The Old Duke sits on King Street in a Grade II building from around 1775 and runs on traditional New Orleans jazz, seven nights a week. Bands like the Severn Jazzmen have played here for more than 35 years. It gets loud and shoulder-to-shoulder when the music starts. Best for a pint with live jazz when you want the room and the band, not a quiet corner.
The Bag of Nails on St George's Road is Bristol's famous cat pub, a tiny one-room boozer with resident cats and a rotating wall of cask ales straight from the barrel. There is no music, no food, and no fuss, just good beer and feline company. It is small and old-fashioned. Best for a quiet, serious real ale in a room the size of a front parlor.
The Canteen anchors Stokes Croft from the ground floor of Hamilton House, a community bar pouring Bristol-brewed beer with free live music most nights. It leans vegetarian on the food side and scruffy-friendly on the vibe. Open since 2009 and still a neighborhood fixture. Best for a local pint and a free gig when you want Stokes Croft at its most Bristol.
The Grain Barge is exactly that: a 1930s grain barge moored in the harbour, converted by Bristol Beer Factory into a floating pub in 2007. You drink Beer Factory cask and keg with a view across the water to the SS Great Britain. The deck is the seat in summer. Best for a harbourside pint when the weather holds and you want the boat, not a basement.
The Volunteer Tavern hides by Cabot Circus, a cosy one-room independent pub with a large walled garden behind it. The kitchen closed in summer 2025 while the place reworks for better access, so come for the beer and the garden, not a roast. It stays a proper central Bristol local. Best for a cask pint outside in the garden when the city center is heaving.
The Orchard Inn sits on the corner of Spike Island by the marina, a multi-award cider pub that has taken CAMRA Cider Pub of the Year more than once. Expect a long board of local ciders and ales, dogs underfoot, and live music. It is a short harbourside walk from the center. Best for a proper West Country cider in a small room that takes its apples seriously.
The Hare on the Hill is a green-tiled corner local in Kingsdown with four handpumps and a smartly refurbished wooden interior. The rotating cask list usually runs a dark, a bitter, and two pales, with Bristol breweries well represented. It is a neighborhood pub, not a destination, which is the appeal. Best for a changing cask pint in a friendly local off the tourist track.